State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” announced a tender for 11 million hryvnias with requirements tailored to a specific manufacturer Fortinet

State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” announced a tender for nearly 11 million UAH to protect its IT infrastructure, but instead of open competition specified procurement for the Fortinet ecosystem. Additionally, the potential pool of participants was narrowed by a qualification requirement for experience performing similar contracts specifically in 2024–2026 years.

This is evidenced by the procurement data UA-2026-09-01-011978-a, published in Prozorro on 1 September at 22:37.

Almost 11 million — for a specific Fortinet

The expected value of the procurement is 10 839 820,89 UAH excluding VAT.

The tender concerns “protection of IT infrastructure,” but the list of equipment and software products is extremely specific. “Forests of Ukraine” want to purchase Fortinet licenses for 36 months for specific models: FortiGate-200F, 42 units of FortiAP-221E, switches 124E-POE, 448E and 148F-FPOE.

The package also includes virtual FortiGate, FortiAnalyzer, FortiWeb and FortiMail.

All of this must be delivered to the address in Kyiv: Bolsunovska St., 6. The end date indicated in the procurement card is 28 February 2030.

At the same time, the item names do not include the usual wording for competitive procurements “or equivalent.”

So formally the enterprise announced a tender, but in practice it built the specification around a specific manufacturer and specific models.

This is not a new system — it’s a continuation of an already established one

There is an even more interesting point.

In 2023 the “Forests of Ukraine” themselves already built their network infrastructure on FortiGate-200F and the same switch models.

In May 2026 the enterprise separately tried to purchase an annual UTP subscription for FortiGate-200F for 229 549 UAH including VAT. That tender did not take place.

Now instead of an annual subscription — three years at once. Instead of one item — a whole package for dozens of devices. And instead of 229 thousand — the expected cost is nearly 11 million UAH.

This is precisely where the procurement stops looking like a routine license renewal.

Competitors are cut off before the price competition

But the most telling part of the tender is hidden not in the Fortinet names, but in the qualification requirements.

An “equivalent contract” in the “Forests of Ukraine” documentation is not just any IT contract. The participant must confirm a completed or partially completed contract in 2024–2026 years specifically for cybersecurity software or security software packages.

This must be accompanied by a counterparty review or delivery notes.

And here is where it gets most interesting.

A company that has worked in IT for years, installed cyber protection systems, antiviruses or solutions from other major manufacturers may simply not fit this formal frame.

For example, long-term experience with Cisco alone does not guarantee admission here. Similarly, experience with Kaspersky products will not help if it does not match the “equivalent contract” construction spelled out in the documentation.

But a company that has already worked with Fortinet in the public sector specifically in 2024–2026 years clearly gains a more comfortable position.

Yes, the tender lists a single criterion — price.

But what good is price competition if you first narrow the circle of those who are even allowed to reach that competition?

This is how a procurement is formed where the brand can be baked in not only to technical specifications but also into the experience requirements for potential participants.

The tender was posted in the system after 22:00

The timing also draws attention.

The announcement appeared in Prozorro on 1 September at 22:37.

Participants can submit clarifications until 15 September. The deadline for submitting proposals is until midnight on 18 September. The auction is scheduled for that same morning.

No tender security was required.

The contact person for the procurement is listed as Tetyana Sviderska, who handles other procurements for “Forests of Ukraine.”

And all this — against the backdrop of staff turbulence

At the same time, the enterprise is currently operating without a permanent general director.

Since 1 July, the duties of the head have been performed by Ihor Zubovych.

The previous general director, Yurii Bolokhovets, left the position at the end of June. During his last month at work he was awarded 7,68 million UAH in bonuses, and the total accruals for three and a half years in the position amounted to 27,63 million UAH.

Bolokhovets’s history also has a criminal background. Since 2023 the State Bureau of Investigations has been investigating his illegal enrichment. Later the High Anti-Corruption Court canceled the suspicion due to a procedural defect related to a search.

And it is against this backdrop that “Forests of Ukraine” late in the evening post a tender in Prozorro for 10,8 million UAH, which effectively specifies a particular manufacturer, specific models and a specific time window for participants’ experience.

Of course, such a procurement by itself is not proof of collusion or price inflation.

But the construction looks more than telling: first a specific brand is chosen, then a list of compatible equipment is formed around it, and after that potential competitors are additionally filtered by a requirement for “equivalent” experience over the last two years.

As a result, on paper we have a tender with the single criterion “price.” In practice — auctions where a significant part of the market can be eliminated before the auction even begins.

And this is where the main question to “Forests of Ukraine” arises: how will the enterprise obtain a real market price for Fortinet at 10,8 million UAH if the procurement conditions themselves narrow competition to a small group of companies that match a pre-drawn profile?