Eight regions have purchased 117 school buses for a total of almost UAH 400 million under the School Bus programme, which is part of the Made in Ukraine policy. The procurement was carried out through the Prozorro Market electronic catalogue administered by the State Enterprise "Professional Procurement". The tool allows for competitive and transparent procurement.

"The School Bus government programme is aimed at stimulating the Ukrainian machine building industry. As in the previous year, UAH 1 billion has been budgeted for the purchase of school buses, enabling the regions to buy about 500 Ukrainian-made buses and giving a boost to the development of local producers. Thanks to this programme, last year companies in Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk and other cities where subcontractors operate had orders, people had jobs and the budget had incomes. That is why our priority is to develop this programme further," said Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

So far, Dnipro region has purchased 28 buses, Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv regions - 25, Kharkiv region - 21, Khmelnytskyi and Sumy regions - 7, Cherkasy region - 3 and Odesa region - 1.

"Thanks to the systematic allocation of subventions for the purchase of school buses, more and more children are able to receive quality education. For students from small villages and towns, it is crucial to have access to large schools with qualified teachers and the necessary equipment. In addition, school buses are among the tools of the comprehensive School Offline policy aimed at restoring access to full-time education. It is thanks to the buses that students can get to schools with shelters and study live," said Andriy Stashkiv, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine.

Procurement of school buses in Prozorro Market is subject to localisation requirements. This means that regions purchase vehicles made in Ukraine, thus supporting the national economy and domestic business. This tool also allows to significantly simplify and speed up the procurement process.

"Efficient and transparent procurement procedures are the key to students' access to comfortable transport and, consequently, to better education. Through the electronic catalogue, hromadas can purchase goods from a trusted supplier in a few days, and then only deliver them. So, thanks to prompt procurement, most of the buses should be delivered to schools before the start of the school year. So that from the first of September, Ukrainian pupils can easily get to their hub school and study full-time," explains Yevhen Yakubovsky, Director of Professional Procurement.

The School Bus programme is being implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy through Prozorro Market and is part of the national policy "Made in Ukraine" initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.