Expert in Subvention Support to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine Regarding the Project of Monitoring of the Use of Subvention for School Meals

Background and context

The European Union Anti-Corruption Initiative (hereinafter – EUACI) in Ukraine is a joint programme funded by the EU and the Government of Denmark, aimed at supporting Ukraine in its efforts to reduce corruption at both national and local levels by empowering citizens, civil society, and public institutions. At the beginning of 2024, EUACI entered its third phase, which will run until mid-2027. Within this phase, EUACI was invited to identify activities related to schools.

In 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Strategy for Reforming the School Meal System for 2023–2027. One of its key components is ensuring the effectiveness and transparency of the school nutrition system, including food quality and procurement controls.

In 2024 and 2025, the government allocated a subvention for the modernization of canteens in local communities. The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Ministry) approached EUACI with a request to support the implementation of this project in order to minimize corruption risks and violations. As a result of the analysis conducted during the project selection process in 2024, 132.9 million UAH was saved and reallocated to include an additional 20 schools. In 2025, savings amounted to 187.5 million UAH, allowing for the selection of 16 additional projects.

Since 2024, local budgets have received funds to provide meals for students in general secondary schools (hereinafter – meal subvention). The number of students getting free meals with this funding has been gradually increased. By 2025, over UAH 7 billion was allocated, covering free meals for primary students and those in grades 5–11 in frontline areas. The 2026 state budget has UAH 14.4 billion for school student meals, with UAH 5.9 billion already distributed.

From 1 September 2026 the subvention will be directed to provide one-time free meals to students receiving primary, basic and upper-secondary (profile) education in all regions. It is crucial to ensure the effective use of subvention funds for providing free meals to students and to observe the principles of integrity and transparency in the procurement of food products and services (catering or outsourcing).

Overall, the Operational Plan of Measures for the implementation in 2025–2027 of the Strategy for Reforming the School Nutrition System up to 2027, approved by Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Order No. 1216 dated 07.11.2025, provides for the measure “analysis of the procurement of food products and catering services for educational institutions regarding compliance with the principles of transparency and integrity with the involvement of expert support” (measure 2, task 9).

In January 2026, the Ministry requested EUACI for support in implementation and monitoring of the use the subvention for meals for students in general secondary schools.

In this regard, the Ministry asked for support for strengthening the institutional capacity of the Ministry’s team by involving an additional expert.

Objective:

To strengthen the institutional capacity of the Ministry by hiring an expert to support the transparent and effective implementation of the school meal subvention. The expert will be tasked with coordinating efforts between the Ministry, educational institutions, EUACI and other key partners; ensuring the accountable use of subvention funds for school meals; and implementing measures to minimize corruption risks and violations throughout the reform process.

Scope of work:

The scope of work of the assignment includes different tasks, including, but not necessarily limited to:

• Contribute to the development of the regulatory and legal framework for the implementation of the school meal subvention.
• Coordinate activities among all stakeholders regarding monitoring prices of food products and catering services.
• Cooperate with EUACI experts in analysis of school food and catering procurement to check compliance with transparency and integrity principles.
• Support EUACI in developing IT tools to monitor procurement costs of food products and catering (IT tool).
• Participate in data analysis based on the IT tool results and work with communities using the price analysis findings.
• Drafting analytical reports on the status and use of funds under the meal subvention for submission to the government, other authorities, and other stakeholders.
• Contribute to capacity building, including training, of national and local officials involved in implementing the school meal subvention.
• Supporting EUACI in minimizing corruption risks in the pricing of procurement of school meals and ensuring close cooperation between the Ministry, the local authorities and the EUACI and its contracted experts.
• Support preparation of information and analytical materials, briefings, and presentation materials on the implementation of the school meal reform.
• Support the EUACI in other activities related to the scope of work.

The Expert in Subvention Support will refer to the Deputy Minister for Education and Science and the EUACI. The Expert will mainly be placed in the Ministry of Education and Science but is also expected from time to time to work from the EUACI premises.

Expected deliverables:

• Responses to appeals and requests on activities that are related to the monitoring of implementation of meal subvention;
• Assisting in the development of draft regulations concerning activities linked to monitoring of costs of procurement of food products and catering services for educational institutions., agreed with the Ministry and EUACI;
• Assisting in the development of draft regulations concerning activities linked to monitoring of costs of procurement of food products and catering services for educational institutions., agreed with the Ministry and EUACI;
• Assisting in the development IT tools to monitor procurement costs of food products and catering services for students in general secondary schools;
• Developed drafts of regulatory legal frameworks necessary for monitoring and controlling the implementation of the subvention for the modernization of canteens;
• Written reports on the results of the activities of the expert and the documents developed;
• Organized meetings and processes, that are related to the monitoring of implementation of subvention;
• Analytical reports on the status of funded projects for submission to government, authorities, and stakeholders.
• Other deliverables agreed with the Ministry and EUACI.

The Specific Deliverables are presented below in Table 1 with a tentative schedule. All results are expected to be provided in Ukrainian unless otherwise agreed. Electronic copies are to be sent by email to the particular EUACI contact person.

The timelines indicated in the table above are indicative. The Expert may reflect on and update the timelines for different activities. Other deliverables are agreed upon with the Deputy Ministry and EUACI.

Qualifications:

The contract will be awarded to the expert meeting the following criteria:

1. a minimum of a Master’s degree in law, finance, economics, social sciences, public administration, or similar field is required,
2. a minimum of 3 years public service experience;
3. experience in legal and / or regulatory drafting.
4. experience in working with public procurement.
5. excellent written and oral communication skills,
6. ability to speak and write in English language will be an asset.
7. experience in organizing the activities of public authorities is required.
8. experience in establishing partnerships with regions and local communities and local organizations, will be an asset.
9. experience from working with projects on anti-corruption, risks minimization will be an advantage.
10. experience from working with schools, canteens and catering would be an advantage.

Budget, timeframe, and location:

The intended commencement date is the date of signature of the contract with the Expert in Subvention Support and the period of implementation of the contract will be 10-11 months with a tentative start in April or May 2026 and completion in the end of February 2027.

The maximum budget available for this assignment is 25000 EUR.

During this period, the Expert in Subvention Support will be expected to deliver 20 workdays per month.

Proposals, where the Contract Price offered, exceed the above maximum budget will be rejected.

Payments will require verification of deliverables and approval by the EUACI Component Team Leader of the Consultant ’s progress report and expense outlay.

The Expert will mainly be placed in the Ministry of Education and Science but is also expected from time to time to work from the EUACI premises.

Reporting and management

Definition of indicators

The performance of the contractor will be judged upon reaching the purpose of this contract as well as obtaining its results, as indicated in the sections “Objective” and “Expected Deliverables” herein respectively.

Special requirements

By signing the contract, the contractor (and its representatives) agree to hold in trust and confidence any information or documents (“confidential information”), disclosed to the contractor or discovered by the contractor or prepared by the contractor in the course of or as a result of the implementation of the contract and agrees that it shall be used only for the purposes of the contract implementation and shall not be disclosed to any third party without EUACI authorization.

The contractor reports to the EUACI. The contractor shall de-brief the EUACI prior to finalizing the assignment.

Bidding Details:

The bidder must submit the following information to be considered:

1. The CV (no more than three pages long) that should include a description of the previous relevant assignments, and key duties on this assignment.
2. Information about the level of daily fee, inclusive of all taxes or other such charges.

If these documents are not submitted in line with the request above, the bid will not be considered.

Please be aware that the EUACI will publish the name of the winner of this tender.

The contract budget cannot exceed 25000 EUR.

How to apply:

The deadline for submitting the proposals is 07 April 2026, 18:00 Kyiv time.

The proposals shall be submitted within the above deadline to [email protected] with copy to [email protected], indicating the subject line “Expert in Meal Subvention Support”.

Bidding language: English

Any clarification questions for the bid request should be addressed to [email protected], no later than 01 April 2026, 18:00 Kyiv time.

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Evaluation criteria

Bids will be evaluated under the criteria provided below: