Is the ‘Buy Ukrainian’ Policy Legal?

An outline analysis of how EU and WTO law permits Ukraine to declare a national security exception to pursue a preferential procurement policy

Authors: Inna Dzhurynska and Luke Cooper

This policy brief offers an outline assessment of the current legal frameworks in Ukraine in relation to public procurement and the legal impediments to the Government of Ukraine adopting a ‘Buy Ukrainian’ policy to supports its war-economy and on-going reconstruction efforts. The brief argues that, in the event of a legal challenge to its policy of ‘insourcing the recovery’, the Government of Ukraine could declare national security exception in relation to its obligations under EU and WTO procurement law in order to pursue its publicly stated goal.

PeaceRep’s Ukraine programme is a multi-partner initiative that provides evidence, insight, academic research and policy analysis from Ukraine and the wider region to support Ukrainian sovereignty, territorial integrity and democracy in the face of the Russian invasion. PeaceRep’s Ukraine programme is led by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) partnering with the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in Ukraine, the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS) in Germany, the Institute of Human Sciences (IWM) in Austria and Jagiellonian University in Poland. Through our collaboration with KSE we work closely with researchers, educationalists and civic activists in Ukraine to ensure that policy solutions are grounded in robust evidence and are calibrated to support democratic outcomes.

Learn more about PeaceRep’s Ukraine programme