You're reading: Ukraina Polygraph Combine to produce foreign passports instead of EDAPS

Kyiv-based Ukraina Polygraph Combine on June 26 won a tender conducted by the State Migration Service for the purchase of foreign passports, writes ZN.UA edition.

According to the edition, the Ukraina offered the foreign passport to cost Hr 82.2, while the ex-monopolist EDAPS Consortium estimated the production of the document at Hr 149.

However, the polygraph combine will issue the foreign passports of the old sample, since the samples of new documents patented by EDAPS founder Yuriy Sydorenko, ZN.UA said.

The government is to approve the samples of new biometric passports in a three-month term.

Earlier the EDAPS Consortium won a tender for production of the biometric passports. On June 7, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry started registering and issuing of the biometric passports for traveling abroad to Ukrainian citizens, who permanently live and temporarily stay abroad. However, on June 12, the Cabinet of Ministers cancelled the decree No. 185, which approved single samples of forms of the biometric documents, and on June 15 the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine canceled the results of the State Migration Service’s bids for purchase of the biometric passports made by the EDAPS. The Cabinet of Ministers decided to transfer a number of state orders from EDAPS Consortium to Ukraina Polygraph Combine, a source in the government told Interfax-Ukraine.

As reported, the law on the single state demographic register approved in November 2012 foresees the introduction of electronic biometric passports. Vasyl Hrytsak [now the deputy head of the State Migration Service] was the author of the bill. Ukrainian media have reported that he has been linked to EDAPS consortium.

On June 12, the government decided to transfer a number of state orders from EDAPS Consortium to Ukraina Polygraph Combine. “This document terminates the action of a number of previous decisions under which EDAPS receives state orders. In particular, the matter concerns the single demographic register,” the source said.

Later the Ukrainian media reported that visa registration offices don’t accept the documents for urgent passports, which are made in a ten-day term.

On June 26, the State Migration Service informed about possible delays of shipments of ready passports in coming days after change of the producer of blanks of passports of Ukrainian citizen for traveling abroad. But the situation is to settle soon, the producer assured.