Goshgar Hasanov, Director of Procurement & Logistics at Vodafone Ukraine, shares insights into digital transformation, supplier strategy, and long-term partnership with eTender. 

Vodafone Ukraine is one of the country’s leading telecom operators, serving 15.8 million customers with mobile and fixed connectivity services. Operating in a highly competitive and technology-driven industry, the company continuously modernizes its procurement and supply chain processes to ensure efficiency, transparency, and resilience. 

With over 24 years of experience in procurement across oil & gas, IT, and telecommunications, Goshgar Hasanov leads the company’s strategic procurement transformation agenda. 

Building Transparent and Competitive Procurement 

For Vodafone Ukraine, procurement is built on long-term strategic supplier relationships. This requires: 

• Transparent competition 

• Structured supplier accreditation 

• Comparable bid analysis 

• Full auditability of procurement decisions 

To support this strategy, the company selected eTender as its digital procurement platform. 

Within 18 months of partnership, Vodafone Ukraine significantly advanced the automation and transparency of its sourcing processes. 

Why Vodafone Selected eTender 

At the time of the platform review, Vodafone Ukraine was operating on SAP Ariba. While functionally mature, the system lacked flexibility and did not fully meet the company’s evolving requirements. 

Key selection criteria included: 

• Greater flexibility and faster configuration 

• Improved supplier onboarding experience 

• Cost efficiency 

• Access to a broad supplier base 

• Responsive local support with international capability 

eTender provided access to 100,000+ suppliers, including regional manufacturers and SMEs often underrepresented in global catalog-based systems. The platform also offers English-language support, enabling cross-border participation. 

“Choosing a procurement platform is a long-term strategic decision. It affects the entire business. We were looking for a partner, not just a software provider.” 

A Strategic Partnership Approach 

Switching procurement platforms is resource-intensive. Vodafone approached the transition strategically, with long-term value in mind. 

According to Hasanov, what differentiates eTender is responsiveness: 

• Fast reaction to improvement requests 

• Willingness to adapt product features 

• Collaborative product development 

• Regular exchange of ideas and feedback 

This co-development approach strengthened the partnership and accelerated transformation. 

Key Procurement Challenges and How They Were Addressed

1.Transparency and Control

Email-based communication previously fragmented procurement documentation and reduced visibility. 

With eTender, Vodafone centralized: 

• Tender documentation 

• Supplier communication 

• Bid evaluation 

• Audit trail 

This improved governance and internal compliance while preserving user experience and team comfort. 

2.Auction Automation

Previously, competitive bidding cycles could take weeks due to manual: 

• Technical evaluation 

• Commercial comparison 

• Document verification 

Today, reverse auctions are completed in approximately two hours, with: 

• Real-time bidding 

• Automatic ranking 

• Transparent price visibility 

• System-generated winner selection 

The company follows a 90% standardized / 10% flexible configuration model — ensuring both efficiency and adaptability.

3.Complex Project Procurement

For technically complex services (e.g., telecom infrastructure construction), Vodafone implemented a two-stage sourcing model: 

• Technical pre-qualification 

• Commercial auction among shortlisted suppliers 

This ensures both quality control and competitive pricing — aligned with EU best practices in strategic sourcing. 

2026 Procurement Strategy: Full Digitalization & AI 

Looking ahead, Vodafone Ukraine focuses on: 

1. End-to-End Digital Integration

All internal processes operate within ERP. The next step is seamless integration between ERP and the sourcing platform — ensuring that: 

• Tender data flows automatically from ERP to eTender 

• Award data flows back into ERP 

• Manual duplication is eliminated 

Pre-accreditation models are also being strengthened to work only with verified suppliers, improving compliance and risk management.  

2. Automation & Artificial Intelligence

With increasing labor market constraints across Europe, procurement efficiency is critical. 

Vodafone and eTender are working on: 

• AI-assisted document analysis 

• Automated technical evaluation support 

• Intelligent bid comparison 

• Reduced manual administrative work 

The goal is to shift procurement teams from repetitive tasks toward strategic supplier management and analytical decision-making. 

Results Achieved