Supercom Ltd, an Israeli identification technology software and services provider, has won a $40m five year contract to supply the Ukrainian government with its ID technology. The contract represents a substantial coup for the Kfar Saba-based firm, which recorded revenue last week of only $2.3m (CI No 3,735). The initial implementation will include the machines that produce the smartcards and will be worth $18.5m.

Supercom will provide the machinery needed to manufacture smartcards for Ukraine’s 54 million people, as well as the printer paper and ink. The company uses technology from a subsidiary, Curie Authentication Technologies, which embeds an identification fingerprint into the actual material and ink used to make the smartcards (CI No 3,722).

Although Supercom made six-month net losses of $117,000, CFO Joseph Ganor told ComputerWire that these misrepresented the current financial situation. Ganor said that several contracts were pending, and that these would substantially alter the balance sheet. Supercom’s CEO Eli Rozen said that Supercom’s subsidiary, National Population Registry Ltd, might reach revenue of $20m by the end of next year, which should provide a boost to the parent company’s P&L account.