Fair competition and an accessible bidding system should be a key principle of the public procurement system. Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1495 dated December 30, 2022 changes the rules for conducting public procurement, and the key change is the ability for the customer to conduct bidding with or without an auction. Thus, the government is adapting the Prozorro electronic procurement system to wartime conditions. This is discussed in the message of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
“According to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, during the year 66% of trades had only 1 offer, by the end of the year this figure reached 88%. Such results testify both to the slowdown in the economic development of the country as a whole, and to public procurement. The bidding system without an auction at this stage allows you to create higher competition and strengthen the preparatory process for the first stage of bidding”, - reported in the Ministry of Infrastructure.
They say that, according to the new rules, participants must come to the auction with a weighted and calculated final price offer. That is, the price factor remains the key when choosing a contractor. This approach is in fact a well-established practice and standard in projects financed by international financial institutions such as the EBRD, EIB and the World Bank.
The ministry also said that Decree No. 1495 amends the rules for conducting auctions in the electronic trading system for only 6 months.
“The innovation is in line with Directive 2014/24/EU of February 26, 2014, which states that the use of an auction in public procurement procedures is optional. International financial institutions, in particular the World Bank, have developed and submitted to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine recommendations on changing the rules for public procurement. The implementation of these rules on a permanent basis will allow involving international business in the market and integrating Ukraine more into the world economy,” - experts of the ministry consider.
Earlier it was reported that the blackout in Ukraine affects the holding of auctions on the Prozorro site, so the government decided to temporarily change the rules of electronic trading, but the electronic trading itself will continue.
Source: Fakty
