At its last meeting, the Government amended the rules for public procurement during martial law. In particular, it was decided that for procurements over UAH 50,000, it was necessary not only to publish a report on the contract concluded without the use of the electronic procurement system, but also to provide a justification for the procurement approved by the contracting authority’s head.
“A tender through Prozorro does not automatically guarantee a positive result. Many people remember cases when the procurement took place transparently, competitively and in accordance with the rules, but the justification of the need or the terms of the procurement caused a public outcry. Therefore, this change is primarily intended to improve the quality of work of those who announce the tender,” explained Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy.
According to her, the resolution also reduces the list of grounds on which public procuring entities may sign contracts directly instead of going through competitive bidding. At the same time, the resolution strengthens the responsibility of public procuring entities for the abuse of such grounds as urgent need.
In addition, amendments have been introduced that, when deciding to refuse to participate in the bidding of a sanctioned bidder, allow to distinguish the case when the assets of such a bidder are transferred to the National Agency for finding, tracing and management of assets derived from corruption and other crimes. In this case, the ban on public procurement will not apply. (Government portal/Business World Magazine)