Economic operators, especially those from the regions, need information and training campaigns in order to increase the efficiency of the process of filing and settling appeals in public procurement. This was one of the conclusions reached during the discussions at the "Reform of the system of remedies in public procurement, and the best European practices" roundtable which took place within the project "Cutting edge improvements in the public procurement system in Moldova through inclusiveness, creativity and law-abiding practices", funded by the European Union and co-financed by UK Aid with the support of the UK Government. Another conclusion was that it is necessary to ensure a proper filing of the appeal so that it is not rejected on such grounds. The correct formulation of appeals s imperative  for raising the quality of the complaints. 

"There is a need for procedures to select legal safeguards that ensure the independence of the process in case of conflicts of interest. Similarly, to ensure consistency, there must be adopted detailed procedural rules that safeguard the quality and integrity of case management decisions. An appeal system  in line with applicable international agreements and regulations and with internationally recognized good practices, ensures probity and transparency, and provides swift and competent handling of appeals and sanctions" according to Marian Lemke, Senior Advisor in Public Procurement, SIGMA / OECD.

The public procurement expert, Vadim Țurcan, is of the opinion that in order to increase public confidence in the system of solving appeals concerning procurement procedures, and to avoid establishing practices contrary to the ECHR jurisprudence, National Agency for Solving Complaints (NASC) should issue similar solutions for similar situations. Also, NASC should periodically review the most frequent violations committed in public procurement procedures in order to undertake necessary measures and to unify the judicial practice of settling appeals. It is appropriate to continue the positive standardization practices of the Agency, such as the one referring to the "average hourly wage of construction workers".

The representatives of the NASC say that the institution is improving its capacities. "Live broadcast of appeals’ settling sessions will  be available at the www.ansc.md website by the end of the year. We have also compiled an informative guide on the procedure for filing, reviewing and solving appeals. We intend to offer the possibility of filing appeals online by using electronic signature technology, to create a Q&A section on the www.ansc.md webpage, which will be based on the so-far accumulated practice", said Viorel Moşneaga, head of the NASC.

At the same time, Viorica Pricop, State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, highlights the continuation of the harmonization of the secondary normative framework in compliance with the new provisions of the Law 131/2015 (the elaboration of the Regulations on public procurement through competitive dialogue, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system, restricted tender, partnership for innovation). Pricop stated that the Ministry focuses on creating a mechanism for monitoring procurement procedures and on the elaboration of the mechanism of certification of specialists in the field of public procurement.

The report "Evaluation of the appeals solution system in the public procurement sector" was also presented during the round table. The authors, Diana Enachi and Vadim Ţurcan, assert that in order to streamline the function of the appeal system, it is necessary to harmonize the practices of examining the delay of appeals, by developing a standard template for decisions, possibly an electronic one, with a mandatory  note on the observance/omission by the economic operator of the legal terms. The report is based on a research and assessment of 400 decisions issued by NASC between 1 January and 5 September 2018.

The economic agents present at the event mentioned that they learn on the go. They emphasized that the procurement procedures should be properly conducted in order to safeguard the quality of goods and services provided to citizens.

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