Reforming the procurement system is necessary to adjust the national system to international standards and align it with the acquis communautaire, in line with the commitments made with the ratification of the Association Agreement with the EU. Effective public procurement implies a proper legislative framework, corruption prevention institutions, and a functional and effective appeal system in the interests of all actors. It is the IDIS director's statement "Viitorul", Igor Munteanu, made during the event of launching the results of the monitoring of the decisions of the National Agency for Solving Complaints (ANSC).
Decision-Making (ANSC) is an important step in detecting hidden interests in public procurement, corruption, and mimicing the competition process, complying with legislation, taking the right decisions, and streamlining the practice of adopting solutions to appeals. The expert IDIS Viitorul, Viorel Pîrvan, who has monitored 152 ANSC decisions, issued between 09.08.2017 and 19.01.2018, is of the opinion. The monitoring took place within the project "Innovative Improvements in the Public Procurement System of the Republic of Moldova through Inclusion, Creativity and Law Enforcement Practices" funded by the European Union and co-financed by the Hanns Seidel - Republic of Moldova Foundation.
Following monitoring, Mr. Viorel Pîrvan found that ANSC rejected 52% of the contestations, 19% admitted and 24% - partially admitted. Nearly half ANSC considered them unfounded, one third - late and 10% - incomplete. More than half of the disputed procurement procedures concern goods, one third of works and 10% of services. "From the analysis of the decisions, in some cases, a selective attitude of ANSC is observed in relation to the examination of the economic operators' appeals, which also affects the adopted solutions".
There are cases when a uniform practice has already been formed, which is found in several ANSC decisions. For example, cases referring to the "average hourly wage of construction workers", which are calculated according to the normative framework governing pay in the real sector.
During the event, the coordinator of the project, Mrs. Carolina Ungureanu, presented a survey on the perception of economic operators and contracting authorities regarding ANSC activity. Respondents decided on: the legal framework for the settlement of appeals, the procedure for filing a complaint, the procedure for examining and settling appeals, the transparency of ANSC's activity, the opening of open hearings for appeals, the credibility of the decisions / solutions issued by ANSC, the public image of ANSC, the clarity of ANSC's role in the procurement system, promptness of appeals, etc.
"The main cause that favors the process of contesting the acquisitions in the eyes of the economic operators is corruption (agreements between bidders or between tenderers and authorities) - 29% and the contracting authorities mention first - the non-qualitative award documents with 24.1%. Both economic operators and contracting authorities mention in second place specifications with technical specifications favoring a particular operator (27% and 21% respectively). 33% of the contracting authorities and 37% of the economic agents mentioned the necessity to increase the transparency of ANSC's activity, some of them recommending the online transmission of the sessions, the involvement of the civil society representatives in the decision-making process, the reduction of the political influence, Zina Ungureanu.
43% of the decisions rejected by ANSC invoked the reason for the delay (probably due to the lack of detailed knowledge of the procedure), and at various workshops, roundtables, interviews, economic agents said they needed more information and strengthened their capacities. In this context, IDIS "Viitorul" has developed the "Public Procurements" guide, which can be accessed here.
The guide is made up of five chapters and contains information on the public procurement dispute resolution system; formulating complaints in public procurement procedures; the procedure for examining and solving appeals; the decisions of the National Agency for the settlement of appeals; international practices on the functioning of public procurement systems, the remedy system and appeals in Romania.
Iuri Cicibaba, Head of Cabinet, Ministry of Finance talked about MTender - an instrument of public procurement that "will allow us to save financial and human resources, increase transparency, speed, and procurement competition." Cicibaba also mentioned that the benefits for the participants in the procedure could include the following: they can view and analyze the purchase plans, view current procurement procedures and free of charge documentation, all economic operators are placed on equal terms, can submit the online offer from anywhere is not, can participate in the electronic auction wherever it is not, can see the price of the other bidders during the electronic auction in the event that the procurement procedure is completed by auction, the process of selecting the winner is transparent and public, can call on consultancy platforms, benefit from additional platform services, obtain and analyze historical purchasing information".
For further details, please contact the press officer, Victor URSU, at the following address: ursu.victoor@gmail.com or at 069017396.
