The number of public purchases amounted to 8.6 bilion lei, 14.6% more in 2017 than in the previous year, but IDIS Viitorul economist Diana Enachi stated in the show "15 minutes of economic realism" that although more many public procurement violations and irregularities continue to exist.
Some of the most common violations include non-compliance with terms of the contract, failure to comply with minimum deadlines for submitting bids, failure to comply with deadlines and faulty/discriminatory completion of mandatory requirements in participation notices and non-compliance with publication rules.
"All ministries hold public procurement headings on the website, but they do not contain complete and up-to-date information. Transparency is partially ensured at the planning stage. With the exception of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all others published their procurement plans for 2018. At the tender stage the transparency is low, so no ministry has published on the web page all the notices of participation in all procedures in 2018", said Diana Enachi.
Another aspect that speaks at least indirectly about the degree of openness and transparency of ministries is their participation (now voluntary) in the new e-procurement system - MTender. Thus, a single Ministry (Finance) and subordinate authorities use the MTender platform that, although it is only at the stage of the pilot project for small value acquisitions, demonstrates transparency and accountability from public institutions.
The economist argues that individual procurement by each subdivision or subordinate entity in a contracting authority generates increased costs and inefficiency of public spending. More than 90% of the purchased products and services are the same. Another eloquent example, in this case, is the Chisinau City Hall, where each department has the status of contracting authority, it organizes its procurement procedures independently. This generates a large cost of public financial resources, staff involved. By separately purchasing the same products, suppliers who can offer more competitive prices cannot be attracted.
"Public authorities are required by the legal framework to ensure transparency at all stages of the public procurement process, starting with planning and finalizing the execution of contracts and informing the public about the delivery of goods, services or execution of works", concluded Diana Enachi.
The show is made by IDIS "Viitorul" in partnership with Radio Free Europe.
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