The Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in collaboration with Partnership for Transparency (PTF), launched on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, the National Platform for Public Procurement (NPPP), within the project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement. The NPPP will be a national discussion forum, a permanent communication and dialogue mechanism for all actors in the public procurement sector - policy, control, and regulatory authorities, contracting authorities/entities, and economic operators. Alongside IDIS, three other civil society organizations delegated by the Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition are part of the NPPP.

The mission of the NPPP is to improve the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of the national public procurement system by addressing problems in the system, identifying solutions and proposing them as recommendations to be incorporated into policy by decision-makers. NPPP members represent authorities and organizations with an interest in the functioning and sustainability of the national public procurement system.

At meetings to be held quarterly, NPPP members will address priority topics, adopt common positions on procurement issues and challenges, make recommendations and contribute to policy development and implementation of solutions to overcome challenges.

Diana Enachi, procurement monitoring coordinator at IDIS Viitorul, said that this initiative was designed to facilitate dialogue between representatives of the public procurement sector and discuss the shortcomings, problems, and difficulties they encounter in the public procurement process. "The ultimate goal of the work of this platform is to find solutions by thinking of new policies to solve problems in the public procurement sector. Not necessarily for every problem and at every meeting will we find simple, clear solutions that can be easily implemented, but this communication, and the fact that we are all gathered around the same table, is a step forward to remedy those difficulties in the monitoring procress identifieid by us as members of civil society," said Diana Enachi.

Liubomir Chiriac, Executive Director of IDIS Viitorul said that the public procurement sector represents about 10% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Republic of Moldova and 20-25% of the National Public Budget. "It is a very important sector for the development of the country. Efficient public procurement leads to the solution of many challenges, which refer to financial discipline, the modernization of public administration, the opening of new jobs, the fight against corruption, increasing citizens' trust in the state, etc. "Public procurement" can mean transparency, fairness, and good governance, but it can also mean insufficient training of the members of the working groups responsible for the planning and preparation of documents, insufficient transparency, internal controls, monitoring, and integrity in the evaluation process. There are still a lot of constraints in this area, although efforts have been made and results have been achieved," said Liubomir Chiriac.

Hady Fink, Project Director at Partnership for Transparency (PTF), said that the project is a valuable one, especially because of the results already achieved and the partnership with IDIS Viitorul. "Thank you to the US Government for this support. We at PTF are using this moment to make this change... We want this project to not go unnoticed. We are glad that there is this interest from the authorities. With the help of civil society we hope to improve this sector, contributing to an agenda that will bring more transparency and integrity to public procurement in Moldova and really improve the system," said Hady Fink.

Lilia Radul, a senior consultant in the Public Procurement Directorate of the Ministry of Finance, said her institution is always open to working with civil society. "Many times we meet for discussions, round tables, etc. We have also signed a memorandum with IDIS Viitorul. We continue to count on the support of civil society, on your courage and ambition to identify problems, gaps, and illegalities in this area, which is very important for the country. Public procurement is about public money", said Lilia Radul.

According to Sergiu Lazarencu, member of the Moldovan Parliament, member of the Committee on Economy, Budget and Finance, once the negotiations for Moldova's accession to the European Union (EU) are launched, the country will be eligible to access funds, which will have to be absorbed quickly, qualitatively and in compliance with the legal framework. "In this context, it is important to take steps to improve public procurement at all levels of government, but also to increase the involvement of civil society in decision-making processes at all levels. Parliament will give all the necessary support to develop a public procurement system capable of providing value for money in the use of public funds and will certainly be receptive and support all good proposals that will come from this platform", said Sergiu Lazarencu.

Julie Limoges, Head of the Economic Unit, Embassy of the United States of America, said that the US is always open to supporting initiatives focused on such important activities. "Transparent public procurement is an essential component of a transparent government. This provides assurance that public funds will be absorbed quickly and the benefits will be in the best interests of citizens. The value of public procurement works towards the welfare of citizens. It also contributes to economic development. As the Republic of Moldova moves along the road to EU membership, it will need to ensure that the public procurement system complies with European practical and theoretical standards. We support the Republic of Moldova in strengthening public procurement and building a more prosperous society," said Julie Limoges.

In turn, Carolina Ungureanu, deputy director, project manager at IDIS Viitorul, said that the main objective of the platform is to come up with recommendations to improve the public procurement system, and the ultimate goal is to have efficiency in the use of public money and strengthen the capacities of all actors involved in this process. "We at IDIS Viitorul are constantly coming up with recommendations to improve the legal framework. When certain documents are published for discussion, we are the ones who provide the necessary expertise and support. The experience of the Republic of Moldova is intended to be transposed to other countries, organizations, and institutions as a model. We are glad that the work we do every day at IDIS Viitorul in the field of public procurement is reflected in tangible results. The fact that you, members of this platform, are here today means that you want discussions and cooperation, that there is a need to meet at the same table, altogether, to address problems, to see perspectives, even if they sometimes differ, but to find that consensus", said Carolina Ungureanu.

In the second part of the event, the first working session of the NPPP took place. Discussions focused on legal, procedural and technical issues and challenges in the field of public works procurement. The members of the NPPP outlined the problems and came up with solutions and recommendations to overcome them. The secretariat of the NPPP is IDIS Viitorul, which collected the problems identified and the recommendations formulated to overcome them. These will be brought to the attention of the institutions with the necessary powers to study and implement them.

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The project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement  is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with the American organization Partnership for Transparency Fund. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, but also security and foreign policy risks.

Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improving governance, increasing transparency, promoting the rule of law, and reducing corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.

At the third meeting of the Coalition for Monitoring Public Procurement on December 13, the Open Spending EU Coalition related their experience on a systemic approach to transparency in public spending. Another topic addressed was the shortcomings identified by the Association for Efficient and Accountable Governance (AGER) in the monitoring process for health procurements carried out by the Center for Centralized Public Procurement in Healthcare (CAPCS).

The Coalition for Monitoring Public Procurement was created at the initiative of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, within the project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova, implemented in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The coalition aims to support public procurement reforms in the Republic of Moldova. More than 20 civil society organizations, investigative journalists, experts and independent monitors from the Republic of Moldova are members of the Coalition.

Carolina Ungureanu, the project coordinator and vice director at IDIS Viitorul, said at the beginning of the meeting that it is important for the members of the Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition to know the good practices of other organizations that monitor public procurement. "It is important for us as membres of civil society to have additional tools and knowledge about how public procurement should be monitored and how public money is spent. It is important for us to know exactly the most appropriate ways, so that we can then have qualitative monitoring and come up with recommendations to improve the public procurement system, for contracting authorities, but also for decision makers, who are responsible for public procurement policies."

In attendance at the meeting was Gina S. Lentine, Program Officer, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Office of Global Programs, said that civil society in Moldova has always had a role to play in strengthening democracy, in promoting open and constructive discussions with the government, and in helping to hold the government accountable for failures, regardless of who is in power,. "You really have a very important job in advancing efforts in this direction. I am delighted to hear about your efforts and the solutions that you are proposing. After all the work that you are doing, I have seen that you have been able to make progress, like in increasing the integrity of public authorities at the national level. We see that they have started to respond to some of your recommendations. They are not simply taking them into consideration, but are actually actively working with you to address some of these important issues that you have identified. We are very proud to be able to support these efforts of yours in this important work aimed at advancing anti-corruption efforts here in the Republic of Moldova at this vital time for the country, for its growing democracy."

Krzysiek Izdebski, co-leader of the Open Spending EU Coalition, gave an online presentation of the Open Spending EU Coalition. According to the co-leader, the Coalition brings together academics, experts and specialists working in different EU Member States for the transparency of public procurement spending and EU funds. At the same time, the legislation and regulations of the public procurement systems of EU member countries were analyzed and it was found that there are many laws and many regulations, but the important thing is that there is transparency in the spending of EU funds. "Public procurement is an important part of our work, but there are other ways in which EU money is spent. We want to make sure that the whole system is absolutely transparent. We want to follow the money that comes directly from the EU budget to subcontractors."

Krzysiek Izdebski also said that while there are differences in European countries' procurement legislation, they are trying to influence the legal provisions to make the right changes. In the coming years, says the Coalition co-leader, members will also focus on monitoring countries at the pre-accession stage of EU membership, as there are different transparency rules for different funds managed by the EU and the aim is to support countries in the pre-accession process. "Here we are not talking about monitoring for the sake of monitoring, but we want to check whether or not there has been corruption in spending. We very much support the pre-accession process, but we need to come up with some key rules for transparency of EU funds."

Another of the Coalition's activities, says Krzysiek Izdebski, is to ensure that all public procurement and spending is public. This means that member states are required to publish public procurement data in real time. "In recent years we have focused on bringing more transparency to the recovery and resilience funds that have been distributed by the EU in the pandemic. We found that there was no provision for transparency in the regulation behind these funds, nor in Member States' regulations. There was no obligation to publish data on actual expenditure. "From the very beginning it was a problem to understand where this money went. And there was the problem of trust in public institutions, which is decreasing and we are trying to be very vocal about these issues. There are major discrepancies between countries. We need to create policies to increase the quality of human rights. We need to understand how money is spent in the EU member states as well. We are trying to intervene, and to get in touch with decision-makers to generate those necessary changes."

Olga Diaconu, Project Coordinator at the Association for Efficient and Accountable Governance (AGER), presented the shortcomings identified by AGER in the monitoring process of centralized procurements in health carried out by CAPCS. Double standards were found in the procurement of medicines and major problems were identified in the procurement of ambulances. Diaconu said that in the Republic of Moldova there are medicines and medical devices of poor quality because the government always chooses the lowest-priced offers. "This is the criterion most often used in public procurement in Moldova, including in the procurement of medicines. We pay a lot of money, but the quality is not always the best. In some cases medicines that are authorized in Moldova are accepted, in other cases medicines unauthorized in countries with high quality standards are purchased. There are also situations where medicines are accepted that have been authorized only in the country of origin of the medicine. There are exceptions in the legislation that allow authorities to juggle. In some cases they buy authorized medicines, in other cases - unauthorized".

Discussing ambulance procurement, Diaconu said that this year there were two procurements for ambulances, worth €5 million (~$5,493,750), in two lots. The procurement specified four by four ambulances because it is difficult to reach some villages with a four by two type vehicles. However, most of the ambulances offered in the two lots were four by two types. In both lots a Romanian company would have been the favored awardee because the company is owned by a state dignatary. Diaconu stated, "CAPCS, although it indicated in the tender specifications that ambulances meeting EN1789 standards were being procured and reference was made to European directives, nevertheless left it to the discretion of the economic operators to choose how to verify that the ambulances met these criteria."

At the meeting, three civil society organizations were assigned to be part of the National Platform for Public Procurement: AGER, Public Association Local Invest, and Transparency International Moldova.

So far, the Coalition for Monitoring Public Procurement has held two meetings, where several topical issues in the field of public procurement were discussed including: the national program on development of public procurements system for the years 2023-2026, transparency and reporting of low-value procurements, and procurement rigging, among other topics.

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The project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement  is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with the American organization Partnership for Transparency Fund. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, but also security and foreign policy risks.

Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improving governance, increasing transparency, promoting the rule of law, and reducing corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.

The National Bank of Moldova (NBM) and the State Road Administration (ASD) have expressed their openness and willingness to participate in the National Public Procurement Platform to promote the reform of the public procurement system. The team of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, which implements the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project with Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF), met with representatives of the two institutions in order to strengthen and coordinate cooperation efforts.

The meeting was attended by Olga Pisarenco, Head of the Procurement and Contract Management Department, and Ludmila Ionițel, Senior Legal Advisor, from the Procurement and Management Department of the institution. ASD was represented at the meeting by Deputy Director Serghei Galusca, Petru Zolotcov, Head of the Records Service, Field Procurements, Sergiu Godiac, Head of the Roads Service, and Natalia Turcan, Head of the Public Procurement Service.

Carolina Ungureanu, Deputy Director of IDIS Viitorul, spoke about the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project, which aims to establish the National Platform for Public Procurement (NPPP). Carolina Ungureanu said that the platform's mission is to improve the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of the national public procurement system by addressing problems in the system, identifying legal, technical or procedural solutions, and proposing them to be integrated into the sector's policies by decision makers.

She also noted that the aim of the NPPP is to create a permanent multi-stakeholder communication and dialogue mechanism for all actors in the national procurement system, including civil society. The members of the Platform will address priority issues in the field, adopt common positions on the problems and challenges of the public procurement system, as well as make recommendations to overcome them.

Previously, IDIS Viitorul signed a Cooperation Agreement with the Ministry of Finance and the National Agency for Dispute Resolution. It also had meetings for cooperation purposes with the management of the Public Procurement Agency (PAA), the National Agency for the Settlement of Disputes (NSC), the administration of the Centre for Centralised Public Procurement in Health (CAPCS), the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova (CCIRM) and the Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova (CCRM).

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The project Increasing the Integirty of Public Procurement Project is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with the American organization Partnership for Transparency Fund. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, but also security and foreign policy risks.

Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) is based in Washington DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improving governance, increasing transparency, promoting the rule of law, and reducing corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.

Institute for Development and Social Initiatives IDIS Viitorul, which implements the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project together with Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF), had new meetings with representatives of public institutions in Chisinau in order to strengthen and coordinate cooperation efforts to promote the reform of the procurement system. IDIS met with the Centre for Centralised Public Procurement in Health (CAPCS) on October 19, with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova (CCIRM) on October 23, and with the Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova (CCRM) on October 24.

Carolina Ungureanu, Deputy Director of IDIS Viitorul, thanked the leadership of the three institutions for their openness to discuss opportunities for collaboration and in particular the creation of a multi-stakeholder platform. She also explained the purpose of the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project, reviewed the activities carried out so far and those to be implemented, including the creation of the National Platform for Public Procurement (PNAP), for which IDIS Viitorul has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Ministry of Finance.

Carolina Ungureanu invited the three institutions to become members of the Platform, which will be a national discussion forum, a permanent communication and dialogue mechanism for all actors in the public procurement sector. Within the Platform, members will have the opportunity to address priority issues, adopt common positions on the problems and challenges of the public procurement system, as well as formulate recommendations to overcome the challenges discussed.

Gheorghe Gorceag, Director of CAPCS, thanked IDIS for having the initiative to launch such a platform, saying that the institution he heads is open to cooperate with all actors in the system. He also said that CAPCS plays an important role in the functioning of the entire health system in the country, as it manages annual purchases worth about two billion lei (~$429,701,000), and this volume is increasing year by year. Similarly, the list of goods (medicines and medical devices) procured centrally by CAPCS for the 400 or so medical institutions across the country is also expanding.

Mihai Bîlba, Deputy Director of CCIRM, mentioned that the institution he represents participated in the committee on the implementation of the MTender system. At the same time, the CCI organized capacity building activities for economic operators on participation in public procurement, including those conducted electronically through MTender. Mihai Bîlba also said that CCIRM is interested in participating in the Platform, as economic operators always have questions about the public procurement process.

For his part, Marian Lupu, President of the CCRM, said that the launch of the Platform is an absolutely necessary idea, but reiterated that there will be many difficulties in its functioning, as the participating actors will come with diametrically opposed points of view, sometimes even interests. According to Marian Lupu, the CCRM is open to collaboration with civil society and is interested in better analyzing audit reports and taking action on recommendations. Marian Lupu also underlined that the CoRCA attaches great importance to small value procurement and believes that this topic should be put on the agenda of the Platform's discussions. The CoR was open to signing a cooperation agreement with IDIS Viitorul.

The draft rules on the functioning of the Platform will be sent for consultation to all those who agree to become members that actively participate in the Platform's activities. It will be possible to discuss the rules at the first meeting of the Platform, which will take place before the end of the year.

On October 16 2023, IDIS Viitorul had its first two meetings with the management of the Public Procurement Agency and the National Agency for Dispute Resolution in order to strengthen and coordinate cooperation efforts to promote the reform of the procurement system.

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The Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with the Partnership for Transparency Fund. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, but also security and foreign policy risks.

Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) is based in Washington DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improving governance, increasing transparency, promoting the rule of law, and reducing corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.

On October 16, 2023, the team of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, which implements the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project together with Partnership for Transparency Fund, had meetings with the management of the Public Procurement Agency (PPA) and the National Agency for Solving Complaints (NASC) for the consolidation and coordination of cooperative efforts to promote reform of the public procurement system.

Carolina Ungureanu, deputy director of IDIS Viitorul, thanked the management of the two agencies for taking the time to meet. She provided information on the  project, describing activities already carried out, as well as activities that will be implemented, including the creation of a National Platform for Public Procurement, for which IDIS signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Ministry of Finance.

Carolina Ungureanu proposed to the leaders of the two Agencies to join the platform, which will have the role of a national discussion forum. This permanent mechanism will facilitate communication and dialogue for stakeholders in the field like the authorities responsible for policies, control, regulation, as well as contracting authorities, non-governmental organizations, and economic operators. The objective is to discuss current challenges and solutions (legal, technical, procedural, organizational, etc.) based on a participatory and strategic approach.

According to Carolina Ungureanu, the meetings of the Platform will facilitate the formulation of a common position on the problems and challenges of the public procurement system. Meetings will be held once every three months, or as needed, and will end with recommendations to overcome the challenges and issues discussed. Carolina Ungureanu added that IDIS Viitorul has decided to have bilateral meetings with each actor to identify a list of issues to be discussed at the Platform meetings.

Angela Nani, NASC director, agreed to the idea of the NASC signing a cooperation agreement with IDIS Viitorul and also mentioned that NASC is waiting for reactions from civil society organizations on the work carried out by NASC.

The participants in the discussion found that the biggest problem of public procurement processes is related to the contract execution stage, which is less supervised and controlled. Thus, NASC recommends that non-governmental organizations focus more on analyzing this stage.

IDIS Viitorul emphasized that the Platform would allow the discussion of these issues in a multilateral format. Depending on the topics on the agenda, those concerned and with decision-making power will be invited to participate. Thus, problems will be addressed multilaterally and a common position on the problems will be formulated, which will include the solutions proposed by all parties. The agenda of the discussions will be formed by the members of the Platform, including the NASC, to make known the difficulties and challenges they face.

Ruslan Mălai, the director of PPA, appreciated the opportunity to discuss some recommendations on certain problems and challenges of the procurement system through such a Platform. He suggested that the World Bank, the delegation of the European Union and other development partners of the Republic of Moldova could participate in the meetings of the Platform. IDIS welcomed the idea of ​​inviting those institutions to some meetings, in which their input can play an important role for the procurement system and they could thus contribute to the effort to accelerate the reform of the electronic procurement system.

IDIS Viitorul, PPA and NASC agreed to coordinate their efforts to prepare the activities of the Platform.

One of the issues that will be discussed at the Platform meetings is the current situation of Law no. 74/2020 regarding utilities procurement, regarding its application methods and the authorities with control powers in the field of sectoral procurement.

The draft of the Platform's operating regulations will be sent for consultation to all its members, including the NASC and the PPA. The regulation will be discussed at the first meeting of the Platform, which will take place by the end of the year. The leadership of PPA and NASC confirmed their participation in the launch meeting of the Platform.

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The Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political, and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, security, and foreign policy risks.

Partnership for Transparency Fund  (PTF) is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improve governance, increase transparency, promote the rule of law, and reduce corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.

On Friday, September 29, 2023, the Coalition of Monitors in public procurement had its second working session. The Coalition was created by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul as part of the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project, implemented in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. At the meeting, members of the coalition addressed several topics, themes, and issues in the field of public procurement, including the National Programme on Development of Public Procurements System for 2023-2026, transparency and reporting surrounding low-value purchase, and bid rigging.

Diana Enachi, the procurement expert at IDIS Viitorul, spoke about the National Programme on Development of Public Procurements System for 2023-2026, which was approved in August 2023. She said, “this is the most important strategic document in the field of public procurement and has been expected since 2020. It is welcome because it shows that the government has a vision, plans, and goals. It is an ambitious but necessary program. On the one hand, representatives of civil society and the government can work together to identify ways to collaborate and implement planned actions. On the other hand, it is necessary for representatives of civil society to monitor the implementation of the program, its progress at its different stages, what is being achieved, and what is not. If even sixty percent of this program is achieved, we will see finally see some results form the public procurement reforms that began in 2016 but which are still only a little bit visible.”

Ala Revenco, president of the Părinţi Solidari Association (in English, “Parents in Solidarity”), analyzed how low value public procurements are made through the MTedner system under the regulation in force since July 1, 2023. Revenco said, “we have seen a fifty percent increase in the thresholds for low-value public procurement and we have seen new ideas and methods for conducting low-value public procurement. It seems like transparency is improving, but there is still much to be done. The good thing about this regulation is that it requires that small value purchases be carried out through SIA RSAP MTender, which makes them a bit more transparent. Părinţi Solidari analyzed the low-value purchases carried out by the Education Department of the municipality of Chisinau and noticed that the new regulation did not change the behavior of the authorities. It is good to see more bidders for these low-value public procurements, but it remains difficult to extract automated data on low-value public procurements for civil society representatives.”

Olga Diaconu, project coordinator at the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance (AGER), presented some examples of anti-competitive practices in the field of public procurement. Diaconu said, “during the monitoring we at AGER carried out, we identified instances where contracting authorities described specifications which were so ambiguous as to exclude some contractors from the competition. At the same time, we identified not only some instances in which the contract was awarded to contractors who submitted a non-compliant offer, but also instances of anti-competitive agreements and bid rigging in public procurements. Although we notified several state institutions about these anti-competitive practices, the institutions did not consider these events notable enough to investigate, despite the fact that they clearly indicated bid rigging. The authorities passed their responsibility for investigation from one to the other and have not determined whether or not bid rigging was actually involved.”

Carolina Ungureanu, project coordinator and deputy director of IDIS Viitorul, addressed the members of the Coalition, stating, “the agenda for the Coalition’s discussions can include topics that you consider necessary and important to discuss as well as items that need to be clarified. One of the objectives of the coalition is to use the experience and expertise that we have developed during our monitoring efforts to identify common problems so that we can later bring that knowledge to meetings of the National Public Procurement Platform, a forum that includes not only civil society representatives but also decision-makers. These discussions will add value to the field of public procurement.”

The Coalition of Monitors in Public Procurement is composed of civil society organizations, journalists, experts, and independent monitors from the Republic of Moldova who joined together in a common effort to monitor public procurement. The Coalition will be active until the summer of 2024, with the possibility of extension with the consent of the members.

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The Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political, and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, security, and foreign policy risks.

Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improve governance, increase transparency, promote the rule of law, and reduce corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.

On September 26, 2023, the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul and the Moldovan Ministry of Finance signed a cooperation agreement that will increase collaboration on improving the transparency and efficiency of the public procurement process with the end goal of ensuring appropriate value for public money spent.

The agreement was signed in the context of the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project which IDIS implements in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support the reform of the public procurement sector in the Republic of Moldova and increase the transparency and fairness of public procurement procedures by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

The parties to the agreement consider that the partnership between civil society and public authorities offers a means of increasing the quality of public services in the interest of citizens. The agreement emphasizes that public procurement is an important component of public finances, which is confirmed by the volume of public financial resources that are spent by Moldovan contracting authorities through the system for the procurement of goods, services, and works. The agreement stipulates that ”in 2022, the volume of public procurement exceeded 13 billion lei (≈$713,996,804), which is why ensuring and improving the transparency and efficiency of this process is imperative.”

In June 2022, the Republic of Moldova obtained the status of candidate country to become a member of the European Union and assumed the obligation to implement the recommendations of the European Commission to take necessary measures to improve public procurement at all levels of government, as well as increase the involvement of civil society in decision-making processes at all levels. Thus, the agreement re-emphasizes the need for collaboration between all actors in the public procurement sector and the importance of civil society contribution through monitoring, development of policies, digital tools, and participation in the effort to improve the regulatory framework.

The agreement recognizes that the establishment of effective and permanent communication between the representatives of public institutions responsible for public procurement, contracting authorities, economic operators, and civil society is the basic precondition for coordinating and harmonizing the interests of citizens with those of the state in a democratic atmosphere and in the spirit of the rule of law.

According to the agreement, the parties will organize joint meetings, roundtables, and other activities at which they will address various topics in the field of public procurement and issues that require discussions and consultations with all actors of the sector, in addition to working on finding solutions to address challenges. Additionally, the parties will ensure the systemic and organized participation of their representatives in the activities of the National Public Procurement Platform.

In addition, they will discuss reports, analyses, and other useful information and offer assistance and support in order to create a public procurement sector that generates appropriate value for public money and ensures the provision of quality public services. Also, the parties will exchange opinions, experiences, ideas, concepts, information, and analysis materials to create an effective mechanism for dialogue and collaboration of state institutions and civil society monitors and experts to support the principles of transparency and efficiency in the public procurement process.

Lastly, the parties agree on the elaboration and presentation of consolidated common positions on major topics of the public procurement process, especially on issues affecting the efficient operation and effectiveness of public procurement at the national level.

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The Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

IDIS is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political, and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, security, and foreign policy risks.

Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to support innovative civil society organization-led and related approaches to reduce corruption, increase transparency, strengthen governance, and enhance accountability in low- and middle-income economies and widely shares knowledge gleaned through its work. Since 2000, PTF has collaborated with over 160 local civil society partners in approximately 55 countries on more than 285 projects.

Five civil society organizations from the Republic of Moldova will benefit from grants worth 115 thousand dollars for monitoring public procurement  carried out by central and local public authorities of 1st and 2nd tier, as well as sectoral procurement. The grant contracts have been signed at the end of August, and the implementation of the projects started on 01.09.2023.

The organizations were selected as a result of the evaluation of the files submitted in the 2nd round of sub-grants, within a call for proposals launched in the framework of the "Strengthening integrity in public procurement" project, implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul", in partnership with the US organisation Partnership for Transparency Fund. The purpose of the project is to support the reform of the public procurement sector in the Republic of Moldova, and to increase the transparency and equity of public procurement procedures by strengthening the capacity of citizens to make the relevant institutions accountable.

The selected organizations are the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance (AGER); Association of Independent Press (API); Transparency International-Moldova (TI-Moldova); The Association for Human Rights Lex XXI” (ADO Lex XXI) NGO and the ”Părinți Solidari ” Association. The project proposals have been evaluated based on evaluation criteria assessing their relevance, impact, expertise, and the efficiency of the budgeted resources, all of which were published in the Funding Guide of the call for proposals.

The organizations have undertaken to monitor the public procurement carried out by contracting authorities/entities such as the General Directorates of Social Assistance in the Northern regions and those within the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection; local authorities involved in the implementation of the "European Village" National Program; municipal departments and enterprises of the Chisinau City Hall, the five Education Directorates within the General Education Directorate of Chisinau Municipality, etc.

The selected organizations, after carrying out the analyses, journalistic investigations, and monitoring, will formulate and submit recommendations to contracting authorities/entities, decision-makers, and control/law/anti-corruption bodies, as appropriate. At the end of the project, the selected organizations will also prepare monitoring reports.

Carolina Ungureanu, project coordinator, vice director of IDIS "Viitorul": "We are glad that several non-governmental organizations from all over the territory of the Republic of Moldova, for.. ex. Șoldănesti, Bălți, Chișinău, Orhei, Ungheni, Criuleni, Basarabeasca, Cimișlia, etc., applied for the second round of our sub-granting program. It was difficult to select the winners because all the applications were good, and interesting and included proposals for monitoring activities that met our expectations. We expect to work productively with the five organizations selected to monitor public procurement at the national, central, local (APL level I and APL level II), sectoral levels, using a variety of tools, and have results and recommendations for decision-makers in view of supporting the reform of the public procurement sector in the Republic of Moldova, in order to increase transparency, efficiency and responsibility in the use of public money".

Lilia Zaharia-Cravcenco, the executive director of TI-Moldova: ”The field of public procurement was and is a problematic one in the Republic of Moldova. For several years, civil society organizations, together with investigative journalists, have been trying to bring to the surface the irregularities and deviations resorted to by some public authorities, but also by some economic agents, who often work in collusion with the contracting authorities to commit illegalities in the public procurement process. We decided to apply to this project to monitor the procurement procedures carried out by Chișinău City Hall and municipal enterprises. In our materials, we would like to see if there are situations when some public procurement is reported as a success of one official or another, especially since we are in an election year, the local elections are close, and some candidates could use public money in this way so as to polish his or her image".

Maria Covalciuc, executive director of AGER: ”We applied for the second round of grants to have continuity in the activity we started. In the first project, we sought to make a recommendation for the amendment of Law 74/2020, namely on the utilities sector. This bill already exists at the Ministry of Finance, and along the way, we will see the related documents that will emerge and react to them if necessary. There are still things in the field that require or attention. Therefore we have proposed to continue this effort, within this project, in such a way that we have tangible results".

Ala Revenco, president of the ”Părinţi Solidari” Association: "In the municipality of Chișinău, the volumes of purchases at the level of education directorates are very high, only on small value purchases more than 10 million lei are granted per year, and to make more than 100 small value purchases within each directorate, and small value purchases often do not have the necessary transparency, I have seen how purchases are divided, how several contracts of small value are concluded with the same economic agents, in a short period of time, and it is obvious that these procedures are abused to favor someone. Our first round of monitoring had a general character, and, as we detected this problem now we want to observe how the new regulation on small-value purchases, which has been approved, will be respected. We want to see what illegalities we can detect regarding the conduct of small value purchases and how we can improve this area".

Petru Macovei, executive director of API: "Monitoring public procurement is a very important process for the democratic development of the country and the fight against corruption in the country. We previously implemented projects regarding the monitoring of public procurement, through which we tried to coagulate the efforts of journalists, and local activists in monitoring. For example, we wanted to see how public procurement contracts are fulfilled in different fields. This project will be a continuation of our previous efforts. The "European Village" National Program is a very big investment and effort by the government of the Republic of Moldova and its donors. We believe that is important that the funding provided for the development of communities in the country must be transparent. The contracting procedures of service providers must also be transparent. Through the planned monitoring, through the investigations that will be written, through the articles promoting the principle of transparency in the activity of LPAs, we will contribute to this".

Diana Grosu, president of Association for Human Rights Lex XXI” (ADO Lex XXI) NGO: "Our organization is very dedicated to the existing problems in the public procurement and transparency sector in the north of the Republic of Moldova. Through our activity, we contribute to the reduction of corruption in the field of public procurement, as we keep an eye on public money and monitor, and hold public authorities accountable. We applied for the second round of grants against the background of these circumstances. We have good results from the first round and we want to continue. Until now, only the municipality of Bălți was in our focus, in the second round we will look at the northern districts".

The first round of sub-grants took place between April 2022 and June 2023, with eight projects being implemented and financed. The second round will be implemented between September 2023 and July 2024. During the competition, two information sessions were organized, where the Funding Guide and the objectives of the grant program were presented in detail and answers to the participants' questions were provided. In total, 15 applications have been submitted (3 - North; 10 - Center; 2 - South).

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The „Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement” project is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

IDIS ”Viitorul” is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political, and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, security, and foreign policy risks.

Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improve governance, increase transparency, promote the rule of law, and reduce corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.

Several civil society organizations, journalists, experts and independent monitors from the Republic of Moldova will strengthen their efforts to involve and monitor public procurement by founding the Coalition of monitors in public procurement. In this respect, on June 29, the first meeting to establish the Coalition took place. It is created by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, jointly with the Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) from the USA, as part of Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project, which aims to support reforms in the field of procurement public in Moldova.

The Coalition of monitors in public procurement will carry out its activity for a minimum of 12 months (regulated by its own strategy and Organization and Operation Regulation), with the possibility of continuation if the members are interested.

"The Coalition's mission is to consolidate and coordinate the efforts of civil society that monitors public procurement in the process of participating in the dialogue with public authorities. The purpose of the Coalition is to ensure a synergy of the efforts of the civil society that monitors public procurement in identifying problems and proposing solutions to remedy them to the competent public authorities. The aim of these efforts is to influence public policies, increase the transparency and integrity of public procurement, ensure efficiency in the use of public money, minimize the risks of public authorities, and finally, provide citizens with quality public goods, works and services", said Carolina Ungureanu, Deputy director IDIS Viitorul and the Project manager.

For his part, Hady Fink, the Project director from the PTF, emphasized "We very much hope that the Monitoring Coalition will represent a cornerstone in building a robust infrastructure for monitoring public procurement in the Republic of Moldova. The coalition will develop the capacities of civil society through the exchange of experience and will ensure that the findings and recommendations from the monitoring activities contribute to the improvement of the public procurement system".

"The coalition established today is a platform to make our voices heard, to be stronger and to have a greater impact on increasing the transparency and integrity of the public procurement sector. The coalition remains open to other organizations and monitors who want to join our efforts," urged Diana Enachi, Project coordinator and public procurement expert at IDIS "Viitorul".

And for the regulation of public procurement monitoring efforts, including through the exchange of monitoring practices and techniques, the members will be guided by the Coalition Strategy, but also by its Organization and Operation Regulations. The regulation defines the mission, purpose and objectives of the Coalition, among which we can mention: ensuring a participative and inclusive discussion environment, with permanent/systematic debates on issues in the field of public procurement; developing a common vision of civil society on the priorities and main directions of development of the national public procurement system; influencing the decision-making process in the field of public procurement, through active and transparent involvement in the dialogue with regulatory authorities; participation in the elaboration of public policies in the field of public procurement, monitoring and evaluation of their implementation; studying and discussing the relevant European and international experience in the field of public procurement; promoting transparency in the activity of public authorities with attributions in the field of public procurement; elaboration of studies, analyses, researches and reports in the field of public procurement; participation in training and education actions in the field of public procurement and their monitoring, etc.

"We aim to contribute to the transparency of public procurement and to come up with recommendations for improving procurement processes at all stages of implementation", Vadim Ţurcan, the associate expert of IDIS Viitorul, emphasized in this regard.

The members of the Coalition are representatives of civil society organizations, investigative journalists, independent monitors, experts and other people interested in public procurement monitoring. They will receive support from the IDIS Viitorul team and PTF to apply in a consolidated way the expertise, experience, advocacy campaigns and recommendations formulated in order to improve public procurement in Moldova.

  "We will have the opportunity to collaborate more and we will be a strong platform that will be able to submit policy proposals, initiate discussions with decision-makers and authorities to contribute to the improvement of the legal framework and the way in which the legal provisions in the field of public procurement are executed", is the opinion of Olga Diaconu, Project Coordinator within the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance AGER.

Valeriu Rusu, the Executive Director of the Habitat Association mentioned "We want to join our efforts so that the taxpayers' public money is used in a positive trend, a fact that will contribute to the development of our localities".

For her part, Lilia Zaharia, director of Transparency International Moldova, emphasized the importance of the partnership for procurement integrity: "I am glad that you have this initiative to coagulate civil society in the field of procurement, highlight, call out and combat illegalities in the field."

And Dumitru Cimpoeş, president of the Feedback Association from Basarabeasca, said "The authorities are not as transparent as we think, and we do not know how public money is really spent. For this reason, we are motivated to monitor public procurement to ensure local transparency".

 "The educational field is very affected by corruption and at the country level we see a negative trend in the use of money, not taking priority needs into account. Through the Coalition, we will join our efforts and maybe we will be able to stop this trend", wants Ala Revenco, president of the Părinţi Solidari Association,

"I want to contribute through my knowledge and experience to the consolidation of the integrity of public procurement for greater transparency, for the efficiency of public money, the prevention of fraud and corruption in public procurement", added the independent monitor, Ion Bulmaga.

Also, within the Coalition, various materials should be encouraged (articles on public procurement monitoring, best practices, results of recommendations proposed to public authorities in the field, etc.), and some materials will be remunerated. The materials developed and the recommendations formulated by the members of the Coalition will later be publicly communicated and transmitted to the decision-makers, thus contributing to the improvement of legislation, policies and practices in the sector.

For more information, please contact the project's Press Officer, Ana-Maria Veveriță, at ana.veverita@viitorul.org or veverita.maria@gmail.com or (022) 221844.

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The Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political, and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, security, and foreign policy risks.

Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improve governance, increase transparency, promote the rule of law, and reduce corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.

Under the slogan "America and Moldova - success together", the team of the  Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul" together with the Partnership Fund for Transparency from the USA, presented the project during America's Day, held on May 20, 2023, in the municipality of Cahul.

For the third year, the US Embassy organized a series of outdoor public events dedicated to the cooperation between the Republic of Moldova and the United States of America. The event, dedicated to the strong partnership between the Republic of Moldova and the USA, highlighted the positive impact of American assistance for the residents of the Republic of Moldova.

The start of America's Day in Cahul was given by his Excellency, the US Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, Kent D. Logsdon and the Mayor of Cahul, Nicolae Dandis. "Dear friends, partners and guests. Many thanks to the Cahul authorities, whose presence demonstrates the partnership and friendship that the USA and Moldova have built over the decades. Since the independence of the Republic of Moldova, the US has invested more than 2 billion dollars in Moldova to help Moldovans build a democratic, prosperous and safe future", the US Ambassador said during the event. For his part, the mayor of Cahul thanked for the projects supported by the American people and their importance for the locality.

The Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project  aims to support reforms in the field of public procurement in Moldova, which will increase the transparency and fairness of public procurement by empowering citizens to hold the relevant institutions accountable. In this sense, America's Day in Cahul was a very good platform for the project team to communicate directly with visitors and to promote among the public the values of transparency and the integrity of purchases. Thus, during the day, the participants were informed about the objectives of the project and the results of the monitoring of public procurement by civil society, as well as other initiatives of IDIS "Viitorul" supported by the US.

"We are honored to present at America's Day in Cahul part of the products developed within the project - "Strengthening integrity in public procurement" - implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul together with the Partnership Fund for Transparency in the USA. Thus, the citizens, but also other projects and programs (USAID, IOM, U.S. Embassy Moldova, the project Institutional and Structural Reforms in Moldova, Comunitatea Mea, Promo - LEX, etc.) learned more about our actions and those of the sub-grantees (Ziarul de Garda, Lex XXI, Solidary Parents, etc.) in the field of public procurement. We are glad that the public procurement monitoring guide - a tool for civil society, the newsletters, the leaflets, the infographics from the booklets regarding the financing of education and how we contribute to better financial transparency of educational institutions, etc., have aroused an increased interest. We tried to communicate to the America Day participants about the methodology of the red flags and how citizens can monitor the efficiency of the use of public money in their locality. Also, the IDIS "Viitorul" reports developed within the project "Assessment of the status of local democracy in Moldova", with the financial support of the National Endowment for Democracy, were presented," said Carolina Ungureanu, Deputy director of IDIS "Viitorul" and the Project Manager.

America Days, organized this year in Chisinau, Balti and Cahul, included the exhibition of American assistance projects. Also, those present had interesting activities and thematic areas for the general public: the gastronomic area, the America Bus area, where the public had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the opportunities to learn English, the stage area where a concert took place of music performed by an American band, as well as the screening of the American film FINCH, etc.

America's Days in the Republic of Moldova are in their third edition, marking 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic and friendly relations between Moldova and the United States of America.

For more information, please contact the project's press officer, Ana-Maria Veveriță: ana.veverita@viitorul.org/veverita.maria@gmail.com or phone (0 22) 221844.

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The project "Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement" is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul", in partnership with the Partnership for Transparency Fund (USA). The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

IDIS "Viitorul" is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research on several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, but also security and foreign policy risks.

The Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) is based in Washington DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improve governance, increase transparency, promote the rule of law and reduce corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.