The particularities of public procurement of works were addressed at the first training of the Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition, which took place on Friday, December 6, 2024. This training was organized within the framework of the project "Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement”, implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul", in collaboration with the American organization Partnership for Transparency.
The trainer, Vadim Țurcan, university lecturer, Ph.D. engineer, and expert in public procurement, spoke to the participants about the provisions of the Urban Planning and Construction Code No. 434 of December 28, 2023, which will come into force on January 1, 2025. He also presented to the audience the online system reflecting the normative framework in construction, www.ednc.gov.md, as well as Moldovan construction regulations, practical codes of works, rules of calculating cost estimates for works (WinCmeta), rules for determining quality standards in construction, as well as common errors in the realization of construction works.
"Such trainings are essential in themselves to improve the efficiency of the procurement process. Public procurement of works is a complex area, with detailed legislation and formal procedures to follow. Together we learn how to correctly apply the legal and administrative procedures to organize and manage public works procurement, ensuring that it is efficient, transparent, and in line with national legislation," said Vadim Țurcan.
Carolina Ungureanu, project manager, deputy director of IDIS "Viitorul", stated at the opening of the meeting that the topic of the first training was chosen by the members of the Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition because they want to strengthen their capacities in the field of monitoring public procurement of works. "This is an area that requires a lot of attention, as questions frequently arise when a procedure for public procurement of works is being carried out. The monitors need to know how to interpret certain data and documents when trying to see if an authority has done the full calculation, if there are certain red flags in the procurement procedure, etc.," said Carolina Ungureanu.
A good part of the training seminar was centered on interactive sessions and working group activities. A number of case studies have been discussed. Simolaions have taken place of processes of evaluating tenders for works procurement, of checking the minutes of works execution, and of procedures to identify the most frequent mistakes. Even participants who are experienced in the field relaed to the procurement of works mentioned that these practical exercises were very useful and that in the future it will be much easier for them to monitor such procedures.
Alexandru Crigan, director of the LocalInvest Public Association from the Riscani district, said that he came to participate in the training to learn more about the field of public works procurement. "We have experience in monitoring public procurement. I participate in the meetings of the working group on public procurement and yet sometimes I have the impression that I don't know all the ins and outs of this field," said Alexandru Crigan.
Natalia Țurcan, a public procurement monitor, said that she has been working in the field of procurement of works for several years and that she knows the field well, but, as it is one that constantly provokes discussions and questions, there is always room to learn more.
Valeriu Rusu, executive director of the Rezina Habitat Association, noted that the field of public works procurement is familiar to him, as he has monitored the procurement of works on the construction of the Rezina cement factory and of the Rezina Palace of Culture. "Works procurement is an interesting field. The works that are done must stand the test of time. These works in which public money is invested must be durable and sustainable," said Valeriu Rusu.
The Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition was created by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul", within the project "Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement", implemented in collaboration with the American Organization Partnership for Transparency. The Coalition aims to support public procurement reforms in the Republic of Moldova. Over 20 civil society organizations, investigative journalists, experts and independent monitors from the Republic of Moldova are members of the Coalition. Several trainings will be organized for Coalition members, where trainings in the field of public procurement will be organized.
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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. 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, and 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 members of the Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition met for the sixth time on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. The five second-round sub-grantee monitors of the project "Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement" presented the results and impact of their monitoring projects conducted during September 2023 and September 2024. Andrew Freeman, Economic Officer at the U.S. Embassy in in the Republic of Moldova and Hady Fink, Project Director from Partnership for Transparency - PTF attended. The monitors discussed the recommendations they conveyed to the monitored procurement authorities formulated during the course of their monitoring projects, as well as the reactions of those authorities to the recommendations, including to what extent the public procurement process has been improved as a consequence.
In the second part of the meeting, an analytical note on the system of professionalization and certification of public procurement specialists was discussed. The document reiterates the need to develop a certification system in the Republic of Moldova in order to solve the problems of capacity and lack of qualified specialists in the field. At the same time, the note contains a survey of current policies and commitments of the government, analyzes practices in other countries, and formulates recommendations for the establishment of a certification system aligned to the needs and structure of the domestic procurement system.
Carolina Ungureanu, project manager and deputy director of IDIS "Viitorul", said at the opening of the meeting that within the Coalition, public procurement issues are discussed, which are then discussed again at the meetings of the National Platform for Public Procurement (NPPP). Where the Coalition is composed solely of civil society organizaitons (CSOs), the NPPP includes both CSOs and government organizations. "Each time we prepare an analysis on the topic, we discuss it and make recommendations, which are forwarded to the relevant institutions. For us it is important that we receive responses from the authorities with reference to the recommendations. In the Coalition we have members from civil society, investigative journalists, monitors, and procurement experts. We work together to enhance the integrity of the system. Our meetings are also attended by students, because we want to increase the number of experts monitoring public procurement. It is important for the younger generation to build their capacity to monitor public money," said Carolina Ungureanu.
Andrew Freeman, Economic Officer of the U.S. Embassy in the Republic of Moldova, said that the integrity and transparency of the procurement system are essential for the health of the economic and social system, but also for the trust of citizens in state institutions. "This issue is not only crucial in the Republic of Moldova, but also globally, where governments spend trillions of dollars annually, specifically on procurement, one of the most massive and relevant sectors for the development of institutions and the smooth functioning of the economy. These sums of money circulating in the field of public procurement also open the floodgates to corruption. These risks of corruption that exist in the procurement system erode people's confidence in the system, in state institutions. The more successful our efforts to root out corruption in procurement, the more successful the Moldovan government and the Moldovan economy will be," said Andrew Freeman.
Hady Fink, Project Director at Partnership for Transparency (PTF), said PTF has been active globally for more than 20 years. It has provided support to NGOs in more than 55 countries. In total, it has implemented close to 300 projects. "We have been implementing projects like this for a long time and would like to implement such projects in other countries. Your experience would help us to understand the positive aspects, the challenges you have encountered, to understand what we could have done to help you better. Within the team, we have found that this project, which we have with IDIS "Viitorul", is one of the best, the most successful. The success of this project is due to a massive effort made by each and every one of you. This success is due to the results of the monitoring of public procurement, the findings and recommendations are being gathered and are already being forwarded to the National Public Procurement Platform. And most importantly, these recommendations and findings are being taken into account to improve the national public procurement system," said Hady Fink.
Organizations that implemented projects in the second round of sub-grants then reported on the activities carried out and drew conclusions on the findings.
Transparency International-Moldova (TI-Moldova) monitored public procurement in Chisinau City Hall and several municipal enterprises, identifying vulnerabilities and risks of corruption, as well as challenging problems. Four journalistic investigations, a monitoring report, a press club and a radio show were organized to present the findings of the report. "The result we saw at the end was that the municipal authorities were open to receiving our recommendations. I appreciate the fact that we had the opportunity to implement such a project, one that promotes transparency in the procurement process, one that helps us and civil society, but also investigative journalists, to publicize certain irregularities and illegalities. We welcome the fact that after the recommendations and findings of civil society and investigative journalists, people are becoming more sensitive to acts of corruption or illegalities," said Lilia Zaharia.
The Association for Human Rights "Lex 21" from Balti municipality was a monitor in both rounds of subgrants. Valeria Ciolac, program coordinator of the association, said that the activities of the second round focused on monitoring public procurement in the social assistance sector in the Republic of Moldova. Thus, 7 investigations and 7 video reports were prepared based on the investigations. On the basis of the findings, complaints were written to the authorities concerned, a monitoring report was drafted, and recommendations were made to the contracting and regulatory authorities. "The project aimed to monitor public procurement procedures in the social assistance sector in the Republic of Moldova, with the aim to promote transparency, efficiency and integrity in the process of awarding public contracts and to ensure the provision of quality services in the field of social assistance", said Valeria Ciolac.
The Independent Press Association (API) monitored the procurement procedures of the national program "European Village" and "European Village Express" from 2023-2024. Ion Mazur, head of the Advocacy, Campaigns and Publications Department of the API, said that eight journalistic investigations were carried out, and six best practice articles and a monitoring report on public procurement were created. "We monitored 65 procurement procedures carried out by 65 contracting authorities in 32 districts. The value of the monitored procurement amounted to over 125 million lei (~26 million USD). This is the first project of its kind that API has implemented. The project gave us the opportunity to explore this area. We intend to capitalize on the experiences gained. The project allowed us to set up the beginning of a network of experts/journalists who could specialize in the field of public procurement", said Ion Mazur.
The NGO "Parents in Solidarity" was also a monitor in both rounds of subgrants. This time, it monitored the low-value public purchases (AVMs) carried out by 5 education directorates in Chisinau, one year after the entry into force of a new regulation. Four articles were written and a monitoring report was drafted, which showed that non-competitive procedures for MVAs predominated. According to Alei Revenco, as a result of the monitoring of the six education directorates, the directorate of the Buiucani sector was sanctioned by the Public Procurement Agency for the splitting of public procurement, based on a complaint that was sent by the A.O. "Parents in Solidarity". Ala Revenco expressed hope that similar sanctions will follow the other education directorates, as they all admitted to abuses in the use of public money and for a year they concluded direct contracts, mostly with favorite companies. "About 96 percent of the money used through AVMs during the monitored period, or 76.91 million lei (~16 million USD), was discretionary spending by the education directorates through purchases based on tax invoices and direct contracts. About 4 percent of the money used through AVMs in the monitored period, or 2.85 million lei, was spent through the low-value procurement procedure through MTender, which has no published contract," said Ala Revenco, executive director of the association.
The Association for Efficient and Accountable Governance (AGER), likewise, was awarded grants in both subgrant rounds to monitor sectoral public procurement. The first round monitored amendments to the Law on Sectoral Public Procurement. And to see the impact of these amendments, AGER applied for the second round. Olga Diaconu, project coordinator within AGER, said that seven investigative articles were written, two more than promised in AGER’s project proposal. A monitoring report with findings and recommendations for contracting authorities and entities was also prepared, as well as a round table to present the monitoring report was organized. "We aimed, through the implementation of the two projects, to contribute to the transparency of sectoral procurement, increase the level of knowledge and understanding of the provisions of the law, identify legislative gaps in sectoral procurement, and develop proposals to remedy them. I think we have succeeded", said Olga Diaconu.
During the meeting, Diana Enachi, project coordinator at IDIS "Viitorul", presented an analytical note on the system of professionalization and certification in public procurement, which analyzes current policies, certification systems functional in other countries (e.g. Croatia, Austria, Malta) and formulates solutions for the Republic of Moldova. The authors emphasize that in the Law on Public Procurement No. 131/2015, by the 2018 amendments, the notions of "certified specialist" and "procurement service provider" were introduced and the contracting authorities obtained the right to delegate the tasks of the working group to the certified procurement specialist. However, in spite of these provisions, and after two unsuccessful attempts to draft a Regulation on certification, to date there is still a lack of a mechanism for professionalization and certification in procurement.
Enachi argues that the lack of specialists and the lack of professional skills, at the level of contracting authorities, in particular local public authorities, undermines the quality and efficiency of the public procurement process. Referring to the research "Active and Passive Waste in Government Spending: Evidence from a Policy Experiment", the lack of professional skills in procurement is considered to be a more important problem than corruption, thus 83% of wasted resources in public procurement are due to lack of professionalization and only 17% - to corruption.
Valeriu Ciorba, an expert of "Parents in Solidarity" A.O., conducted research on the procurement data analysis system - BI, which processes data from MTender, a system that was stopped because its external funding was stopped. Valeriu Ciorba argues that there would not be good data quality in BI, the system is outdated. In his opinion, "we still need a system to make a big leap from selective monitoring of a few procedures to systemic monitoring of all procedures".
The Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition was created at the initiative of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul", within the project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement, implemented in collaboration with the American organization Partnership for Transparency. The Coalition aims to support public procurement reforms in the Republic of Moldova. Over 20 civil society organizations, investigative journalists, experts and independent monitors from the Republic of Moldova are members of the Coalition. So far, six meetings of the Coalition have been held, where several topical issues in the field of public procurement have been discussed.
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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. 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, and 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.
Pulsachizitii.md, an online platform dedicated to public procurement in the Republic of Moldova, was created by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul" together with the American organization Partnership for Transparency (PTF) within the project "Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement.”
The website has 5 separate headings by domain:
On the website you will also find the public procurement calendar, where events in the field are published, public procurement monitoring tools, as well as surveys on monitors’ experience in monitoring public procurement procedures.
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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. 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, and 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 members of the National Platform for Public Procurement (NPPP) met for the third time on Thursday, September 26, 2024, to discuss low-value procurements (LVP). This meeting occured one year after the adoption of the new regulation, GD 870/2022, which governs low-value procurements. During the meeting, the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul" and A.O. "Părinți Solidari " presented some recent results of the monitoring activities related to LVP. The NPPP members presented the experience of the authorities and entities they represent and made proposals for overcoming the difficulties in carrying out and reporting LVPs.
Carolina Ungureanu, deputy director of IDIS "Viitorul", said at the beginning of the meeting that it is important for each of us to be able to see the transparency and efficiency of the use of public money, recalling the analytical summary of the audit results related to public procurement in the period 2020-2021, in which the Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova estimated that low-value public procurement was about 9 billion lei (~57 million USD), an amount almost equal to the what is spent on open procurement (e.g., requests for quotations, public tenders, etc.) "Taking into account that we now have a new regulation, with other thresholds that have increased by about 50%, we could deduce that the amount of low-value procurement has also increased accordingly. There is no information, neither with the Public Procurement Agency nor with the Ministry of Finance, about the value of small-value procurement even one year after implementation. It is important to find out what the situation is one year after the entry into force of the new regulation on low-value procurement. We want to see the main problems, shortcomings and what recommendations we could make to improve certain aspects," said Carolina Ungureanu.
Ala Revenco, executive director of A.O. "Parents in Solidarity", likewise referred to the report of the Court of Accounts, according to which in 2020, compared to 2019, LVPs increased by 1.5 billion lei (~86 million USD). Most of the LVPs were not conducted through MTender, and some of the authorities did not even report them to the Public Procurement Agency (PPA). "The scale and value of small-value procurement has increased over time, but the attention to how we conduct them has not. When the thresholds for small-value procurement was 80 thousand lei (~4,500 USD) for goods and services and 100 thousand lei (~5,700 USD) for works, reporting was better. Now, when we have considerable thresholds, 300 thousand lei (~17,200 USD) for goods and services and 375 thousand lei (~21,500 USD) for works, especially when procedures for the same can be realized through payment invoices or direct contracts, we need better reporting and more serious and stricter regulations," said Ala Revenco.
Ala Revenco also recalled from the Court of Auditors' report for 2020/2021 about the risks then associated with low-value procurement. The regulatory framework applicable to LVPs was found to be ambiguous and incomplete, facilitating non-transparent and inefficient use of public money. It also did not allow the monitoring of public procurement as a whole. LVPs were not reported, lacked transparency, lacked applicable sanctions for violation of public procurement legislation, and contracting authorities continued to split public procurement in order to carry out low-value procurement, which has less transparency.
"Not much different from the current situation. Most of the risks listed by the Court of Auditors in 2021 are still relevant today. The fact that a new regulation has been approved has not cardinally changed the situation," says Ala Revenco, after analyzing the practices of organizing and reporting LVPs in the period from July 2023 to June 2024 by the six education directorates of the municipality of Chisinau.
Thus, one year after the adoption of the new regulation, the General Directorate of Education of the Municipality of Chișinău reported as realized 162 low-value public procurement procedures of about 14 million lei (~800,000 USD), of which 159 were made through payment invoices and direct contracts, which implies a low level of transparency and lack of competition. Only 3 procedures were published on MTender, amounting to 760 thousand lei (~43,700 USD). In total, the 6 education directorates (General Directorate, Center, Botanica, Rascani, Buiucani, Buiucani and Ciocana) reported that they carried out 1437 low-value procurement procedures amounting to almost 81,860 thousand lei (~4,700 USD). Out of these, only 21 procedures (1.5%), amounting to almost 2853 thousand lei (~160 USD), were carried out through MTender.
In analyzing the LVPs in the field of education, A.O. "Părinți Solidari " found that their planning was flawed. They were not included in the directorates' annual procurement plans. About 40% were worth less than 5 thousand lei (~290 USD). Invoices were reported on the realization of purchases with a value of less than 10 lei (~0.60 USD). Common problems identified were the splitting of purchases (i.e., making a larger procurement into multiple low-value procurements), favoritism, lack of transparency, non-reporting or incomplete reporting, flaws in the regulatory framework, and a lack of sanctions that could hold authorities that violate the legislation on low-value public procurement accountable.
Silviu Plopa, trainee expert at IDIS "Viitorul", presented a case study that analyzed the situation, problems and trends related to the way in which some contracting authorities have carried out procurement through direct contracting. The sample studied included 23 central and local authorities, selected from all regions of the country (6 local public authorities of level I and II from each region - North, South, and Center, 1 ministry and 4 central level agencies). In the period July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024, the 23 contracting authorities reported a total of 3557 direct procurements amounting to 80.22 million lei (~4.6 million USD). According to Silviu Plopa, despite the fact that the new regulation on LVPs aimed to make direct procurements more transparent, there was a lack of data on directly awarded contracts. Although the contracting authorities are obliged to submit information on LVPs to the AMPS on a quarterly basis, in many cases this has not happened. Some authorities have not reported any direct contracting procurements in MTender, which violates the law. It is unlikely that a public authority, regardless of size, would have no low-value procurements by direct contracting of up to 150 thousand lei (~8,600 USD) for goods and services or up to 200 thousand lei (~11,500 USD) for works.
According to Silviu Plopa, another problem is the lack of a control and monitoring mechanism, which would make the authorities accountable in the reporting process. Currently, there is no certainty that the data on direct contracts published in MTender are all direct purchases made by procurement authorities. Despite the regulations that require the Public Procurement Agency to monitor and analyze these procurements more than a year after their entry into force, the GPA reports do not include information on low-value procurements. According to the legislation, contracting authorities report direct purchases exclusively through MTender, and the Agency does not have the tools to collect and statistically analyze data from this system. At the same time, the awards of low-value purchases that are advertised on MTender are not reported, which leads to a lack of data on the award of contracts, including their value, and affects evidence-based policy making and hampers reforms in the sector, with negative implications for the European integration process.
Diana Enachi, procurement monitoring coordinator at IDIS "Viitorul", mentioned that the presented analyses are different, carried out on different samples and on different levels, but that they have similar findings and conclusions, which shows that the problems are likely characteristic of procurements carried out by different authorities. Enachi continued saying that the lack of qualitative data on low-value procurement is not only a problem for monitors, but also for authorities that need to develop evidence-based policies.
Gheorghe Movileanu, director of the GPA, said that his institution is very interested in being part of this platform. In his opinion, public money must be used rationally, and each contracting authority must be aware of this. He urged authorities to fund only their pressing needs. "My position is that it is very necessary to certify third party actors as procurement specialists. This is very important to broaden the horizon of those who can contribute to the development of this system. I see no point in certifying specialists only from within the contracting authorities, who benefit from our training services anyway. In this respect, we tend to take over the experience of Austria or Croatia, countries with which we are going to exchange experience in the near future," said Gheorghe Movileanu.
NPPP members, taking into account the new rules in the regulation, mentioned that reporting in MTender is a big headache. And, to facilitate the process, it would be good to report contract data in excel format. In addition to sanctions, NPPP members said that incentives and encouragement for those who comply with the rules would be needed. In the view of others, digitization would be a solution that would solve many of the problems related to procurement reporting, where those responsible are neither encouraged nor sanctioned.
NPPP members argue that there is a shortage of public procurement personnel at the regional level, especially in villages, and that it would be necessary to certify self-employed professionals in the field of public procurement. At the same time, NPPP members believe that it would be necessary to interconnect electronic systems in the financial and tax sectors, including invoices, registers, etc., in order to facilitate the work of public procurement specialists. They also asked that representatives of the Center for Information Technologies in Finance (CTIF) and the State Treasury be invited to attend future meetings.
The Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul", in collaboration with the US-based Partnership for Transparency (PTF), launched in December 2023 the National Platform for Public Procurement (NPPP), within the framework of the project "Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement". The NPPP is a national discussion forum, a permanent communication and dialog mechanism for all actors in the public procurement sector - policy, oversight, regulatory, contracting authorities/entities, economic operators and civil society representatives. NPPP members represent authorities and organizations interested in the functioning and sustainability of the national public procurement system.
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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. 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, and 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 concept and content of a digital platform dedicated to public procurement in the Repulic of Moldova was presented on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 during the fifth working session of the Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition. The website was created within the project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement, implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiaties (IDIS) "Viitorul" in collaboration with Partnership for Transparency.
Carolina Ungureanu, project coordinator and deputy director of IDIS "Viitorul", said that the need for a digital platform to monitor public procurement was evident based on several discussions with civil society actors. "We want it to be a resource both for civil society representatives interested in the field of public procurement and for citizens willing to find out how public money is used. We want this online platform to be a useful tool for those involved in public procurement monitoring, who keep their finger on the pulse of public procurement in the Republic of Moldova. The platform will also include useful information for contracting authorities, economic operators, decision-makers and any other interested parties. It will serve as a centralized and trusted source of information and advocacy tool to enable the coordination and cooperation of stakeholders carrying out procurement monitoring activities."
According to Pavel Novac, the representative of SensMedia, who built the website, the purpose of the online platform is to present to the public the situation in the field of public procurement, both what is happening in this market and to explain to ordinary people why public procurement should be in the public eye.
Mariana Kalughin, representative of the Public Association "Transparency International Moldova", said that the website will have a significant impact because such a resource does not exist anymore ever since the Ministry of Finance took down the MTender platform.
Ion Cornea, manager at a business consulting company, said about the interactive platform, "you can see that there is a great desire for such a resource in public procurement. Gathering so much information is an enormous amount of work. The website will be successfuly if it is maintained and updated constantly."
Ala Revenco, president of the public organization "Parents in Solidarity", says that the website will respond to the needs of civil society in monitoring public procurement. "Unfortunately, what is being done at the government level leaves much to be desired, which is why we need to have our own monitoring tools to be more efficient."
Valeriu Rusu, executive director of the RDA "Habitat", said that as long as public procurement will be monitored and talked about on several online platforms, public money is bound to be spent more efficiently.
During the meeting of the Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition, Silviu Plopa, public procurement monitor and member of the coalition, presented a dynamic analysis of the state of affairs in the public procurement sector in the Republic of Moldova, as well as red flags identified during the monitoring of the procurement procedure carried out by S.A. "Apă-Canal Chisinau" and RED-Nord for the purchase of photovoltaic system.
The Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition 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 collaboration with Partnership for Transparency. The coalition aims to support public procurement reforms in the Republic of Moldova. Over 20 civil society organizations, investigative journalists, experts and independent monitors from the Republic of Moldova are members of the Coalition.
So far, the Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition has held four meetings, where several topical issues in the field of public procurement have been discussed.
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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. 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, and 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 members of the National Platform for Public Procurement (NPPP), launched within the project "Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement”, met on Thursday, May 16, 2024 for their second working meeting. The meeting addressed the subject of challenges to procurement procedures that are frivolous or withdrawn by the complainants. The members of the NPPP outlined the problems generated by frivilous complaints and their impact on the process of awarding a public or sectoral procurement contract, while coming up with solutions and recommendations to overcome them.
Carolina Ungureanu, project manager and deputy director of IDIS "Viitorul", said at the beginning of the meeting that it is important for the Republic of Moldova to monitor public procurement for the efficient use of public money. Ungureanu emphasized the importance of analyzing the difficulties and problems in the public procurement sector to create recommendations that can be acted on by decision-makers.
Vladimir Arachelov, State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, said that the NPPP is a platform to facilitate the work of the Ministry of Finance, but also a forum for the process of analysis and discussions with stakeholders in the field of public procurement. According to Vladimir Arachelov, it was agreed within the ministry that the analyses and studies, which are presented and discussed within the NPPP, will be further studied, so that when interventions are made in the regulatory framework, some proposals and recommendations will be taken up, especially since the authorities are currently in the process of implementing the National Program on Developing Public Procurement for 2023-2026.
"We have been interested in the subject of frivolous challenges for a long time. For several years we have been trying to intervene so that the complaints process is streamlined and so the National Agency for Settlement of Complaints (ANSC) carries handles complaints in an effective manner. There have been some attempts to change the regulatory framework, including in Parliament. We will also look at the results of today's study and see what elements can be introduced immediately or in the medium term in this process. We want this process not to jeopardize the right of economic operators to appeal. We want the number of participants per procedure to increase, but under conditions of efficiency and transparency. This work of yours relieves the Ministry of Finance of pressure and we thank IDIS "Viitorul" for undertaking this effort so that we have time to take action on the work already completed", said Vladimir Arachelov.
Diana Enachi, procurement monitoring coordinator at IDIS "Viitorul", presented a study of the evolution of procurement challenges in the last three years, in particular the challenges rejected as frivolous, the challenges withdrawn and the reasons for withdrawal in order to identify possible abusive challenges that have a negative impact on the procurement process. Enachi discussed how, based on the analysis carried out, conclusions have been drawn and some scenarios have been presented with solutions to help discourage the formulation of ill-intentioned contestations and make the process of contestation, and consequently the award of procurement contracts in compliance with the law, more efficient.
According to the study, in the Republic of Moldova, the body responsible for examining and resolving appeals is ANSC, which since 2016, when it was established and became operational, and until now, has adopted 5179 decisions following the examination and resolution of about 6276 appeals.
Diana Enachi also said that statistical data on appeals submitted show that in 2023, of the total number of appeals examined in substance by ANSC (654 decisions issued), half were rejected as frivolous (323). Thus, there was a downward trend for appeals admitted in full/partial (22%), and an upward trend for appeals rejected as frivolous (9.1%). Comparing the share of appeals admitted in part/full with those rejected as frivolous, there was a higher share of appeals admitted in part/full in 2021 (41%) and in 2022 (46%). However, in 2023 there was a higher proportion of appeals rejected as frivolous (50%).
Having analyzed the results of the appeals filed by the top 5 contestants, it was observed that every 4th appeal was withdrawn (25%), every 5th (20%) was rejected as frivolous, and more than half (55%) were admitted or partially admitted.
Regarding the identification of solutions, the study presented 4 possible scenarios with an outline of the advantages but also possible disadvantages and risks for each, as well as examples from the practice of some European countries: setting a deposit/guarantee when lodging a complaint; setting a mandatory fixed fee when lodging a complaint; setting a bank guarantee only for public tenders; or keeping the current policy which needs some improvements.
In order to improve the situation, the procurement monitoring coordinator proposed the full digitization of the process of submission and settlement of tenders, including those withdrawn; the development of the evaluation module in the MTender electronic system, the establishment of training programs for contracting authorities and economic operators to reduce procedures initiated with deviations from the legal framework. These solutions would contribute to reducing the number of challenges submitted in bad faith, which are subsequently rejected as unfounded, and would streamline the public and sectoral procurement process.
According to Angela Nani, Director General, Appeals Counsellor at ANSC, the fact that an appeal has been rejected as frivolous does not necessarily mean that it was filed with malicious intent. There have been cases where, in the course of the dispute resolution process, contracting authorities have remedied the admitted shortcomings cited by the finder. In other cases, the tender is rejected because it does not correspond to the tender documentation, the administrative act is not well-reasoned or an appeal is lodged. It is important to describe in detail the reasons for the rejection of tenders in order to reduce the number of appeals.
Discussing possible solutions for unfounded appeals, NPPP members listed the establishment of a bond or guarantee when filing an appeal as a way to reduce overburdening of ANSC staff, as well as the establishment of a mandatory fee when filing an appeal.
Some members of the NPPP did not support the idea of introducing bail or guarantees when filing a challenge, considering it premature and insufficiently argued at this stage, as unfounded challenges are not a systemic problem, but rather isolated cases. In the opinion of other NPPP members, the security or guarantees would undermine the right of economic operators to challenge.
The mandatory fee for lodging an appeal was supported in order to make economic operators more responsible. Other NPPP members were of the opinion that unfounded challenges would not be as big a problem as withdrawn challenges, proposing that a ban list of operators withdrawing unfounded challenges should be established.
NPPP members were of the opinion that the challenges are rejected as unfounded for various reasons, including that economic operators are poorly informed about the legal framework for public procurement, but not because of malicious intent. One solution would be to train economic operators and contracting authorities to make both parties responsible for the procurement process. At the same time, it was mentioned that it would be necessary to modify and improve the Standard Documentation, to clearly inform the authorities/entities about the reasons for disqualification of the offer, and to develop the evaluation stage in the electronic system so that the additions to the offer declared successful as a result of clarifications are available to all tenderers.
The Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul", in collaboration with the American organization Partnership for Transparency (PTF), launched the National Public Procurement Platform (NPPP) in December 2023, as part of the project "Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement". The NPPP is to be a national discussion forum, a permanent communication and dialogue mechanism for all actors in the public procurement sector - policy, control, regulatory authorities, contracting authorities/entities, economic operators and civil society representatives. NPPP members represent authorities and organizations with an interest in the functioning and sustainability of the national public procurement system.
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.
At meetings, which are held quarterly, NPPP members discuss priority topics, adopt common positions on procurement issues and challenges, make recommendations and contribute to policy development and implementation of solutions to overcome challenges. The secretariat of the NPPP is provided by IDIS "Viitorul".
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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. 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, and 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 project of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul" in the field of public procurement "Innovative improvements in the public procurement system of the Republic of Moldova through inclusion, creativity and law enforcement practices" was awarded at the Civil Society Gala 2019, held by to the Delegation of the European Union in the Republic of Moldova, which took place on June 7, 2019.
IDIS "Viitorul" took the prize in the basic category "Stronger Governance", for the best initiative to promote democratic changes in society and the decision-making process, their engagement in policy monitoring, anti-discrimination and the promotion of changes, the defense of human rights, the promotion of changes of politics, monitoring the implementation of democratic reform in a certain sector, promoting transparency and accountability of authorities and public institutions, including through professional and independent media, etc.
On Friday, March 29, 2024, the fourth working meeting of the Coalition for Monitoring Public Procurement was held. During the event, sub-grantees of the project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement, implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul", in partnership with the Partnership for Transparency, reported on the state of their monitoring activities.
The meeting was also attended by a group of students from the Faculty of Economics of Moldova State University. Carolina Ungureanu, project coordinator and vice director of IDIS "Viitorul", told the young people that public procurement has become an area of great interest today and that there is a need to monitor how public money is used. She told them that, as a result, the Coalition, represented by NGOs, activists and experts in the field, is monitoring the use of public money to ensure it is spent transparently. "We are interested in disseminating this information and increasing the capacity of young people, of civil society, to have more experts and representatives overseeing the sector," said Carolina Ungureanu.
Olga Diaconu, project coordinator at the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance (AGER), presented the activities of the project "Monitoring sectoral procurement in the Republic of Moldova" which monitors procurements under Law No. 74/2020 in the fields of energy, water, transportation, and postal services. Thus, several large contracting authorities were monitored on how they carry out procurements in these sectors in order to detect possible irregularities or risk indicators, as well as good or bad practices. The observations will later be reflected in a report, which will also include recommendations from AGER. This report will be shared with the contracting authorities to bring improvements to the legal framework. Five articles have already been published on certain suspect situations, with risk indicators in the monitoring of sectoral procurement carried out by Chisinau-Gaz, Chisinau International Airport, Termoelectrica, Moldova Railways and Apă-Canal Chisinau.
Ala Revenco, president of the Public Association "Parents in Solidarity", which implements the project "Increasing the integrity of low-value purchases made by the education directorates of the municipality of Chisinau" analyzed the way in which low-value purchases are carried out, under the conditions of the new regulation that came into force on July 1, 2023. As a result, it was found that non-competitive procedures predominate. 96% of the money spent, about 40.4 million lei (~8729292 USD), excluding VAT, was discretionary spending by the education directorates on low-value purchases made on the basis of fiscal invoices and direct contracts. In such cases, the risks of corruption and collusion are very high. At the same time, the contracting authorities monitored carried out 311 and 416 procedures in the third and fourth quarters of 2023 respectively through invoices and direct contracts. 7% of procedures were reported after the deadline in Q3 and 32% in Q4. Through MTender, eight procedures were carried out in the third quarter and four were carried out in the fourth quarter. The thresholds for purchases through tax invoices and direct contracts were exceeded for sixteen procedures in Q3 and eight procedures in Q4.
Ion Mazur, head of the Advocacy, Campaigns and Publications Department of the Public Association "Independent Press Association", which implements the project "Strengthening Integrity in Public Procurement through Media Contribution", said that several procurement procedures of the National Programme’s "European Village" and "European Village Express" projects have been monitored in order to carry out journalistic investigations and recommendations for authorities and economic entities, as well as to promote good local governance practices through the production of thematic articles. Three investigations and three articles on best practices were published. Concerning the Monitoring Report on the correctness of the use of public procurement procedures by the first level local public administration, with proposals to eliminate illegalities and recover public money, the expert contracted to make the report analyzed 29 contracts and procurement procedures out of the 65 planned.
Diana Grosu, president of the Association for Human Rights Lex XXI, which implements the project "Monitoring and promoting transparency of public procurement in the social assistance sector in the Republic of Moldova", said that the project monitors public procurement carried out by the general directorates of social assistance in the northern part of the Republic of Moldova and by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, and the results of the monitoring will be reflected in seven investigations and seven investigative reports. In the meantime, four investigations and three investigative reports have been carried out. The results of the investigations will be included in a monitoring report with recommendations to the contracting authorities/entities. "What we did kind of upset the authorities, given that we monitored how they use public money. As a result of these investigations, various threats were made, as the authorities are not used to someone monitoring them," said Diana Grosu.
Lilia Zaharia-Cravcenco, Executive Director of Transparency International-Moldova, which implements the project "Public Procurement in the City Hall of the Municipality of Chisinau. Chisinau under the magnifying glass of transparency", said that information from the procurement plans of the Chisinau City Hall and municipal enterprises for 2023-2024 was collected and analyzed. She said that several procurements were selected for monitoring in 2023 and that the contents of the budgetary and procurement components of websites belonging to Chisinau City Hall, the Directorate of Architecture, Urbanism and Land Relations and the MQ Autoalubritate were analzyed. The following information was selected: information from M-Tender and www.achizitii.md on the purchases made by the contracting authorities monitored and data on awarded contracts registered with the Public Procurement Agency. Information was also requested from municipal enterprises on purchases made in 2023. "The focus was on procurements with vulnerability factors and increased risks of corruption, but also those with significant procurement value. Contracting authorities seem to be more tempted to cancel procedures than to remedy them, a finding that emerged from the analysis of the decisions of the National Agency for Solving Complaints. We had difficulties at some stages of the journalistic investigations, but these have been overcome. We will also produce a monitoring report and hold a journalists' club where we will invite the monitored institutions and the bidders who submitted complaints," said Lilia Zaharia.
During the meeting, Valeriu Ciorba, a monitor from Parents in Solidarity, presented the draft of a public appeal from civil society regarding low-value public procurement. According to Valeriu Ciorba, nowhere in the legislation is it stipulated that contracts from 150 thousand to 350 thousand lei, which are carried out by Mtender, must be published. Thus, it is requested that certain interventions be made in the Government's decision regulating these procedures, so that those contracts that take place through Mtender are published.
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, 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.
So far, Coalition for Monitoring Public Procurement has held three meetings, where a number of topical issues in the field of public procurement have been discussed.
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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. 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, and 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.
On January 22, 2024 the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul and the Court of Accounts signed a cooperation agreement where they agreed to collaborate efforts to improve the transparency and efficiency of the public procurement process in order to maximize the value of public money. The agreement was signed in the context of the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project which IDIS Viitorul implements with Partnership for Transparency. This project increases transparency and fairness in the Moldovan public procurement sector by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
The signing of this agreement follows a meeting between IDIS Viitorul and the Court of Accounts on October 24, 2023 where the Court of Accounts agreed to join the National Platform for Pulic Procurement, a national, multi-stakeholder discussion forum for the public procurement sector, developed within the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project. IDIS Viitorul and the Court of Accounts believe that partnership between civil society and public authorities improves the quality of public services.
This partnership contributes to the Republic of Moldova’s ongoing efforts to join the European Union. On June 23, 2022, the Republic of Moldova became a European Union candidate country, when the European Commission recommended the Republic of Moldova take measures to improve public procurement, and increase the involvement of civil society in decision-making processes, at all levels of government. These recommendations of the Commission reiterate the need for all actors in the public procurement sector to work together, with input from civil society, to monitor procurements and to develop policies to improve the regulatory framework as well as digital tools to monitor it.
The agreement stresses that, as established in Article 133 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, the Court of Accounts is an audit institution with a broad mandate to exercise control over the formation, management, and use of public financial resources. The Court of Accounts submits annual reports of its activities to Parliament. "In its work, the Court of Accounts addresses the risk that public finances and assets may be mismanaged and misused by constantly providing information on how money is spent by state authorities and on the performance of the public sector. Because of its specific responsibilities for managing public money and exercising public authority, the Court of Accounts' work extends not only to financial matters, but also to the commitments of auditees on the performance and compliance of the use of public resources."
The agreement also mentions that public procurement is an important component of public finances, as demonstrated by the volume of public financial resources that are spent through the procurement system for the procurement of goods, services, and works by the contracting authorities in the country, which is why ensuring and improving the transparency and efficiency of this process is imperative. "The establishment of effective and permanent communication between representatives of public institutions with responsibilities in the field of public procurement, contracting authorities, economic operators, and civil society is a basic prerequisite 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," the agreement states.
The Court of Accounts and IDIS Viitorul note in their agreement the need to combine the efforts and capacities of the government and civil society in order to achieve the objectives of governance, modernization of the country and adjustment to European standards in all areas, including public procurement, which is an important component of public finances and the national public budget. The Parties also welcome initiatives to consult and involve civil society, academia and independent organizations in all issues of strategic interest as part of the process of democratization of society and the state in the Republic of Moldova. "A better coordination of the joint efforts of the associative sector and the public and specialized authorities of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, in particular the Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova, will have a positive impact on the performance of the country's economic development," the agreement also states.
According to the agreement, the parties will participate in joint meetings, round tables, and other activities where they will address various topical issues in the field of public procurement, issues that require discussion and consultation with all stakeholders in the sector, as well as work on finding solutions to address challenges. The parties will also ensure the systematic participation of their representatives in the activities of the National Platform for Public Procurement.
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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. 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, and 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 Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul on Thursday, December 21 held a mentoring session with the sub-grantees of the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project, in the presence of Hady Fink, Project Director of the Partnership for Transparency - PTF from the USA, who was visiting the Republic of Moldova. During the meeting, eight organizations of the first round of the sub-grantee program presented the results and impacts of the implemented projects. At the same time, five organizations implementing projects under the second round of the sub-grants program reported on the results of the first three months of public procurement monitoring.
The mentoring session also aimed to assess the status of the recommendations addressed to the monitored authorities and decision-makers as a result of the implementation of the first round projects, the reactions of the contracting authorities to the recommendations made, and the extent to which the procurement process has been improved.
Hady Fink: "For us, the results of the projects are very important, but we are also interested in what happens after you have implemented the projects, which is sustainability. For us, immediate actions are important, but also the long-term results of your activities. We want to see what changes have occurred, whether some monitoring authorities have taken or are taking into account your recommendations. If some are more reluctant, we need to know this so that we can analyze the current situation and know how to move forward."
Carolina Ungureanu, project manager, deputy director of IDIS Viitorul: "This meeting is important for us from several points of view. To see how other civil society organizations work and what tools they use when monitoring certain entities or contracting authorities. It is an exchange of experience and the lessons that some organizations have presented can be taken back. Some of the topics covered by monitoring organizations may be the subject of future journalistic investigations".
Contact Centre Cahul monitored, in the first round of sub-grants, some public procurement carried out by Cahul City Hall and Cahul District Council. Mihail Cucereanu, project coordinator at the Centre, admitted that he did not have much knowledge in the field of monitoring initially, but in the framework of the project he participated in trainings, where he was trained by specialists in the field. "As part of the project we formed a monitoring group. We were able to hire a highly experienced technical officer, who taught us what to look out for when monitoring how the works are going. At each monitoring stage we tried to make proposals, which were included as recommendations to the authorities, and we had more openness from Cahul City Hall than from the Cahul RC. One of the members of our monitoring group was included in the public procurement group of the City Hall. At the District Council it is a bit more difficult. During our work on this project there were several comments on the specifications, which were very superficially drafted and not signed by the person who drafted them. As a continuation of what we started, a local transparency council was recently established and members of our monitoring group with whom we worked, now some of them are members of this transparency council and monitor the decision-making process at Cahul City Hall, including the procurement process," said Mihail Cucereanu.
The Public Association Localinvest from Riscani district, in the first round of grants, monitored the purchases carried out by the Riscani District Council and the Riscani District Hospital. Alexandru Crigan, president of the association, said that during the monitoring procedures a number of deviations from legal norms were detected. "With the completion of the project, our work on these monitored procurements was not completed. We made recommendations at the end of the monitoring stages, and along the way we continued to receive replies to letters we sent during the project and to which we did not receive a timely response. We had high expectations from the state institutions, in particular the control bodies, to react more promptly. We received answers to the recommendations, but they were quite evasive", said Alexandru Crigan.
The Public Association Prospect, from the city of Cimislia, monitored, also in the first round, the public procurement of road repairs carried out by the authorities of the city and district. Andrei Bargan, director of the association, said that it was the first time in the history of local government activity that an organization was included in the working group on public procurement. "They received us coldly at first, but we managed to collaborate. Doing follow-ups at all stages, we noticed that they had a specialist who was good at project documentation, but with planning they were worse. They were planning more based on political factors. They were choosing where to repair certain roads and who to do roads for. We sent all our recommendations and comments to the local administration to adjust the project, because it is not good to plan one thing and do another. In the discussion they say they will consider our recommendations but they do not implement them. Then they are outraged if we insist and they ask why we care. We tell them they have not implemented their planning. I noticed that in actelocale.md, in the protocol services section, everything that is placed is shaded in black and you can no longer understand what information is contained there. I understand from their words that if they cross-hatch no one punishes them. If they leak a name that is not hashed or something, they can be sued and punished for publishing personal data. But this is not about individuals," said Andrei Bargan.
The media project "With Sense", recipient of the first round of grants, produced five journalistic investigations and five explainer stories to inform the public about how they can access information on public procurement. Liuba Shevciuc, the project manager, said that the investigations checked several contracts with the participation of several economic agents, low-value purchases, high-value purchases, purchases that were made many years ago and were not completed. "The problem we faced was that some public institutions did not provide us with the requested information. Usually, journalists' work ends when we publish an investigation. These are our competences which work in the contexts in which we collaborate with civil society, because they can take our material and put public pressure on the authorities to make certain adjustments to the law, to implement certain things," said Liuba Shevciuc.
Organizations implementing projects in the second round of sub-grants started work in September this year. They reported the difficulties they encountered during this project implementation period.
The Association for Efficient and Accountable Governance (AGER), was awarded grants in both sub-grant rounds to monitor sectoral public procurement. During the implementation of the first round, amendments were made to the law on sectoral public procurement. And to see the impact of these, it also applied for the second round. Olga Diaconu, project coordinator at AGER, highlighted the results of the first round of project implementation. "The activities carried out from April to July 2022 included: monitoring procurement in the energy, water, transport and postal services sectors; organizing a round table with stakeholders to discuss the main issues related to the interpretation and application of the provisions of Law 74/2020; drafting and publishing articles; drafting a public policy note; and drafting a monitoring report. As activities are carried out, we are talking about monitoring sectoral procurement, publishing articles on problematic situations in sectoral procurement, etc.", said Olga Diaconu.
The non-profit association Parents in Solidarity was also a beneficiary in both rounds of sub-grants. Valeriu Ciorba, monitor of the association, spoke about the activities planned in the implementation of the project in the second round. "We are keeping an eye on education in Chisinau municipality. We are monitoring the education directorates of the City Hall, namely how they report on the conduct of low-value public procurement through the Mtender system, a mandatory process since July 1 this year. Information about the procedure, reporting mechanisms, although introduced since July 1, started to appear in September. The presentation of information on small value purchases is rather hidden. There are procurements that, as a procedure, should be carried out on Mtender, but it ends up that in Mtender only the winner is declared. The actual contract does not end up on Mtender. There are a lot of complicated exceptions in the government decision, and the contracting authorities, we believe, misuse them for certain things. The new system does not provide for the link with the e-invoice system and here the percentage of human errors is quite high. said Valeriu Ciorba.
The Public Association Independent Press Association, has been implementing the project Strengthening integrity in public procurement through media contribution since September. Ion Mazur, head of the Advocacy, Campaigns and Publications Department of the association, pointed out that selected procurement procedures within the national programs European Village and European Village Express from 2023-2024 are being monitored. "We aimed not only to reveal certain shortcomings, violations of public procurement processes, but also to promote good practices, to show that there are local authorities that carry out the processes correctly and to be an example for other authorities and in this way improve the procurement process. Two journalistic investigations have been carried out but not yet published. The authorities concerned were candidates in the local elections this November and the publication of an investigation has been delayed. The second investigation is dragging on because identifying the subject matter is complicated. Some sources, including those involved from the authorities, refuse to provide information in time," said Ion Mazur.
The Association for Human Rights Lex 21 from Balti municipality is also participating in both rounds of sub-grants. Valeria Ciolac, coordinator of anti-corruption programs in the association, mentioned the planned activities and achievements in the second round. "We chose to monitor transparency of public procurement in the social assistance sector because with the war and the refugee crisis, the sector has received large funds in the form of humanitarian aid, and where there are more funds there is a greater need for monitoring. In the three months of the project implementation we sent 29 requests for access to information to the Social Assistance Directorates in the North of Moldova and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. The main problem we face is that when it comes to access to information, some authorities do not respond at all. In the second round, LEX 21 expanded its monitoring area. In addition to the municipal authorities of Balti, all current procurement procedures carried out by the Social Welfare Directorates of Edinet, Soroca, Briceni, Dondușeni, Drochia, Fălești, Florești, Glodeni, Ocnița, Râșcani, Sângerei and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection are analyzed", said Valeria Ciolac.
Transparency International-Moldova in the second round of sub-grants is monitoring public procurement in the Chisinau City Hall, Architecture, Urban Planning and Land Relations Department and the Self-Sanitation Agency. Lilia Zaharia, executive director of TI-Moldova, said that there are a lot of procurement procedures carried out by municipal enterprises and the Chisinau City Hall, but the procedures were selected that concern areas with vulnerability factors and increased risks of corruption, or procurement that concern controversial and problematic issues. "Colleagues have identified that there were many promotional advertising materials purchased by the Auto-Sanitation and Architecture Directorate and we want to see the reasons why a lot of money has to be spent to promote the services provided by the Directorate. We looked gradually from 2020 to 2023 and there is an increase in these purchases of services. Being in the election campaign, when we asked for information, we were asked "but who made you write journalistic investigations?". They would come with accusations that we were acting on the instructions of a political party. And that was one of the reasons why the publication of journalistic material was delayed: that we didn't get enough information in time. This activity of ours is not to punish or point fingers at public authorities, but we want to come up with some recommendations, to help them", said Lilia Zaharia.
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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.
