The Economic Policy Committee recommends that Parliament adopts the Bill on Amendments to the Law, 'On Public Procurements of Goods, Services and Works', as a basis for further discussion

Published on 07 February 2008, at 17:34

During discussions, the People´s Deputies stressed that the Bill (Reg.No.1476-д) has been drafted to ‘eliminate unresolved issues in Public Procurements, and improve the current Bidding (Tender) procedure using Public funds; specify definitive terms used in this area; optimise procurement procedures; facilitate the practical usage of legislative rules; and stabilise the situation in the area of Public Procurements.

The speakers emphasized that the passing of the relevant Law should resolve the urgent problems existent in the domain of State Procurement, and remove the additional burden on Public Procurement market entities.

The Bill proposes a simplified mechanism for the procedures of Public Procurements of goods, services and works, including those at a local level. It increases the lower price limits for procured items, at which the buyers are obliged to fulfill Public Procurements procedures and envisages free publication of announcements of planned procurements or pre-qualification procedures.

The People´s Deputies consider that the Inter-departmental Committee for Public Procurements should include representatives from Local Government Associations. Deputies of Rural/Community/City/City District/Regional District/ Regional/Kyiv/ Sevastopol Councils should not be included in a Tender Committee.

The Explanatory Note says that, ‘the Bill sets out a procedure for Procurement of Goods on the basis of inter-departmental co-ordination, using Local Budgets, and managed by the corresponding Local Government Executive bodies. The Bill defines a time period for the processing of applications by the Inter-departmental Committee for Public Procurements, and on using the procurement procedures with either a limited number of bidders or only one bidder.

The Sponsors of the Bill propose to exclude the provision requiring termination of payments by Ukraine´s State Treasury bodies in the event of appeals to Courts.

The minimum number of bidders participating in the tender will be reduced. The Buyers will be entitled to stipulate the amount of prepayment in the Agreements without its preliminary settlement.

Committee members stressed that the passing of this Bill must resolve the urgent issues existent in Public Procurements, reduce expenditure by Public Procurement entities during tenders, and exclude corruption in the Public Procurement domain.