Round Table Discusses Ways to Increase Transparency in Public Procurement

Baku / 23.05.17 / Turan: The issues of legality and transparency in public procurement were the subject of discussions at the "round table", which brought together representatives of civil society and several state and government structures. The State Service for Antimonopoly Policy and Consumer Protection under the Ministry of Economics, which is the regulator in this area, ignored the event.

Experts, representatives of civil society and the Chamber of Accounts discussed proposals on introducing amendments to the legislation on state purchases prepared by the Public Organization for Combating Corruption Transparency-Azerbaijan. According to the experts of this organization, the Law On Public Procurement, which has been in force since 2001, creates many problems for ensuring a competitive environment and transparency in public procurement.

The expert of this NGO Muhammad Muradov presented the concept of electronic tenders. The document assumes the formation of a portal for electronic procurement. The use of this mechanism will let save at least 20% of public funds allocated for the purchase of goods, works and services, as well as positively affect the formation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Azerbaijan.

An expert of the project Enhancing Transparency in Public Procurement Elvin Yusifli spoke about the shortcomings at all stages of the competitive bidding process. These shortcomings, about ways to eliminate which the civil society and the media have been openly speaking for a number of years, have a negative impact on the degree of confidence of the society and SMEs in tender procurement.

The NGO Transparency-Azerbaijan is also working on an electronic resource on tenders, which in the future can become an alternative platform for electronic procurement. --08C