EBRD Public Procurement Assessment

5 key questions on eProcurement policies

Eliza Niewiadomska Legal Transition Programme

European Bank for Reconstruction and DevelopmentNovember 2011

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The EBRD – fostering transitionThe EBRD – fostering transition

•largest single investor in central and eastern Europe

•supports infrastructure projects in 30 countries from Central and

Eastern Europe and the Caucasus to Central Asia

•fosters economically and environmentally sustainable transition by

supporting development of private sector

•promotes transparency, accountability, and good governance

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The EBRD Legal Transition ProgrammeThe EBRD Legal Transition Programme

The development of sound legal rules and the establishment of the legal institutions and culture on which a vibrant market-oriented economy depends.

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EBRD Public Procurement Assessment

•First assessment covering all 29 EBRD countries at the same time

•Benchmarking to assess compliance with core principles of public procurement and legal efficiency of public procurement regulation

•Review of public procurement LEGISLATION and PRACTICE

•Survey of entire public procurement process: pre-tendering tendering post-tendering

•More than 100 research participants: – contracting entities– local lawyers– procurement experts

•Online interview database and reports: http://ppl.ebrd.com

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Towards greater efficiency of Public Procurement

eProcurement is a replacement of paper-basedpublic procurement procedures with:

1) ITC workflow (eNotices, eCommunication, eProcedures,

eTenders, eRecords, eReporting, eMonitoring)

AND

2) ITC procurement tools (eAuctions, eCatalogues, ePurchasing, etc)

in order to increase transparency, competition and speed of procurement procedures and to reduce transaction costs for public contracts

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EBRD 2010 Assessment:Key 5 Questions on eProcurement

• Does the law provide for an eProcurement platform and the eProcurement tools and require conducting procurement procedures electronically?

In the EBRD 2010 Assessment we looked at:

1) What LEGAL FRAMEWORK provides for?2) What is implemented IN PRACTICE?3) What eProcurement solutions are mandatory to use and which

are only facultative for contracting entity?4) What is made available to public sector ready to use by the

government regulatory agency: eProcurement platform or individual eProcurement tools?

5) What is practice of contracting entities, if eProcurement solutions are not made mandatory by policy-makers?

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eProcurement in the EBRD region

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eProcurement : lessons learned about legislation and market practice

EBRD region:

•Slowly emerging but fragmented legislation•Different levels of commitment from national governments•Not the same approach of contracting authorities and contracting entities in the utilities sector •eProcurement tools can be made available by law, but if not accompanied by a mandatory use of the eProcurement workflow are not used in practice•Specific eProcurement tools can be provided by law and accessible in practice, but if not mandatory are not used

Based on the 2010 research, we believe that a key policy issue is conducting procurement procedures electronically, not making eProcurement tools available by law and accessible in practice

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Key Questions on eProcurement:Another 5 questions on conducting procurement procedures electronically

1) eNotices: Does the law require notices on procurement opportunities to be readily accessible online to the public, until expiry of tender submission deadlines, preferably free of charge?

2) eProcedures: Does the law require tender documentation to be readily accessible online to the public, preferably free of charge?

3) eCommunication: Is it mandatory for contracting entities to accept electronic communication from tenderers?

4) eTenders: Does the law allow to submit tenders online, without the need for certified signatures?

5) eRecords: Does the law require contracting entities to record procurement decision in a real time and ensure that procurement records are readily accessible online to the public, preferably free of charge?

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5 Questions on eProcurement: eNotices

5 Key Questions on eProcurement - eNotices

A STANDARD, BUT SOME IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS

eNotices – online publication of notices by law and in practice in the EBRD region

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5 Key Questions on eProcurement - eCommunication

eCommunication – availability of electronic communication by law and in practice in the EBRD region

A STANDARD BY LAW, NOT IN PRACTICE

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5 Key Questions on eProcurement - eTenders

eTenders – online submission, with no certified signature, by law and in practice in the EBRD region

NOT YET A STANDARD BY BOTH LAW AND PRACTICE

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5 Key Questions on eProcurement - eProcuredures

eProcedures – online access to tender documentation by law and in practice in the EBRD region

NOT YET A STANDARD BY LAW. AND PRACTICE?

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5 Key Questions on eProcurement - eRecords

eRecords – online access to records on procurement decisions by law and in practice in the EBRD region

NOT YET A STANDARD BY LAW, EVEN LESS IN PRACTICE

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eProcurement leaders in the EBRD region

•Albania•Georgia•Turkey•FYR Macedonia•Armenia

•Estonia•Lithuania•Romania•Kazakhstan

• Accessibility ensured by a Single Central Government Platform

•Limited number of procedures

•Transparent allocation of roles

•Post-qualification, or prequalification limited to essentials due to integration with eGovernment

• Workflow ONLY for tendering

•Limited procurement tools

•Successful, when made mandatory for all contracting entities in the public sector

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How can international donors support eProcurement reform?

Promoting long-term investment in developing eProcurement workflow and eProcurement tools by:

• Building political commitment by setting standards• Supporting sound business, legal and technology

decisions• Advocating openness in redefinition of procurement

eligibility rules and prequalification procedures• Building awareness that technology can be used to

the process advantage – simplification of procedures • Facilitating a ‘technology neutral’ public procurement

legislation• Assisting in eProcurement reform development and

implementation projects

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Thank you for your attention.

Eliza NiewiadomskaLegal Transition Programme Office of the General CounselEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development+44 207 338 7190Niewiade@ebrd.com

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Tips for eProcurement policy reform

• Availability and accessibility of the eProcurement workflow and tools

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