New electronic system of public procurement of Moldova to cut spending by 15 per cent

Chisinau, 6 April /MOLDPRES/ - The implementation of the electronic system in the public procurement process will lead to a 15-per cent cut in expenses, to a higher transparency and efficiency, Finance Minister Octavian Armasu said at a conference titled, Public Procurement Reform: MTender – Instrument for Fair Business, Transparency and Efficiency, held today.   

The conference was organized by the Finance Ministry, jointly with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The project was launched in 2016; it is at the pilot stage and comprises small acquisitions. The first stage of the electronic system’s implementation will be completed in April 2017 and will be switched to the second stage. “The e-acquisitions represent an element of the public procurement reform which we implement, which we hope that, next year, will comprise the entire cycle of acquisitions, beginning with planning and ending with the project’s carrying out,” the minister said.   

Presently, the new system is used by seven contracting authorities, including the Customs Service, State Tax Service, Finance Ministry and others. “We wanted to test the electronic system on our own example, in order to make sure of its efficiency and the impact it has on the procurement process,” Deputy Finance Minister Iuri Cicibaba said. He noted that 12 procurement procedures had been carried out and 22 per cent of public money, which would have been spent for usual procedures, was saved.    

“The submission of electronic offers alone led to saving. Thus, we enhance the transparency, increase competition,” Cicibaba said. “Not only the citizens and the state will benefit from this, but also the business people, as the trading costs will decrease,” the deputy finance minister added.       

There are 3,000 contracting authorities in Moldova in all. At discussions held following the report’s unveiling, business people showed interest in how the system works, which will the next steps be, which the certainty is that the access to the information presented by economic agents will be protected and that the best offer will be chosen.    

E-acquisitions might become compulsory and comprise the entire chain of public procurement in May 2018.

The public procurement has an important share in the national public budget. For instance, in 2014, the value of the procurement contracts registered amounted to 11.54 billion lei, which accounts for 10.3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2015, the procurement of assets and services was to a great extent suspended for lack of money. In 2016, the public acquisitions increased to ten billion lei. This share varies from 15 to 30 per cent of the GDP in the European countries.   

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor A. Raileanu)