The law on public procurement adopted in 2015 has been amended five times already. Three new legislative initiatives to adjust the legal framework on public procurement, which were registered in Parliament, run counter to provisions of the Moldova - EU Association Agreement that was signed in 2014. The findings are contained in an analysis that was conducted by the Institute for European Politics and Reforms (IRPE) and was presented in public debates, IPN reports.

IPRE expert Stanislav Ghiletski said the three initiatives can seriously undermine the process of modernizing the sector. These extend the executional cases when the stipulated public procurement procedures are excluded and the Public Services Agency is removed from this process.

The expert noted the delay in working out the e-procurement concept can also hamper the achievement of the objectives stipulated in the reform concept. “Since 2012, the e-procurement system has gone through different piloting stages, but a national platform to oblige institutions to make acquisitions in an electronic format hasn’t been yet implemented,” stated Stanislav Ghiletski.

Attending the debate, programs director at the independent think tank “Expert Grup” Dumitru Budianski said the authorities make slow progress in implementing reforms in the field. A number of laws were adopted, but are not yet implemented and there are no visible results. Among the causes are corruption and the reduced intervention capacities of state institutions.

The analysis of the implementation of the public procurement provisions of the Moldova - EU Association Agreement was carried out as part of an IPRE project that was implemented with support from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation of Germany.