Some of the public procurement procedures in Moldova are not compliant with the law as the information about how the public funds are used is not transparent, the president of the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance (AGER) stated in a roundtable meeting, being quoted by IPN.
According to Olesea Stamate, under the new law on public procurement, the contracting authorities are obliged to include representatives of civil society in the working group, but some of these refuse to do this. Among other violations are the indication of the stipulation “with dedication” for goods that are to be purchased. This was done by the National Integrity Authority for the purchase of printers and computers and also by the Court of Auditors, which worked out specifications that refer to a particular brand, namely the last model of Iphone. “If it is a necessity, this necessity should be argued publicly,” stated the AGER president.
She referred to the purchase of 31 buses for the municipality of Chisinau, saying the procurement contract in this case was signed two days after the National Agency for Dispute Resolution received a relevant complaint. Olesea Stamate said the legislation does not provide that the National Agency for Dispute Resolution should inform the contracting authorities about such a complaint and this is a shortcoming. Neither the contracting authority is obliged by law to check if there is a relevant challenge before signing the contract.
In another case, the requirements concerning the purchase of sets for newborns, announced by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection, say supplier of such products, except for diapers, should be from Moldova. But this is not good given that Moldova adjusts its legislation to the Community acquis, stated Olesea Stamate.
According to Ala Revenko, who heads the public association “Solidary Parents”, in the municipality of Chisinau they often rig the public procurement contests in the education system. During many years, different schemes have been applied at Education Divisions by which transparence and competition in public procurement is diminished. “In the case of kindergarten repair for example, the Centru Division performed 80% of the repair works through non-transparent procurement contests, while the Râșcani Division – 50%. Even if procurement plans are designed at the start of the year, hundreds of non-transparent purchases at made at each institution until the end of the year,” noted Ala Revenko.
The organizers presented a new instrument by which they could monitor the public procurement process – the portal revizia.md.
