On Friday, March 29, 2024, the fourth working meeting of the Coalition for Monitoring Public Procurement was held. During the event, sub-grantees of the project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement, implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul", in partnership with the Partnership for Transparency, reported on the state of their monitoring activities.
The meeting was also attended by a group of students from the Faculty of Economics of Moldova State University. Carolina Ungureanu, project coordinator and vice director of IDIS "Viitorul", told the young people that public procurement has become an area of great interest today and that there is a need to monitor how public money is used. She told them that, as a result, the Coalition, represented by NGOs, activists and experts in the field, is monitoring the use of public money to ensure it is spent transparently. "We are interested in disseminating this information and increasing the capacity of young people, of civil society, to have more experts and representatives overseeing the sector," said Carolina Ungureanu.
Olga Diaconu, project coordinator at the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance (AGER), presented the activities of the project "Monitoring sectoral procurement in the Republic of Moldova" which monitors procurements under Law No. 74/2020 in the fields of energy, water, transportation, and postal services. Thus, several large contracting authorities were monitored on how they carry out procurements in these sectors in order to detect possible irregularities or risk indicators, as well as good or bad practices. The observations will later be reflected in a report, which will also include recommendations from AGER. This report will be shared with the contracting authorities to bring improvements to the legal framework. Five articles have already been published on certain suspect situations, with risk indicators in the monitoring of sectoral procurement carried out by Chisinau-Gaz, Chisinau International Airport, Termoelectrica, Moldova Railways and Apă-Canal Chisinau.
Ala Revenco, president of the Public Association "Parents in Solidarity", which implements the project "Increasing the integrity of low-value purchases made by the education directorates of the municipality of Chisinau" analyzed the way in which low-value purchases are carried out, under the conditions of the new regulation that came into force on July 1, 2023. As a result, it was found that non-competitive procedures predominate. 96% of the money spent, about 40.4 million lei (~8729292 USD), excluding VAT, was discretionary spending by the education directorates on low-value purchases made on the basis of fiscal invoices and direct contracts. In such cases, the risks of corruption and collusion are very high. At the same time, the contracting authorities monitored carried out 311 and 416 procedures in the third and fourth quarters of 2023 respectively through invoices and direct contracts. 7% of procedures were reported after the deadline in Q3 and 32% in Q4. Through MTender, eight procedures were carried out in the third quarter and four were carried out in the fourth quarter. The thresholds for purchases through tax invoices and direct contracts were exceeded for sixteen procedures in Q3 and eight procedures in Q4.
Ion Mazur, head of the Advocacy, Campaigns and Publications Department of the Public Association "Independent Press Association", which implements the project "Strengthening Integrity in Public Procurement through Media Contribution", said that several procurement procedures of the National Programme’s "European Village" and "European Village Express" projects have been monitored in order to carry out journalistic investigations and recommendations for authorities and economic entities, as well as to promote good local governance practices through the production of thematic articles. Three investigations and three articles on best practices were published. Concerning the Monitoring Report on the correctness of the use of public procurement procedures by the first level local public administration, with proposals to eliminate illegalities and recover public money, the expert contracted to make the report analyzed 29 contracts and procurement procedures out of the 65 planned.
Diana Grosu, president of the Association for Human Rights Lex XXI, which implements the project "Monitoring and promoting transparency of public procurement in the social assistance sector in the Republic of Moldova", said that the project monitors public procurement carried out by the general directorates of social assistance in the northern part of the Republic of Moldova and by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, and the results of the monitoring will be reflected in seven investigations and seven investigative reports. In the meantime, four investigations and three investigative reports have been carried out. The results of the investigations will be included in a monitoring report with recommendations to the contracting authorities/entities. "What we did kind of upset the authorities, given that we monitored how they use public money. As a result of these investigations, various threats were made, as the authorities are not used to someone monitoring them," said Diana Grosu.
Lilia Zaharia-Cravcenco, Executive Director of Transparency International-Moldova, which implements the project "Public Procurement in the City Hall of the Municipality of Chisinau. Chisinau under the magnifying glass of transparency", said that information from the procurement plans of the Chisinau City Hall and municipal enterprises for 2023-2024 was collected and analyzed. She said that several procurements were selected for monitoring in 2023 and that the contents of the budgetary and procurement components of websites belonging to Chisinau City Hall, the Directorate of Architecture, Urbanism and Land Relations and the MQ Autoalubritate were analzyed. The following information was selected: information from M-Tender and www.achizitii.md on the purchases made by the contracting authorities monitored and data on awarded contracts registered with the Public Procurement Agency. Information was also requested from municipal enterprises on purchases made in 2023. "The focus was on procurements with vulnerability factors and increased risks of corruption, but also those with significant procurement value. Contracting authorities seem to be more tempted to cancel procedures than to remedy them, a finding that emerged from the analysis of the decisions of the National Agency for Solving Complaints. We had difficulties at some stages of the journalistic investigations, but these have been overcome. We will also produce a monitoring report and hold a journalists' club where we will invite the monitored institutions and the bidders who submitted complaints," said Lilia Zaharia.
During the meeting, Valeriu Ciorba, a monitor from Parents in Solidarity, presented the draft of a public appeal from civil society regarding low-value public procurement. According to Valeriu Ciorba, nowhere in the legislation is it stipulated that contracts from 150 thousand to 350 thousand lei, which are carried out by Mtender, must be published. Thus, it is requested that certain interventions be made in the Government's decision regulating these procedures, so that those contracts that take place through Mtender are published.
The Coalition for Monitoring Public Procurement was created at the initiative of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul", within the project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement, implemented in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The coalition aims to support public procurement reforms in the Republic of Moldova. More than 20 civil society organizations, investigative journalists, experts and independent monitors from the Republic of Moldova are members of the Coalition.
So far, Coalition for Monitoring Public Procurement has held three meetings, where a number of topical issues in the field of public procurement have been discussed.
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The project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with the American organization Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
IDIS "Viitorul" is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, and security and foreign policy risks.
Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improving governance, increasing transparency, promoting the rule of law, and reducing corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.
On January 22, 2024 the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul and the Court of Accounts signed a cooperation agreement where they agreed to collaborate efforts to improve the transparency and efficiency of the public procurement process in order to maximize the value of public money. The agreement was signed in the context of the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project which IDIS Viitorul implements with Partnership for Transparency. This project increases transparency and fairness in the Moldovan public procurement sector by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
The signing of this agreement follows a meeting between IDIS Viitorul and the Court of Accounts on October 24, 2023 where the Court of Accounts agreed to join the National Platform for Pulic Procurement, a national, multi-stakeholder discussion forum for the public procurement sector, developed within the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project. IDIS Viitorul and the Court of Accounts believe that partnership between civil society and public authorities improves the quality of public services.
This partnership contributes to the Republic of Moldova’s ongoing efforts to join the European Union. On June 23, 2022, the Republic of Moldova became a European Union candidate country, when the European Commission recommended the Republic of Moldova take measures to improve public procurement, and increase the involvement of civil society in decision-making processes, at all levels of government. These recommendations of the Commission reiterate the need for all actors in the public procurement sector to work together, with input from civil society, to monitor procurements and to develop policies to improve the regulatory framework as well as digital tools to monitor it.
The agreement stresses that, as established in Article 133 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, the Court of Accounts is an audit institution with a broad mandate to exercise control over the formation, management, and use of public financial resources. The Court of Accounts submits annual reports of its activities to Parliament. "In its work, the Court of Accounts addresses the risk that public finances and assets may be mismanaged and misused by constantly providing information on how money is spent by state authorities and on the performance of the public sector. Because of its specific responsibilities for managing public money and exercising public authority, the Court of Accounts' work extends not only to financial matters, but also to the commitments of auditees on the performance and compliance of the use of public resources."
The agreement also mentions that public procurement is an important component of public finances, as demonstrated by the volume of public financial resources that are spent through the procurement system for the procurement of goods, services, and works by the contracting authorities in the country, which is why ensuring and improving the transparency and efficiency of this process is imperative. "The establishment of effective and permanent communication between representatives of public institutions with responsibilities in the field of public procurement, contracting authorities, economic operators, and civil society is a basic prerequisite for coordinating and harmonizing the interests of citizens with those of the state in a democratic atmosphere and in the spirit of the rule of law," the agreement states.
The Court of Accounts and IDIS Viitorul note in their agreement the need to combine the efforts and capacities of the government and civil society in order to achieve the objectives of governance, modernization of the country and adjustment to European standards in all areas, including public procurement, which is an important component of public finances and the national public budget. The Parties also welcome initiatives to consult and involve civil society, academia and independent organizations in all issues of strategic interest as part of the process of democratization of society and the state in the Republic of Moldova. "A better coordination of the joint efforts of the associative sector and the public and specialized authorities of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, in particular the Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova, will have a positive impact on the performance of the country's economic development," the agreement also states.
According to the agreement, the parties will participate in joint meetings, round tables, and other activities where they will address various topical issues in the field of public procurement, issues that require discussion and consultation with all stakeholders in the sector, as well as work on finding solutions to address challenges. The parties will also ensure the systematic participation of their representatives in the activities of the National Platform for Public Procurement.
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The project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with the American organization Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, and security and foreign policy risks.
Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improving governance, increasing transparency, promoting the rule of law, and reducing corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.
The Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul on Thursday, December 21 held a mentoring session with the sub-grantees of the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project, in the presence of Hady Fink, Project Director of the Partnership for Transparency - PTF from the USA, who was visiting the Republic of Moldova. During the meeting, eight organizations of the first round of the sub-grantee program presented the results and impacts of the implemented projects. At the same time, five organizations implementing projects under the second round of the sub-grants program reported on the results of the first three months of public procurement monitoring.
The mentoring session also aimed to assess the status of the recommendations addressed to the monitored authorities and decision-makers as a result of the implementation of the first round projects, the reactions of the contracting authorities to the recommendations made, and the extent to which the procurement process has been improved.
Hady Fink: "For us, the results of the projects are very important, but we are also interested in what happens after you have implemented the projects, which is sustainability. For us, immediate actions are important, but also the long-term results of your activities. We want to see what changes have occurred, whether some monitoring authorities have taken or are taking into account your recommendations. If some are more reluctant, we need to know this so that we can analyze the current situation and know how to move forward."
Carolina Ungureanu, project manager, deputy director of IDIS Viitorul: "This meeting is important for us from several points of view. To see how other civil society organizations work and what tools they use when monitoring certain entities or contracting authorities. It is an exchange of experience and the lessons that some organizations have presented can be taken back. Some of the topics covered by monitoring organizations may be the subject of future journalistic investigations".
Contact Centre Cahul monitored, in the first round of sub-grants, some public procurement carried out by Cahul City Hall and Cahul District Council. Mihail Cucereanu, project coordinator at the Centre, admitted that he did not have much knowledge in the field of monitoring initially, but in the framework of the project he participated in trainings, where he was trained by specialists in the field. "As part of the project we formed a monitoring group. We were able to hire a highly experienced technical officer, who taught us what to look out for when monitoring how the works are going. At each monitoring stage we tried to make proposals, which were included as recommendations to the authorities, and we had more openness from Cahul City Hall than from the Cahul RC. One of the members of our monitoring group was included in the public procurement group of the City Hall. At the District Council it is a bit more difficult. During our work on this project there were several comments on the specifications, which were very superficially drafted and not signed by the person who drafted them. As a continuation of what we started, a local transparency council was recently established and members of our monitoring group with whom we worked, now some of them are members of this transparency council and monitor the decision-making process at Cahul City Hall, including the procurement process," said Mihail Cucereanu.
The Public Association Localinvest from Riscani district, in the first round of grants, monitored the purchases carried out by the Riscani District Council and the Riscani District Hospital. Alexandru Crigan, president of the association, said that during the monitoring procedures a number of deviations from legal norms were detected. "With the completion of the project, our work on these monitored procurements was not completed. We made recommendations at the end of the monitoring stages, and along the way we continued to receive replies to letters we sent during the project and to which we did not receive a timely response. We had high expectations from the state institutions, in particular the control bodies, to react more promptly. We received answers to the recommendations, but they were quite evasive", said Alexandru Crigan.
The Public Association Prospect, from the city of Cimislia, monitored, also in the first round, the public procurement of road repairs carried out by the authorities of the city and district. Andrei Bargan, director of the association, said that it was the first time in the history of local government activity that an organization was included in the working group on public procurement. "They received us coldly at first, but we managed to collaborate. Doing follow-ups at all stages, we noticed that they had a specialist who was good at project documentation, but with planning they were worse. They were planning more based on political factors. They were choosing where to repair certain roads and who to do roads for. We sent all our recommendations and comments to the local administration to adjust the project, because it is not good to plan one thing and do another. In the discussion they say they will consider our recommendations but they do not implement them. Then they are outraged if we insist and they ask why we care. We tell them they have not implemented their planning. I noticed that in actelocale.md, in the protocol services section, everything that is placed is shaded in black and you can no longer understand what information is contained there. I understand from their words that if they cross-hatch no one punishes them. If they leak a name that is not hashed or something, they can be sued and punished for publishing personal data. But this is not about individuals," said Andrei Bargan.
The media project "With Sense", recipient of the first round of grants, produced five journalistic investigations and five explainer stories to inform the public about how they can access information on public procurement. Liuba Shevciuc, the project manager, said that the investigations checked several contracts with the participation of several economic agents, low-value purchases, high-value purchases, purchases that were made many years ago and were not completed. "The problem we faced was that some public institutions did not provide us with the requested information. Usually, journalists' work ends when we publish an investigation. These are our competences which work in the contexts in which we collaborate with civil society, because they can take our material and put public pressure on the authorities to make certain adjustments to the law, to implement certain things," said Liuba Shevciuc.
Organizations implementing projects in the second round of sub-grants started work in September this year. They reported the difficulties they encountered during this project implementation period.
The Association for Efficient and Accountable Governance (AGER), was awarded grants in both sub-grant rounds to monitor sectoral public procurement. During the implementation of the first round, amendments were made to the law on sectoral public procurement. And to see the impact of these, it also applied for the second round. Olga Diaconu, project coordinator at AGER, highlighted the results of the first round of project implementation. "The activities carried out from April to July 2022 included: monitoring procurement in the energy, water, transport and postal services sectors; organizing a round table with stakeholders to discuss the main issues related to the interpretation and application of the provisions of Law 74/2020; drafting and publishing articles; drafting a public policy note; and drafting a monitoring report. As activities are carried out, we are talking about monitoring sectoral procurement, publishing articles on problematic situations in sectoral procurement, etc.", said Olga Diaconu.
The non-profit association Parents in Solidarity was also a beneficiary in both rounds of sub-grants. Valeriu Ciorba, monitor of the association, spoke about the activities planned in the implementation of the project in the second round. "We are keeping an eye on education in Chisinau municipality. We are monitoring the education directorates of the City Hall, namely how they report on the conduct of low-value public procurement through the Mtender system, a mandatory process since July 1 this year. Information about the procedure, reporting mechanisms, although introduced since July 1, started to appear in September. The presentation of information on small value purchases is rather hidden. There are procurements that, as a procedure, should be carried out on Mtender, but it ends up that in Mtender only the winner is declared. The actual contract does not end up on Mtender. There are a lot of complicated exceptions in the government decision, and the contracting authorities, we believe, misuse them for certain things. The new system does not provide for the link with the e-invoice system and here the percentage of human errors is quite high. said Valeriu Ciorba.
The Public Association Independent Press Association, has been implementing the project Strengthening integrity in public procurement through media contribution since September. Ion Mazur, head of the Advocacy, Campaigns and Publications Department of the association, pointed out that selected procurement procedures within the national programs European Village and European Village Express from 2023-2024 are being monitored. "We aimed not only to reveal certain shortcomings, violations of public procurement processes, but also to promote good practices, to show that there are local authorities that carry out the processes correctly and to be an example for other authorities and in this way improve the procurement process. Two journalistic investigations have been carried out but not yet published. The authorities concerned were candidates in the local elections this November and the publication of an investigation has been delayed. The second investigation is dragging on because identifying the subject matter is complicated. Some sources, including those involved from the authorities, refuse to provide information in time," said Ion Mazur.
The Association for Human Rights Lex 21 from Balti municipality is also participating in both rounds of sub-grants. Valeria Ciolac, coordinator of anti-corruption programs in the association, mentioned the planned activities and achievements in the second round. "We chose to monitor transparency of public procurement in the social assistance sector because with the war and the refugee crisis, the sector has received large funds in the form of humanitarian aid, and where there are more funds there is a greater need for monitoring. In the three months of the project implementation we sent 29 requests for access to information to the Social Assistance Directorates in the North of Moldova and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. The main problem we face is that when it comes to access to information, some authorities do not respond at all. In the second round, LEX 21 expanded its monitoring area. In addition to the municipal authorities of Balti, all current procurement procedures carried out by the Social Welfare Directorates of Edinet, Soroca, Briceni, Dondușeni, Drochia, Fălești, Florești, Glodeni, Ocnița, Râșcani, Sângerei and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection are analyzed", said Valeria Ciolac.
Transparency International-Moldova in the second round of sub-grants is monitoring public procurement in the Chisinau City Hall, Architecture, Urban Planning and Land Relations Department and the Self-Sanitation Agency. Lilia Zaharia, executive director of TI-Moldova, said that there are a lot of procurement procedures carried out by municipal enterprises and the Chisinau City Hall, but the procedures were selected that concern areas with vulnerability factors and increased risks of corruption, or procurement that concern controversial and problematic issues. "Colleagues have identified that there were many promotional advertising materials purchased by the Auto-Sanitation and Architecture Directorate and we want to see the reasons why a lot of money has to be spent to promote the services provided by the Directorate. We looked gradually from 2020 to 2023 and there is an increase in these purchases of services. Being in the election campaign, when we asked for information, we were asked "but who made you write journalistic investigations?". They would come with accusations that we were acting on the instructions of a political party. And that was one of the reasons why the publication of journalistic material was delayed: that we didn't get enough information in time. This activity of ours is not to punish or point fingers at public authorities, but we want to come up with some recommendations, to help them", said Lilia Zaharia.
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The project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with the American organization Partnership for Transparency Fund. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, but also security and foreign policy risks.
Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improving governance, increasing transparency, promoting the rule of law, and reducing corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.
The Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in collaboration with Partnership for Transparency (PTF), launched on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, the National Platform for Public Procurement (NPPP), within the project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement. The NPPP will be a national discussion forum, a permanent communication and dialogue mechanism for all actors in the public procurement sector - policy, control, and regulatory authorities, contracting authorities/entities, and economic operators. Alongside IDIS, three other civil society organizations delegated by the Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition are part of the NPPP.
The mission of the NPPP is to improve the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of the national public procurement system by addressing problems in the system, identifying solutions and proposing them as recommendations to be incorporated into policy by decision-makers. NPPP members represent authorities and organizations with an interest in the functioning and sustainability of the national public procurement system.
At meetings to be held quarterly, NPPP members will address priority topics, adopt common positions on procurement issues and challenges, make recommendations and contribute to policy development and implementation of solutions to overcome challenges.
Diana Enachi, procurement monitoring coordinator at IDIS Viitorul, said that this initiative was designed to facilitate dialogue between representatives of the public procurement sector and discuss the shortcomings, problems, and difficulties they encounter in the public procurement process. "The ultimate goal of the work of this platform is to find solutions by thinking of new policies to solve problems in the public procurement sector. Not necessarily for every problem and at every meeting will we find simple, clear solutions that can be easily implemented, but this communication, and the fact that we are all gathered around the same table, is a step forward to remedy those difficulties in the monitoring procress identifieid by us as members of civil society," said Diana Enachi.
Liubomir Chiriac, Executive Director of IDIS Viitorul said that the public procurement sector represents about 10% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Republic of Moldova and 20-25% of the National Public Budget. "It is a very important sector for the development of the country. Efficient public procurement leads to the solution of many challenges, which refer to financial discipline, the modernization of public administration, the opening of new jobs, the fight against corruption, increasing citizens' trust in the state, etc. "Public procurement" can mean transparency, fairness, and good governance, but it can also mean insufficient training of the members of the working groups responsible for the planning and preparation of documents, insufficient transparency, internal controls, monitoring, and integrity in the evaluation process. There are still a lot of constraints in this area, although efforts have been made and results have been achieved," said Liubomir Chiriac.
Hady Fink, Project Director at Partnership for Transparency (PTF), said that the project is a valuable one, especially because of the results already achieved and the partnership with IDIS Viitorul. "Thank you to the US Government for this support. We at PTF are using this moment to make this change... We want this project to not go unnoticed. We are glad that there is this interest from the authorities. With the help of civil society we hope to improve this sector, contributing to an agenda that will bring more transparency and integrity to public procurement in Moldova and really improve the system," said Hady Fink.
Lilia Radul, a senior consultant in the Public Procurement Directorate of the Ministry of Finance, said her institution is always open to working with civil society. "Many times we meet for discussions, round tables, etc. We have also signed a memorandum with IDIS Viitorul. We continue to count on the support of civil society, on your courage and ambition to identify problems, gaps, and illegalities in this area, which is very important for the country. Public procurement is about public money", said Lilia Radul.
According to Sergiu Lazarencu, member of the Moldovan Parliament, member of the Committee on Economy, Budget and Finance, once the negotiations for Moldova's accession to the European Union (EU) are launched, the country will be eligible to access funds, which will have to be absorbed quickly, qualitatively and in compliance with the legal framework. "In this context, it is important to take steps to improve public procurement at all levels of government, but also to increase the involvement of civil society in decision-making processes at all levels. Parliament will give all the necessary support to develop a public procurement system capable of providing value for money in the use of public funds and will certainly be receptive and support all good proposals that will come from this platform", said Sergiu Lazarencu.
Julie Limoges, Head of the Economic Unit, Embassy of the United States of America, said that the US is always open to supporting initiatives focused on such important activities. "Transparent public procurement is an essential component of a transparent government. This provides assurance that public funds will be absorbed quickly and the benefits will be in the best interests of citizens. The value of public procurement works towards the welfare of citizens. It also contributes to economic development. As the Republic of Moldova moves along the road to EU membership, it will need to ensure that the public procurement system complies with European practical and theoretical standards. We support the Republic of Moldova in strengthening public procurement and building a more prosperous society," said Julie Limoges.
In turn, Carolina Ungureanu, deputy director, project manager at IDIS Viitorul, said that the main objective of the platform is to come up with recommendations to improve the public procurement system, and the ultimate goal is to have efficiency in the use of public money and strengthen the capacities of all actors involved in this process. "We at IDIS Viitorul are constantly coming up with recommendations to improve the legal framework. When certain documents are published for discussion, we are the ones who provide the necessary expertise and support. The experience of the Republic of Moldova is intended to be transposed to other countries, organizations, and institutions as a model. We are glad that the work we do every day at IDIS Viitorul in the field of public procurement is reflected in tangible results. The fact that you, members of this platform, are here today means that you want discussions and cooperation, that there is a need to meet at the same table, altogether, to address problems, to see perspectives, even if they sometimes differ, but to find that consensus", said Carolina Ungureanu.
In the second part of the event, the first working session of the NPPP took place. Discussions focused on legal, procedural and technical issues and challenges in the field of public works procurement. The members of the NPPP outlined the problems and came up with solutions and recommendations to overcome them. The secretariat of the NPPP is IDIS Viitorul, which collected the problems identified and the recommendations formulated to overcome them. These will be brought to the attention of the institutions with the necessary powers to study and implement them.
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The project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with the American organization Partnership for Transparency Fund. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, but also security and foreign policy risks.
Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improving governance, increasing transparency, promoting the rule of law, and reducing corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.
At the third meeting of the Coalition for Monitoring Public Procurement on December 13, the Open Spending EU Coalition related their experience on a systemic approach to transparency in public spending. Another topic addressed was the shortcomings identified by the Association for Efficient and Accountable Governance (AGER) in the monitoring process for health procurements carried out by the Center for Centralized Public Procurement in Healthcare (CAPCS).
The Coalition for Monitoring Public Procurement was created at the initiative of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, within the project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova, implemented in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The coalition aims to support public procurement reforms in the Republic of Moldova. More than 20 civil society organizations, investigative journalists, experts and independent monitors from the Republic of Moldova are members of the Coalition.
Carolina Ungureanu, the project coordinator and vice director at IDIS Viitorul, said at the beginning of the meeting that it is important for the members of the Public Procurement Monitoring Coalition to know the good practices of other organizations that monitor public procurement. "It is important for us as membres of civil society to have additional tools and knowledge about how public procurement should be monitored and how public money is spent. It is important for us to know exactly the most appropriate ways, so that we can then have qualitative monitoring and come up with recommendations to improve the public procurement system, for contracting authorities, but also for decision makers, who are responsible for public procurement policies."
In attendance at the meeting was Gina S. Lentine, Program Officer, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Office of Global Programs, said that civil society in Moldova has always had a role to play in strengthening democracy, in promoting open and constructive discussions with the government, and in helping to hold the government accountable for failures, regardless of who is in power,. "You really have a very important job in advancing efforts in this direction. I am delighted to hear about your efforts and the solutions that you are proposing. After all the work that you are doing, I have seen that you have been able to make progress, like in increasing the integrity of public authorities at the national level. We see that they have started to respond to some of your recommendations. They are not simply taking them into consideration, but are actually actively working with you to address some of these important issues that you have identified. We are very proud to be able to support these efforts of yours in this important work aimed at advancing anti-corruption efforts here in the Republic of Moldova at this vital time for the country, for its growing democracy."
Krzysiek Izdebski, co-leader of the Open Spending EU Coalition, gave an online presentation of the Open Spending EU Coalition. According to the co-leader, the Coalition brings together academics, experts and specialists working in different EU Member States for the transparency of public procurement spending and EU funds. At the same time, the legislation and regulations of the public procurement systems of EU member countries were analyzed and it was found that there are many laws and many regulations, but the important thing is that there is transparency in the spending of EU funds. "Public procurement is an important part of our work, but there are other ways in which EU money is spent. We want to make sure that the whole system is absolutely transparent. We want to follow the money that comes directly from the EU budget to subcontractors."
Krzysiek Izdebski also said that while there are differences in European countries' procurement legislation, they are trying to influence the legal provisions to make the right changes. In the coming years, says the Coalition co-leader, members will also focus on monitoring countries at the pre-accession stage of EU membership, as there are different transparency rules for different funds managed by the EU and the aim is to support countries in the pre-accession process. "Here we are not talking about monitoring for the sake of monitoring, but we want to check whether or not there has been corruption in spending. We very much support the pre-accession process, but we need to come up with some key rules for transparency of EU funds."
Another of the Coalition's activities, says Krzysiek Izdebski, is to ensure that all public procurement and spending is public. This means that member states are required to publish public procurement data in real time. "In recent years we have focused on bringing more transparency to the recovery and resilience funds that have been distributed by the EU in the pandemic. We found that there was no provision for transparency in the regulation behind these funds, nor in Member States' regulations. There was no obligation to publish data on actual expenditure. "From the very beginning it was a problem to understand where this money went. And there was the problem of trust in public institutions, which is decreasing and we are trying to be very vocal about these issues. There are major discrepancies between countries. We need to create policies to increase the quality of human rights. We need to understand how money is spent in the EU member states as well. We are trying to intervene, and to get in touch with decision-makers to generate those necessary changes."
Olga Diaconu, Project Coordinator at the Association for Efficient and Accountable Governance (AGER), presented the shortcomings identified by AGER in the monitoring process of centralized procurements in health carried out by CAPCS. Double standards were found in the procurement of medicines and major problems were identified in the procurement of ambulances. Diaconu said that in the Republic of Moldova there are medicines and medical devices of poor quality because the government always chooses the lowest-priced offers. "This is the criterion most often used in public procurement in Moldova, including in the procurement of medicines. We pay a lot of money, but the quality is not always the best. In some cases medicines that are authorized in Moldova are accepted, in other cases medicines unauthorized in countries with high quality standards are purchased. There are also situations where medicines are accepted that have been authorized only in the country of origin of the medicine. There are exceptions in the legislation that allow authorities to juggle. In some cases they buy authorized medicines, in other cases - unauthorized".
Discussing ambulance procurement, Diaconu said that this year there were two procurements for ambulances, worth €5 million (~$5,493,750), in two lots. The procurement specified four by four ambulances because it is difficult to reach some villages with a four by two type vehicles. However, most of the ambulances offered in the two lots were four by two types. In both lots a Romanian company would have been the favored awardee because the company is owned by a state dignatary. Diaconu stated, "CAPCS, although it indicated in the tender specifications that ambulances meeting EN1789 standards were being procured and reference was made to European directives, nevertheless left it to the discretion of the economic operators to choose how to verify that the ambulances met these criteria."
At the meeting, three civil society organizations were assigned to be part of the National Platform for Public Procurement: AGER, Public Association Local Invest, and Transparency International Moldova.
So far, the Coalition for Monitoring Public Procurement has held two meetings, where several topical issues in the field of public procurement were discussed including: the national program on development of public procurements system for the years 2023-2026, transparency and reporting of low-value procurements, and procurement rigging, among other topics.
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The project Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with the American organization Partnership for Transparency Fund. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, but also security and foreign policy risks.
Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improving governance, increasing transparency, promoting the rule of law, and reducing corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.
The National Bank of Moldova (NBM) and the State Road Administration (ASD) have expressed their openness and willingness to participate in the National Public Procurement Platform to promote the reform of the public procurement system. The team of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, which implements the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project with Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF), met with representatives of the two institutions in order to strengthen and coordinate cooperation efforts.
The meeting was attended by Olga Pisarenco, Head of the Procurement and Contract Management Department, and Ludmila Ionițel, Senior Legal Advisor, from the Procurement and Management Department of the institution. ASD was represented at the meeting by Deputy Director Serghei Galusca, Petru Zolotcov, Head of the Records Service, Field Procurements, Sergiu Godiac, Head of the Roads Service, and Natalia Turcan, Head of the Public Procurement Service.
Carolina Ungureanu, Deputy Director of IDIS Viitorul, spoke about the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project, which aims to establish the National Platform for Public Procurement (NPPP). Carolina Ungureanu said that the platform's mission is to improve the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of the national public procurement system by addressing problems in the system, identifying legal, technical or procedural solutions, and proposing them to be integrated into the sector's policies by decision makers.
She also noted that the aim of the NPPP is to create a permanent multi-stakeholder communication and dialogue mechanism for all actors in the national procurement system, including civil society. The members of the Platform will address priority issues in the field, adopt common positions on the problems and challenges of the public procurement system, as well as make recommendations to overcome them.
Previously, IDIS Viitorul signed a Cooperation Agreement with the Ministry of Finance and the National Agency for Dispute Resolution. It also had meetings for cooperation purposes with the management of the Public Procurement Agency (PAA), the National Agency for the Settlement of Disputes (NSC), the administration of the Centre for Centralised Public Procurement in Health (CAPCS), the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova (CCIRM) and the Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova (CCRM).
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The project Increasing the Integirty of Public Procurement Project is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with the American organization Partnership for Transparency Fund. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, but also security and foreign policy risks.
Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) is based in Washington DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improving governance, increasing transparency, promoting the rule of law, and reducing corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.
Institute for Development and Social Initiatives IDIS Viitorul, which implements the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project together with Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF), had new meetings with representatives of public institutions in Chisinau in order to strengthen and coordinate cooperation efforts to promote the reform of the procurement system. IDIS met with the Centre for Centralised Public Procurement in Health (CAPCS) on October 19, with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova (CCIRM) on October 23, and with the Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova (CCRM) on October 24.
Carolina Ungureanu, Deputy Director of IDIS Viitorul, thanked the leadership of the three institutions for their openness to discuss opportunities for collaboration and in particular the creation of a multi-stakeholder platform. She also explained the purpose of the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project, reviewed the activities carried out so far and those to be implemented, including the creation of the National Platform for Public Procurement (PNAP), for which IDIS Viitorul has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Ministry of Finance.
Carolina Ungureanu invited the three institutions to become members of the Platform, which will be a national discussion forum, a permanent communication and dialogue mechanism for all actors in the public procurement sector. Within the Platform, members will have the opportunity to address priority issues, adopt common positions on the problems and challenges of the public procurement system, as well as formulate recommendations to overcome the challenges discussed.
Gheorghe Gorceag, Director of CAPCS, thanked IDIS for having the initiative to launch such a platform, saying that the institution he heads is open to cooperate with all actors in the system. He also said that CAPCS plays an important role in the functioning of the entire health system in the country, as it manages annual purchases worth about two billion lei (~$429,701,000), and this volume is increasing year by year. Similarly, the list of goods (medicines and medical devices) procured centrally by CAPCS for the 400 or so medical institutions across the country is also expanding.
Mihai Bîlba, Deputy Director of CCIRM, mentioned that the institution he represents participated in the committee on the implementation of the MTender system. At the same time, the CCI organized capacity building activities for economic operators on participation in public procurement, including those conducted electronically through MTender. Mihai Bîlba also said that CCIRM is interested in participating in the Platform, as economic operators always have questions about the public procurement process.
For his part, Marian Lupu, President of the CCRM, said that the launch of the Platform is an absolutely necessary idea, but reiterated that there will be many difficulties in its functioning, as the participating actors will come with diametrically opposed points of view, sometimes even interests. According to Marian Lupu, the CCRM is open to collaboration with civil society and is interested in better analyzing audit reports and taking action on recommendations. Marian Lupu also underlined that the CoRCA attaches great importance to small value procurement and believes that this topic should be put on the agenda of the Platform's discussions. The CoR was open to signing a cooperation agreement with IDIS Viitorul.
The draft rules on the functioning of the Platform will be sent for consultation to all those who agree to become members that actively participate in the Platform's activities. It will be possible to discuss the rules at the first meeting of the Platform, which will take place before the end of the year.
On October 16 2023, IDIS Viitorul had its first two meetings with the management of the Public Procurement Agency and the National Agency for Dispute Resolution in order to strengthen and coordinate cooperation efforts to promote the reform of the procurement system.
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The Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with the Partnership for Transparency Fund. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, but also security and foreign policy risks.
Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) is based in Washington DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improving governance, increasing transparency, promoting the rule of law, and reducing corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.
On October 16, 2023, the team of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, which implements the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project together with Partnership for Transparency Fund, had meetings with the management of the Public Procurement Agency (PPA) and the National Agency for Solving Complaints (NASC) for the consolidation and coordination of cooperative efforts to promote reform of the public procurement system.
Carolina Ungureanu, deputy director of IDIS Viitorul, thanked the management of the two agencies for taking the time to meet. She provided information on the project, describing activities already carried out, as well as activities that will be implemented, including the creation of a National Platform for Public Procurement, for which IDIS signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Ministry of Finance.
Carolina Ungureanu proposed to the leaders of the two Agencies to join the platform, which will have the role of a national discussion forum. This permanent mechanism will facilitate communication and dialogue for stakeholders in the field like the authorities responsible for policies, control, regulation, as well as contracting authorities, non-governmental organizations, and economic operators. The objective is to discuss current challenges and solutions (legal, technical, procedural, organizational, etc.) based on a participatory and strategic approach.
According to Carolina Ungureanu, the meetings of the Platform will facilitate the formulation of a common position on the problems and challenges of the public procurement system. Meetings will be held once every three months, or as needed, and will end with recommendations to overcome the challenges and issues discussed. Carolina Ungureanu added that IDIS Viitorul has decided to have bilateral meetings with each actor to identify a list of issues to be discussed at the Platform meetings.
Angela Nani, NASC director, agreed to the idea of the NASC signing a cooperation agreement with IDIS Viitorul and also mentioned that NASC is waiting for reactions from civil society organizations on the work carried out by NASC.
The participants in the discussion found that the biggest problem of public procurement processes is related to the contract execution stage, which is less supervised and controlled. Thus, NASC recommends that non-governmental organizations focus more on analyzing this stage.
IDIS Viitorul emphasized that the Platform would allow the discussion of these issues in a multilateral format. Depending on the topics on the agenda, those concerned and with decision-making power will be invited to participate. Thus, problems will be addressed multilaterally and a common position on the problems will be formulated, which will include the solutions proposed by all parties. The agenda of the discussions will be formed by the members of the Platform, including the NASC, to make known the difficulties and challenges they face.
Ruslan Mălai, the director of PPA, appreciated the opportunity to discuss some recommendations on certain problems and challenges of the procurement system through such a Platform. He suggested that the World Bank, the delegation of the European Union and other development partners of the Republic of Moldova could participate in the meetings of the Platform. IDIS welcomed the idea of inviting those institutions to some meetings, in which their input can play an important role for the procurement system and they could thus contribute to the effort to accelerate the reform of the electronic procurement system.
IDIS Viitorul, PPA and NASC agreed to coordinate their efforts to prepare the activities of the Platform.
One of the issues that will be discussed at the Platform meetings is the current situation of Law no. 74/2020 regarding utilities procurement, regarding its application methods and the authorities with control powers in the field of sectoral procurement.
The draft of the Platform's operating regulations will be sent for consultation to all its members, including the NASC and the PPA. The regulation will be discussed at the first meeting of the Platform, which will take place by the end of the year. The leadership of PPA and NASC confirmed their participation in the launch meeting of the Platform.
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The Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political, and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, security, and foreign policy risks.
Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improve governance, increase transparency, promote the rule of law, and reduce corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.
On Friday, September 29, 2023, the Coalition of Monitors in public procurement had its second working session. The Coalition was created by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul as part of the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project, implemented in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. At the meeting, members of the coalition addressed several topics, themes, and issues in the field of public procurement, including the National Programme on Development of Public Procurements System for 2023-2026, transparency and reporting surrounding low-value purchase, and bid rigging.
Diana Enachi, the procurement expert at IDIS Viitorul, spoke about the National Programme on Development of Public Procurements System for 2023-2026, which was approved in August 2023. She said, “this is the most important strategic document in the field of public procurement and has been expected since 2020. It is welcome because it shows that the government has a vision, plans, and goals. It is an ambitious but necessary program. On the one hand, representatives of civil society and the government can work together to identify ways to collaborate and implement planned actions. On the other hand, it is necessary for representatives of civil society to monitor the implementation of the program, its progress at its different stages, what is being achieved, and what is not. If even sixty percent of this program is achieved, we will see finally see some results form the public procurement reforms that began in 2016 but which are still only a little bit visible.”
Ala Revenco, president of the Părinţi Solidari Association (in English, “Parents in Solidarity”), analyzed how low value public procurements are made through the MTedner system under the regulation in force since July 1, 2023. Revenco said, “we have seen a fifty percent increase in the thresholds for low-value public procurement and we have seen new ideas and methods for conducting low-value public procurement. It seems like transparency is improving, but there is still much to be done. The good thing about this regulation is that it requires that small value purchases be carried out through SIA RSAP MTender, which makes them a bit more transparent. Părinţi Solidari analyzed the low-value purchases carried out by the Education Department of the municipality of Chisinau and noticed that the new regulation did not change the behavior of the authorities. It is good to see more bidders for these low-value public procurements, but it remains difficult to extract automated data on low-value public procurements for civil society representatives.”
Olga Diaconu, project coordinator at the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance (AGER), presented some examples of anti-competitive practices in the field of public procurement. Diaconu said, “during the monitoring we at AGER carried out, we identified instances where contracting authorities described specifications which were so ambiguous as to exclude some contractors from the competition. At the same time, we identified not only some instances in which the contract was awarded to contractors who submitted a non-compliant offer, but also instances of anti-competitive agreements and bid rigging in public procurements. Although we notified several state institutions about these anti-competitive practices, the institutions did not consider these events notable enough to investigate, despite the fact that they clearly indicated bid rigging. The authorities passed their responsibility for investigation from one to the other and have not determined whether or not bid rigging was actually involved.”
Carolina Ungureanu, project coordinator and deputy director of IDIS Viitorul, addressed the members of the Coalition, stating, “the agenda for the Coalition’s discussions can include topics that you consider necessary and important to discuss as well as items that need to be clarified. One of the objectives of the coalition is to use the experience and expertise that we have developed during our monitoring efforts to identify common problems so that we can later bring that knowledge to meetings of the National Public Procurement Platform, a forum that includes not only civil society representatives but also decision-makers. These discussions will add value to the field of public procurement.”
The Coalition of Monitors in Public Procurement is composed of civil society organizations, journalists, experts, and independent monitors from the Republic of Moldova who joined together in a common effort to monitor public procurement. The Coalition will be active until the summer of 2024, with the possibility of extension with the consent of the members.
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The Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political, and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, security, and foreign policy risks.
Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improve governance, increase transparency, promote the rule of law, and reduce corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.
On September 26, 2023, the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul and the Moldovan Ministry of Finance signed a cooperation agreement that will increase collaboration on improving the transparency and efficiency of the public procurement process with the end goal of ensuring appropriate value for public money spent.
The agreement was signed in the context of the Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project which IDIS implements in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support the reform of the public procurement sector in the Republic of Moldova and increase the transparency and fairness of public procurement procedures by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
The parties to the agreement consider that the partnership between civil society and public authorities offers a means of increasing the quality of public services in the interest of citizens. The agreement emphasizes that public procurement is an important component of public finances, which is confirmed by the volume of public financial resources that are spent by Moldovan contracting authorities through the system for the procurement of goods, services, and works. The agreement stipulates that ”in 2022, the volume of public procurement exceeded 13 billion lei (≈$713,996,804), which is why ensuring and improving the transparency and efficiency of this process is imperative.”
In June 2022, the Republic of Moldova obtained the status of candidate country to become a member of the European Union and assumed the obligation to implement the recommendations of the European Commission to take necessary measures to improve public procurement at all levels of government, as well as increase the involvement of civil society in decision-making processes at all levels. Thus, the agreement re-emphasizes the need for collaboration between all actors in the public procurement sector and the importance of civil society contribution through monitoring, development of policies, digital tools, and participation in the effort to improve the regulatory framework.
The agreement recognizes that the establishment of effective and permanent communication between the representatives of public institutions responsible for public procurement, contracting authorities, economic operators, and civil society is the basic precondition for coordinating and harmonizing the interests of citizens with those of the state in a democratic atmosphere and in the spirit of the rule of law.
According to the agreement, the parties will organize joint meetings, roundtables, and other activities at which they will address various topics in the field of public procurement and issues that require discussions and consultations with all actors of the sector, in addition to working on finding solutions to address challenges. Additionally, the parties will ensure the systemic and organized participation of their representatives in the activities of the National Public Procurement Platform.
In addition, they will discuss reports, analyses, and other useful information and offer assistance and support in order to create a public procurement sector that generates appropriate value for public money and ensures the provision of quality public services. Also, the parties will exchange opinions, experiences, ideas, concepts, information, and analysis materials to create an effective mechanism for dialogue and collaboration of state institutions and civil society monitors and experts to support the principles of transparency and efficiency in the public procurement process.
Lastly, the parties agree on the elaboration and presentation of consolidated common positions on major topics of the public procurement process, especially on issues affecting the efficient operation and effectiveness of public procurement at the national level.
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The Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.
IDIS is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political, and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, security, and foreign policy risks.
Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to support innovative civil society organization-led and related approaches to reduce corruption, increase transparency, strengthen governance, and enhance accountability in low- and middle-income economies and widely shares knowledge gleaned through its work. Since 2000, PTF has collaborated with over 160 local civil society partners in approximately 55 countries on more than 285 projects.
