Most coal tenders on Prozorro Market contain violations, according to a study
7 April 15:06
More than 55% of coal procurement contracts on Prozorro Market contain unlawful requirements for suppliers.
This is according to a new study by the DOZORRO project from Transparency International Ukraine, as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
In particular, contracting authorities often require participants to submit additional documents not required by law, and set excessively short deadlines for their submission—sometimes ranging from 1 to 48 hours. In some cases, failure to provide such documents is automatically interpreted as a refusal to sign the contract, leading to the disqualification of participants.
Analysts examined 858 coal procurements conducted via requests for proposals (RFPs) and found that, in the sample with violations, the winning bids were on average nearly 40% more expensive than the cheapest bids, which the contracting authorities rejected.
DOZORRO notes that this practice undermines competition and negates the very idea of Prozorro Market as a fast and transparent procurement tool. At the same time, participants are effectively deprived of the opportunity to challenge the actions of contracting authorities within this mechanism.
Among the recommendations are the introduction of an appeal mechanism in Prozorro Market, increased monitoring by the State Audit Service, and the development of standard contracts for specific categories of goods.
