Ukraine is reforming its public procurement system based on the British model: what will change
28 January 11:57
Ukraine is launching a reform of its public procurement system, based on European Union and UK standards. The State Audit Service of Ukraine and the UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT) will work together on its implementation. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the State Audit Service.
A memorandum of understanding was signed as part of the events marking the anniversary of the Declaration on the Centenary Partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
From “lowest price” to quality
As noted by the head of the State Audit Service, Alla Basalayeva, the key objective of the Memorandum is to accelerate the transition from the dominance of the lowest price criterion to the widespread use of non-price evaluation criteria in public procurement.
“We continue to improve the public procurement system and hope that the signing of the Memorandum will accelerate the transition from the dominance of the lowest price criterion to the widespread use of non-price evaluation criteria. This approach has proven effective, particularly in the United Kingdom, where quality is an important criterion in most public procurement,” Basalaeva emphasized.
According to her, the changes will take into account the position of Ukrainian business and the entrepreneurial community, and the main goal of the reform is to ensure the highest quality of goods and services purchased with public funds.
What are non-price criteria?
Non-price criteria involve evaluating bids not only by cost, but also by the price-quality ratio. In particular, customers will be able to take into account:
- the life cycle cost of a product or project;
- the duration and conditions of warranty service;
- environmental friendliness and sustainability;
- the innovativeness of solutions;
- operating and service costs.
“This approach helps to choose the best price-quality ratio, reduces long-term costs, increases reliability, and stimulates fair competition. The state and citizens will only benefit from this during the reconstruction of Ukraine,” emphasized the head of the State Audit Service.
British experience for Ukraine
In the UK, quality is one of the key criteria in most public procurement procedures. Ukraine plans to adapt this approach to its own system in order to increase the efficiency of budget spending, especially in the context of post-war reconstruction.
Exchange of expertise and training
The signed Memorandum also provides for:
- exchange of expertise between the Ukrainian and British sides;
- consulting support in the implementation of new approaches;
- training activities for specialists in the field of public procurement;
- dissemination of modern procurement evaluation practices.
It is expected that cooperation with British partners will enable Ukraine to accelerate public procurement reform and bring it closer to the best international standards.
