The Ministry of Finance together with the EU High Level Advisers’ Mission continue the series of public discussions on the PFM Development Strategy. Thus, the third session focused on aspects related to Component 6 of the document – Public procurement.
The Minister of Finance Petru Rotaru mentioned the need to draw special attention to this sector in order to ensure an increased efficiency of public procurement, so that “public money directed to public procurement and capital investments reaches the long-term and medium-term objectives. It is important that both the principle of transparency and the others that govern the field of public procurement are respected at the highest level”.
For his part, the EU High Level Adviser on Customs and Tax Policy, Rosario De Blasio, welcomed the presence of stakeholders, noting that in order to have a transparent and efficient process, active involvement of stakeholders in the further development of the implementation documents is crucial.
At the same time, the State Secretary of the Ministry, Vladimir Arachelov, mentioned that despite the fact that there is a well-structured regulatory framework in the field of public procurement, which describes the procurement procedures, it does not refer to the quality of the information in the award documentation, therefore the impact is arbitrary. Also, the official referred to the importance of implementing a coordinated and synchronized calendar in the field of public procurement, to ensure its responsible planning and the reflection of resources in budget planning documents.
Thus, the development of a high-performance public procurement system that provides “value for money” in the use of public funds is one of the objectives of the Strategy in the public procurement chapter.
One of the priority directions of the Strategy is the re-engineering of the electronic public procurement system, in order to meet the requirements at national and European level, with the use of electronic system for the entire procurement cycle (planning, carrying out the award procedure, awarding, contract management – amendments).
At the same time, the Strategy provides for the establishment of horizontal cooperation/coordination mechanism between ministries that use procurement for the implementation of specific targets, including the creation and maintenance of a database for the identification, inventory and updating of programs and associated action plans that use strategic procurement.
A particular emphasis will also be placed on sustainable public procurement, the objective of which is to reduce the environmental impact of purchased goods, services and works throughout their life cycle, while promoting the development of a market for goods, services and works and increasing the competitiveness of industries and ecological sectors of the local economy.
Other proposals that were mentioned during the event refer to a more efficient collaboration with the contracting authorities, given the fact that public procurement involves a series of related fields: construction, food safety, medicine; improving the regulatory framework regarding multi-year commitments; clearer conditions regarding the certification of specialists in public procurement.
The information campaign on PFM Development Strategy was launched this September and will cover all its 7 components: macroeconomic analysis and the macro-budgetary framework; budget development and planning; transparency of public finances; public procurement; tax and customs policies and revenue administration.
