Public procurement in Belarus is planned to be conducted mainly through open tender

April 7, Minsk /Natalia Verbitskaya - BELTA/. Open competition is planned to become the main method for carrying out public procurement in Belarus. This is stipulated by the draft law of Belarus on public procurement, which has currently been submitted to the House of Representatives, Deputy Minister of Economy Andrei Tur said at a briefing, as reported by BELTA correspondent. It is also proposed to use other, predominantly public, public procurement procedures: requests for price proposals, auctions, including electronic ones, Andrei Tur said. The draft law also provides for the formation of a list of qualified suppliers by an authorized state body on an application basis, as well as a list of suppliers who will be deprived of the right to participate in competitions and public procurement for a certain period. A ban on the participation of affiliated persons in procurement is also provided for. Andrei Tur also reported that to curb illegal actions against bona fide participants of entrepreneurial activity, the possibility of organizing access to the information base of sham companies formed by the Ministry of Taxes and Levies is currently being considered. This is planned to strengthen efforts on import substitution and eliminate unjustified intermediation. In addition, it is planned to create a unified information system of producers and the nomenclature of goods produced in Belarus. "The Government of Belarus will maintain the strictest control over issues of unfair intermediation that negatively affect the economic situation in the country. Any attempts and facts of such actions will be suppressed, and those responsible will be brought to justice, regardless of their positions," the deputy minister said. He also noted that currently, when conducting public procurement in Belarus, a whole system of measures is provided to eliminate unfair intermediation. In particular, it provides for mandatory market research of goods to be purchased and potential suppliers. In addition, suppliers are checked for their performance in this market: reputation, personnel potential, technical and financial capabilities. The draft law on public procurement, in particular, provides for such an innovation as a list of bona fide and non-bona fide suppliers. The elimination of unfair intermediation in public procurement is also ensured by financial guarantees of fulfillment of obligations - competitive security for the performance of contracts. In addition, there is a high-quality assessment system when conducting public procurement. "And I think that ensuring the transparency of public procurement procedures is very important for us," Andrei Tur noted. "These are mechanisms for appealing the decisions and actions of customers when selecting suppliers. Of course, this is to some extent a centralization of procurement. But, on the other hand, if they are conducted in electronic form, sufficient transparency will be ensured." -0-