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Existing public procurement rules keep reliable suppliers off tenders - PM

The Ministry of Economic Development has already submitted a draft law on the federal contractor selection system to the government

MOSCOW, April 23 (Itar-Tass) —— Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that the existing public procurement rules do not allow professional and reliable suppliers to participate in tenders.

In his opinion, the main problem is that legislation does not say why the state makes a certain purchase.

He stressed that one of the key tasks for the Ministry of Economic Development in 2012 would be finalising the draft law on the federal contractor selection system. The system should allow the state to understand what result it will get from each purchase and how effectively budget money is used.

The Ministry of Economic Development has already submitted a draft law on the federal contractor selection system to the government.

“We submitted the draft law to the government on April 18 and hope that it will be considered and submitted to the State Duma as soon as possible,” Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina said at an expanded meeting of the ministry’s board on Monday, April 23.

The ministry earlier suggested creating one single body that would oversee public procurements.

Nabiullina said it should be not only a law but a new structure. “We need to create one body. It's not in the law right now,” she said.

She said it would most likely be an agency.

The federal contractor selection system, worked out by the Ministry of Economic Development, should replace Federal Law No. 94 “On Public Purchases”. However the Federal Antimonopoly Service objects to some of the provisions contained in the draft law.

Public purchases in Russia will be made on the basis of the federal contractor selection system, not Federal Law No. 94 as before.

The Ministry of Economic Development has proposed to create a system of total control over government procurements all the way to the disposal of purchased items.

It believes that this is the only way to protect government orders from corruption, high prices and obscure procedures. The ministry has offered itself as the programme coordinator.