Principles Of Public Procurement Research Articles

An Analysis of the Obligations of COMESA Public Procurement Regulations: The Case of Zimbabwe’s Public Procurement Regulatory Framework

With the coming into force of the new Constitution in 2013, public procurement was given a constitutional status in Zimbabwe. The Constitution sets out vital principles that public procurement legislation must comply with. Moreover, it is a requirement of the Constitution that the governance of Zimbabwe must be pursued in accordance with Zimbabwe’s international law obligations. Zimbabwe is a founding member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). To accelerate interstate trade, COMESA promulgated Public Procurement Regulations (PPR) for regional competitive bidding across member states. The viability of the regional trade agreements is hinged on mutual cooperation. Pursuant to the foregoing, member states are required to domesticate international agreements into their municipal laws. In 2017, the Zimbabwean legislature passed the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act 5 to give effect to the provisions of section 315(1) of the Constitution (Amendment No. 20), 2013. The public procurement reform agenda in Zimbabwe occurred close to a decade after the adoption of the public procurement regulations by COMESA in 2009. This article explores the obligations imposed on Zimbabwe pursuant to the public procurement regulations. This is done by identifying the public procurement principles enumerated in public procurement regulations, which are binding on member states. This article endeavours to answer the question: To what extent does the Zimbabwean legal framework conform to public procurement regulations? This article notes that the legal framework underlying public procurement in Zimbabwe, by and large, conforms to the bar set in the public procurement regulations. Nonetheless, it highlights Zimbabwe’s public procurement shortcomings. The article concludes by making possible legislative recommendations.

Emerging Challenges to Public Procurement: Covid-19 and Regulatory Approaches to Public Contracting in the EU, the United Kingdom, and France

In recent years, the use of public procurement as a tool to manage the health crisis and, most recently, the Ukraine crisis, has raised concerns. In their efforts to fight the pandemic, as well as for palliation of the economic effects of lockdowns, Member States have implemented various procurement adjustments, and since 2020 we have seen the European Commission resorting to guidance that, in effect, puts in abeyance public procurement rules related to transparency, equality, and competition. Against this backdrop, the article reflects on the regulatory tensions stemming from the use of public procurement as a crisis management tool. Relying on comparative legal analysis, the article looks at the changes in public procurement spurred by the SARS-CoV-2 crisis in the EU, France, and the UK. The article expresses particular interest in evaluating the discretion left to the contracting authorities and the extent to which allowing such discretion can negatively influence public procurement principles such as transparency, legal certainty, equality, and open competition.

Increased Participation of Organizations in the Sphere of Building Materials Production in Public Procurements

The research considers public procurement, which is one of the most important institutions of the public sector and a key mechanism for interaction with business structures. In the conditions of any type of economy, the state acts as the largest consumer of goods, works, services for public needs. In connection with the global trend of moving from traditional procurement, characterized by close cooperation, to a new order of budget constraints and the need to effectively meet public needs in conditions of limited resources, the principles of public procurement are changing. The issue of developing and implementing approaches to the effective management of participation in public procurement in commercial supplier organizations comes forefront. The content analysis and the literature review revealed that the issues of improving the mechanism of state (municipal) procurement in the Russian Federation as a whole have been studied from the point of view of improving legislation, eliminating methods of unfair competition in the contract system, and fighting corruption , strengthening control, stimulating the development of small and medium-sized businesses, etc. At the same time, the previous research did not examine the issues of analysis and assessment of the current state of the regional public procurement mechanism in conjunction with all-Russian trends, as well as local problems faced by individual customers and suppliers. The current study analyzes the issues of developing participation in public procurement of enterprises of manufacturers in the production of building materials based on an analysis of current trends in this area.

THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF MEASURING THE EFFICIENCY OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT EXPENDITURE

Introduction. Funds of territorial communities are an important financial tool for the development of such entities of local self-government. Effective use of funds is the main problem in the development of the community, including in the implementation of public purchases, which are the target directions of the formation of social and economic benefits of the residents of the community. There is currently no model for evaluating the effectiveness of expenditures during public procurement and it is an object of study and formation at the theoretical and practical levels. The purpose of the article is to determine the theoretical and methodological aspects of public procurement and to develop criteria and levels of evaluation of the effectiveness of public procurement in Ukraine. Results. The principles of public procurement and the main approaches of scientists to identifying criteria for the effectiveness of public procurement have been studied. It was established that the efficiency criteria should be determined on the basis of: current legislation, i.e. normative-legal documents on public procurement and on the basis of generally accepted scientific norms. It is justified that the implementation of public procurement should be based on the principle of balancing economic, ecological and social criteria in order to achieve the most effective procurement in conditions of sustainable development. Conclusions. Proposals for identifying criteria for the most effective public procurement are substantiated, in particular: reducing the level of corruption, creating conditions for comfortable living of the population, increasing the economic use of natural resources, increasing the economic use of public funds, etc. The levels of evaluation of the effectiveness of public procurement and the peculiarities of their evaluation at each of the proposed stages are highlighted.

A multicriteria model to evaluate tenders for Green Procurement of Public Works

Public procurement is quite an important activity in the European Union as it corresponds to more than 13% of the GNP in the EU (2017), and public works account for more than €500 000 M, which is about 25% of the total public procured value. The construction sector is responsible for about 38% of energy-related carbon emissions and 50% of resource consumption. Therefore, procurement of public works (PPW) should be considered a strategic instrument to pursue sustainable policies, but, quite often, the award criterion does not consider the sustainability objectives. The authors present in this paper a new multicriteria model to evaluate tenders to award design or design and build contracts for public works, respecting the principles of public procurement expressed by the European Directives of 2014 and pursuing the sustainability objectives according to the so-called Green Procurement. This model can be easily applied as it is confirmed by its application to the study of the procurement of a new public hospital in Portugal.

A multicriteria model to evaluate tenders for Green Procurement of Public Works

Public procurement is quite an important activity in the European Union as it corresponds to more than 13% of the GNP in the EU (2017), and public works account for more than €500 000 M, which is about 25% of the total public procured value. The construction sector is responsible for about 38% of energy-related carbon emissions and 50% of resource consumption. Therefore, procurement of public works (PPW) should be considered a strategic instrument to pursue sustainable policies, but, quite often, the award criterion does not consider the sustainability objectives. The authors present in this paper a new multicriteria model to evaluate tenders to award design or design and build contracts for public works, respecting the principles of public procurement expressed by the European Directives of 2014 and pursuing the sustainability objectives according to the so-called Green Procurement. This model can be easily applied as it is confirmed by its application to the study of the procurement of a new public hospital in Portugal.

Synthesis of maximum economy, efficiency and proportionality as principles of public procurement execution

The principles of maximum economy, efficiency and proportionality belong to the institutional principles, as they determine the guiding ideas and principles of public procurement. Certain issues related to the principle of maximum economy, efficiency and proportionality were researched in the publications of N. Zdyrko, K. Chuchalina, T.O. Mulik, V.O. Psota et al. Nevertheless, existing publications are mostly devoted to the disclosure of the concept of maximum economy, efficiency and proportionality principles without coverage relationship among these principles. The purpose of this study is to reveal the problematic issues of maximum economy, efficiency and proportionality correlation as requirements which are set out in a separate principle of public procurement. The content and importance of maximum economy, efficiency and proportionality as principles of public procurement are analyzed within the article. The importance of this principle and its superiority among other principles of public procurement are substantiated. The contradictory aspects of the relationship between maximum economy and efficiency are highlighted in the paper, and the feasibility and possibility of their harmonization and comparison are justified. Practical aspects of maximum economy and efficiency execution in public procurement are revealed. The functional significance and place of proportionality in relation to the maximum economy and efficiency are covered. The author reaches a conclusion that principle of economy should not be opposed to the principle of efficiency because these principles do not contradict each other. Differences in subjects, objects and other conditions of procurement contracts demands a differentiated approach to the analysis of efficiency and maximum economy in public procurement.

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT: PERSPECTIVES OF LEGISLATIVE PROVISIONS

Abstract. The article is devoted to the determination of the prospects for legislative provision of openness and transparency for public procurement. As emphasized, the national legislation and the practice of its application should continue to develop in the direction of ensuring the openness and transparency of public procurement. The author analyzed and pointed out the methods of unscrupulous procurement participants to hide information, distinguished technical and technological approaches to reducing the informativeness of procurement data to its participants. It was concluded that the prospects of legislative provision of openness and transparency of public procurement are to less extent in increasing the amount of information placed in public access, but to more extent in improving its structure and mechanisms to apply in work. Keywords: public procurement; principles of public procurement; openness; transparency; hiding information about public procurement; closing documentation from copying and contextual search; difficulty to read tender documentation; making changes to the tender documentation.

A multicriteria model to evaluate tenders for green procurement of public works

Public procurement is quite an important activity in the European Union as it corresponds to more than 13% of the GNP in the EU (2017), and public works account for more than €500 000 M, which is about 25% of the total public procured value. The construction sector is responsible for about 38% of energy-related carbon emissions and 50% of resource consumption. Therefore, procurement of public works (PPW) should be considered a strategic instrument to pursue sustainable policies, but, quite often, the award criterion does not consider the sustainability objectives. The authors present in this paper a new multicriteria model to evaluate tenders to award design or design and build contracts for public works, respecting the principles of public procurement expressed by the European Directives of 2014 and pursuing the sustainability objectives according to the so-called Green Procurement. This model can be easily applied as it is confirmed by its application to the study of the procurement of a new public hospital in Portugal.

Supplier selection with rank reversal in public tenders

For supplier selection in the public sector, the Weighted Sum Model is often used in combination with relative scoring methods that allow rank reversal. With rank reversal we refer to a changed order in the ranking of bids leading to a new winner, after removing or adding a non-optimal bid that does not win the original tender. In practice, an important reason indicated by practitioners for using methods that allow rank reversal is that it would rarely occur in practice. Based on an analysis of 303 Dutch public tenders, this research shows this is not true. In about 1 out of 5 the tenders, rank reversal occurs after adding non-optimal fictional bids to tenders that do not have quality thresholds. After removing bids, the rate is about 1 out of 40 if a curved relative scoring method is used. In addition, the research shows that rank reversal rates increase when (i) there is no quality threshold, (ii) the number of bids increases, (iii) bid price variance increases, and (iv) price weights are not very low or high. We argue that relative scoring methods that allow rank reversal should not be used in public procurement, or otherwise only in exceptional cases, as it conflicts with public procurement principles and leads to reduced overall bid value.

The problem of corruption in the contracting out of public services - the case of Slovakia

Corruption finds room for its proliferation precisely where there is extensive, opaque and little controllable regulation by the state. In this context, it is the role of the rule of law to apply the principles of legal (enforceability) accountability in the context of corrupt behaviour and the drawing of consequences. The level of rule of law in this area affects the risk of corruption in public service procurement processes. The main goal of the study is to demonstrate the problem of corruption as the threat of the rule of law by the results of qualitative analysis of the legal framework defining corruption and of the methods of public procurement used by us in the contracting out of local public services in Slovak republic. The study answers research question on impact of legal accountability with implications for the risk of corruption on the methods of public procurement of public services. Data qualitative analysis is descriptive in nature. The real enforceability of legal responsibility for corrupt acts against public officials is very low in Slovakia. The quality of this legal framework has real impact on risk of corruption in public procurement processes, which can be identified by often using the direct purchase as the method of public procurement. Public organizations do not always proceed in accordance with applicable legislation, at least in accordance with its ethics and essential principles of public procurement. This problem reflects the proposed system's changes in public procurement in contracting out public services, which should eliminate the risk of corruption at the level of formal and informal rules.

Barriers and Strategies to Implement e-procurement in the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) of Sri Lanka

<strong>Introduction: </strong>Public procurement not only delivers goods and services to public, but also ensures value for money. An efficient system is vital to accomplish core principles of public procurement: transparency; fairness; competitiveness; value for money; efficiency, etc. The State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka (SPC) procures pharmaceuticals for state health sector through traditional procurement which has inefficiencies affecting patient care services. Therefore, introduction of e-procurement in SPC is pivotal. <strong> </strong> <strong>Objective: </strong>To obtain the perspectives of staff of the SPC about barriers and strategies to implement e-procurement for pharmaceuticals. <strong> </strong> <strong>Methods: </strong>A descriptive cross-sectional study was designed to obtain perspectives of staff in selected sections of SPC about barriers and strategies to implement e-procurement for pharmaceuticals. Data was collected by a survey using a self-administered questionnaire which mainly contained five-point Likert scale questions and analysed using SPSS software. <strong> </strong> <strong>Results &amp; conclusion: </strong>The majority was dissatisfied with the existing system which is less efficient, costly and less user-friendly. The majority agreed that lack of political and top level commitment, lack of knowledge and skills of the staff, lack of IT experts and necessary infrastructure facilities as barriers for implementation of e-procurement. Political advocacy, training of top level managers and staff members, development of necessary infrastructure facilities and Public-Private Partnership initiatives were perceived as viable strategies. <strong> </strong> <strong>Research implications: </strong>The study obtained perspectives of staff about barriers and strategies for e-procurement initiatives, which will support successful implementation as they are the implementers and the end-users.

Analysis of the Risk of a Shortage of Operating Stocks in an Item-Unbalanced Spare Parts Supply System

Inventory creation of rechargeable batteries for vital operating equipment requires continuous monitoring of material flows and their optimization. Optimizing inventory processes and material flows in logistics chains is a complex task that depends entirely on knowledge of data on past flows and plans or predictions of future flows. Equally important are knowledge of the service life of materials and knowledge of mathematical models, including the possibilities and regularities of their application for various model situations. The input data for each specific subject reflects not only the business task, but also its concept and position in the sales or production market. It is obvious that the concept of inventory creation will be different for a manufacturing company, different for a commercial subject and different for a state-financed entity. The state-financed and managed entities have specific requirements for the creation of inventories arising from the purpose of their existence and concurrently from the restrictions given by the management systems and regulation of financial flows. It is the limitation resulting on the one hand from the methodologies and laws governing the principles of public procurement that may be in partial conflict with internal normative acts. Using the analysis of input parameters of purchases with subsequent application to a specific inventory creation model from inventory theory, the influence of standard inventory creation processes on the speed and completeness of spare parts deliveries and the resulting level of the maximum required amount of held inventory is shown on the selected entity.

СИСТЕМА ПРИНЦИПІВ ЗДІЙСНЕННЯ ПУБЛІЧНИХ ЗАКУПІВЕЛЬ

The article considers the principles of public procurement in Ukraine. The significance of the principles of public procurement for the procurement process and the development of the national economy has been studied. The principles of public procurement established by the Law of Ukraine “On Public Procurement” are analyzed and it is established that the system of legally established principles of public procurement is inconsistent. Scientific approaches to understanding the principles of public procurement are studied. The main principles of public procurement are highlighted, namely the principle of fair competition among participants, which is closely related to the principle of non-discrimination of participants and equal treatment, the principle of maximum economy and efficiency, the principle of openness and transparency at all stages of procurement and the principle of environmental friendliness. It is established that these principles are aimed at regulating the procurement process, and other principles, in particular, the principles of professionalism, responsibility, stimulation of innovation, etc. are derived from the basic principles. The inexpediency of allocating the principle of prevention of corruption and abuse as a principle of public procurement is substantiated. The interconnectedness, interdependence and derivative nature of separate principles of public procurement are established. It is determined that the system of principles of public procurement is quite dynamic and imperfect, and does not correspond to the current state of development of public procurement in Ukraine. The necessity of supplementing the principles of public procurement with the principle of environmental friendliness is substantiated. A low level of practical implementation of the principles of public procurement in the procurement process has been established. It is proposed to enshrine at the legislative level the key principles of procurement, namely the principle of fair competition and equality; the principle of maximum efficiency; the principle of openness and transparency; the principle of environmental friendliness.

Public procurement in Malaysia: objectives and procurement principles

PurposeThe objectives of this paper are twofold. Firstly, to examine the importance of Malaysian public procurement objectives and secondly, to investigate the extent to which government suppliers adhere to public procurement principles.Design/methodology/approachFor achieving the objectives, a questionnaire survey was used. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed to government suppliers involved in the government tendering process. In return, a total of 107 useable questionnaires were received, representing a response rate of 42.8%. Descriptive statistics of the means score, standard deviation and mean score ranking were used to analyse the data.FindingsThe results revealed that the most important public procurement objective is “to ensure a continuous supply of material and services to meet the government needs from the best and reliable sources”. On the other hand, the objectives “to expand the local industrial sector by means of transfer of technology and expertise to suit the nation's needs” and “to promote alternative and multiple sourcing through supplier development according to the aspirations and vision of the government” are perceived as not important by the government suppliers. The findings also discovered a moderate level of adherence to Malaysia's public procurement principles, which consist of public accountability, transparency, open and fair competition, fair dealing and value for money. Amongst these principles, the most adhered to is the open and fair competition principle and the least adhered to is the transparency principle.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few studies that assess the government suppliers' perceptions of public procurement in Malaysia. More importantly, this study may give some ideas to various parties concerning the areas in which improvement is required to ensure that equal importance is given to the public procurement objectives and better adherence to the public procurement principles in Malaysia.

Principios de la contratación publica en el ámbito del acuerdo de libre comercio entre Chile y Colombia

El presente artículo tiene por objeto examinar la importancia de los principios generales de la contratación pública incorporados en el Acuerdo de Libre Comercio entre la República de Chile y la República de Colombia. El análisis se realiza a partir del estudio de la evolución global de los principios de igualdad, no discriminación, transparencia, libre concurrencia y publicidad. Estos principios han generado la unificación de criterios y la reglamentación existente en esta disciplina, así como la formación de un derecho común que se basa en la prohibición de cualquier tipo de discriminación por razón de nacionalidad, y como garante de las relaciones comerciales encaminadas a avanzar en materia de contratación pública.

La Compra Pública Estratégica en España

La compra pública estratégica consiste en la incorporación de variables ambientales, sociales, éticas, de innovación y de promoción de las pymes, sin olvidar el cumplimiento de los principios generales de las contrataciones públicas. La referida noción fue potenciada en el escenario europeo a partir de la vigencia de las directivas europeas sobre contratación pública de 2014, y reforzada particularmente en España, con la entrada en vigor de la Ley 09/2017, de contratos del sector público, en la cual se determina que en toda contratación pública se deben introducir de manera transversal criterios sociales y medioambientales que guarden relación con el objeto del contrato, y además, se facilitará el acceso a la contratación pública de las pymes, dentro de una noción de eficiencia en la inversión de los recursos públicos.

Risks of Public Procurement for Construction Works

Conducting a public procurement process is prone to conflict if it deviates from procurement principles. Based on Presidential Regulation number 16 of 2018, the public procurement principles are efficient, effective, transparent, open, competitive, fair, and accountable. Problems in public procurement process may occur at every stage, starting from identifying procurement needs to delivering the results of the completed work. Many problems are likely to occur if risk identification is not implemented at public procurement process. If the risk is not identified early, it will be a potentially significant budget loss of government’s construction projects. This paper is an initial research to discover the risk variables in the public procurement process. The purpose of this study is to identify risks that may arise in the process of public procurement. Research variables in this study were obtained from related literature studies. The data in this study were acquired from questionnaires and interviews with several parties related with the public procurement. Mean and Standard Deviation (SD) were employed to assess the relevant variables from questionnaires. According to the experts’ opinion, there were 13 variables in the Planning and Preparation Stages and 9 variables in the Implementation Stage.

Z problematyki racjonalizacji ograniczeń swobody kontraktowej w zamówieniach publicznych

Swoboda kontraktowa obowiązuje w zamówieniach publicznych pomimo licznych ograniczeń. Dominują ograniczenia ustawowe, charakterystyczne dla parametrycznego sterowa-nia gospodarką, natomiast indywidualna ingerencja administracyjna ma znaczenie drugoplanowe. W zakresie wyboru typu umowy ograniczenia są sporadyczne, ponieważ ustawa nie przesądza o tym, kiedy i jakich zamówień mogą udzielać jednostki sektora publicznego. Także przedsiębiorcy ubiegają się o poszczególne zamówienia na zasadzie dobrowolności. Zakaz transakcji bezpośred-nich uzasadnia jednak dotkliwą pod względem biurokratycznym reglamentację procedur udzielania zamówień publicznych, choć wola stron ma tu znaczenie podstawowe, zwłaszcza przy konstru-owaniu warunków proceduralnych, a ustawa działa jedynie uzupełniająco. Równie uciążliwe są ograniczenia swobodnego kształtowania treści umowy. Wzrasta zastosowanie klauzul obligatoryj-nych, wymuszonych ustawowo, coraz bardziej rygorystyczne są normatywne zasady wykonywania zamówień publicznych, uzasadnione potrzebą wzmożonej ochrony interesu publicznego. Panująca w pozostałym zakresie swoboda nierzadko bywa nadużywana przez zamawiającego, który zawcza-su projektuje postanowienia umowy. Dlatego istotne znaczenie praktyczne ma unormowana ostat-nio możność zwalczania klauzul abuzywnych w trybie odwoławczym. Jednocześnie, wzmacniając zasadę realnego wykonania zamówienia wykluczającą możnością obchodzenia wyników przetar-gu, wprowadzono zakaz dokonywania istotnych zmian w umowach o zamówienia publiczne oraz przedwczesnego ich rozwiązywania. Niedogodności formalne i biurokratyczne łagodzić ma postę-pująca informatyzacja zamówień publicznych.

Public Procurement Principles Generated by the Treaty of Rome

Abstract In order to understand the principles of public procurement in Romania, it is necessary to analyze, on the one hand, the European directives that regulate the actual public procurement and, on the other hand, the context in which the European directives were adopted. Even with the directives in force, the more general provisions contained in the Treaty of the European Economic Community (EEC) in Rome, hereinafter referred to as the Treaty, are applied, as well as many more general principles of law that will guide the interpretation of these directives. The Treaty was adopted in Rome, in 1957 and became applicable from January 1, 1958. It is considered that the source of the principles of public procurement is the Treaty. Even if in Treaty contained no specific provisions regarding the field of public procurement, it reflects the principles and the general framework for the functioning of the single market, a market characterized through the prism of the fundamental freedoms established by the Treaty: the free movement of goods, services, capital and persons. As the field of public procurement is closely linked to the free movement of goods, this principle is promoted and implemented in the practice of this field based on the regulations, directives and decisions of the Community institutions. The role of the free movement of goods is to harmonize the relationships involved in the process of purchasing goods, but also to ensure the homogeneity, coherence and balance of this process.