ProZorro System Presented in Kharkiv

On March 14 two seminars on public government e-procurement system ProZorro were held in Kharkiv. 120 business representatives attended first seminar. The second one called “Work and Win with ProZorro. Participation in Public Procurement” was delivered for civic activists as ProZorro, which means “transparent” in Ukrainian, have become a result of collaboration between Ukrainian government, business sector and civil society. Olexandr Starodubtsev, Director of Public Procurement Regulation of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, told the audience about the system functions, stages of electronic bidding and relation of ProZorro system to electronic bidding for public funds. The participants found out how to participate in electronic bidding, how to specify requirements of the customer during electronic auctions and to appeal electronic bidding. Coordinator of ProZorro in Kharkiv region Dmyrto Drobot told KhO that the purchase of goods in the amount of over UAH 200 thousand  (about $7.5 thousand) and of services for more than UAH 1.5 m ($55 thousand) should be done through ProZorro system. Though Kharkiv governmental officials attempt to outsmart ProZorro by dividing state procurement contracts into smaller batches of UAH 199 thousand each to avoid calls for public tenders and to pay to particular suppliers. “Nevertheless, introduction of ProZorro system became a real breakthrough, since now we have information on all city budget expenditures and existing contracts, and we can monitor cash flows that helps to prevent corruption”, says Dmytro Drobot. Currently the market of public procurement in Kharkiv region is over 23 billion UAH according to Olexandr Chumak, head of Private Employers Association. The source of information: Kharkiv Observer