In procurement of the state and state-owned companies want to eliminate corruption

25.05.2022       

The State Duma approved in the second reading the amendments to the procurement legislation, designed to eliminate the conflict of interest in the procurement of the state (FZ-44) and state-owned companies (FZ-223). The document introduces restrictions on the participation of affiliates in tender commissions and new requirements for procurement participants to prevent a possible conflict of interest. As “b” in the Ministry of Finance, the norms are aimed at resolving such a conflict — the onset of negative consequences is expected only if it is ignored. Violations must be prevented by the heads of the customer and the contract service, the contract manager, as well as members of the tender committee. Admission to the commission is now limited for shareholders and creditors of counterparties, as well as individuals with a personal interest in the results of trading (owners, employees or managers of counterparty companies). Procurement participants, in turn, will have to declare as part of the application for participation the absence of affiliation with customers.

Attempts to combat corruption in government orders have been made for a long time. In 2012, the Ministry of Economy initiated the collection of declarations on the possible affiliation of officials and employees of the state JSC with their suppliers, but the pile of documents collected then could not be processed due to the lack of centralized databases. Now, the ability to match affiliates and process data received from suppliers has increased dramatically, which can ensure the success of the government in a new attempt to minimize corruption in public procurement. The project approved yesterday was de facto prepared back in 2017, the Ministry of Finance tried to launch the initiative in 2020 (see “Kommersant” dated March 13, 2020). As a result, the draft passed the first reading in 2021, and then hung in the State Duma in anticipation of technical revisions — it is now expected to come into force from July 2022.

The Ministry of Finance notes that the mechanism for identifying conflicts of interest does not differ from those in other areas, as well as the rules confirmation of his absence (there are the same requirements regarding the absence of a criminal record or tax arrears). « In the event that a conflict of interest is identified and not resolved, the contract is subject to termination on the basis of non-compliance of the procurement participant with the requirements, — reported in the department. Kommersant