What other problems were revealed in public procurement – Economics – Kommersant

When discussing the forks in the regulation of procurement activities by the regulator and interested departments, achieving a balance of customers and suppliers remains a key principle. “On the one hand, the task of sending financial resources to the real sector of the economy as soon as possible is being solved, and on the other hand, rational spending of budget funds at all levels,” explained Maxim Shaskolsky, head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, yesterday. Anti-sanction norms de facto led to an imbalance in the system, the participants of the All-Russian Conference in the field of procurement recognized.

A new challenge for procurement participants when deviating from the principles of competition may be the closure of data on such purchases. Thus, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Lavrov confirmed the department’s turn away from the principles of transparency. According to him, access to data on government procurement allows targeted sanctions to be applied to counterparties of the state. “The supplier did not have time to conclude a contract with the state customer, as foreign manufacturers found him in the system and asked him to refuse to participate,” the official explained. According to him, as a result, access to the system should remain with procurement participants and controllers. At the same time, public control can be organized as part of an additional procedure, Mr. Lavrov believes.

The proposal of the Ministry of Finance to close the procurement information is also supported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The department agrees on the need to extend anti-sanction measures and deviate from the principles of competition. However, according to Vasily Osmakov, First Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, it is necessary to monitor the situation in the regions – the official said that due to local abuses, state intervention in the pharmaceutical market was already required. In general, the state order system will continue to develop along the path of cooperation between customers and single suppliers. In particular, the updated concept of import substitution (discussed in the government) is based on long-term contracting – mechanisms of offset contracts and special investment contracts that provide for mandatory purchases from a company in the sole supplier mode in exchange for investments in the region. According to Vasily Osmakov, the department will still determine the segments of the economy for the transition to long-term contracts. It should be noted, however, that earlier such mechanisms were necessary to attract foreign manufacturers and introduce foreign technologies into domestic production. In the meantime, the performers of offset contracts are forced to postpone the fulfillment of obligations due to problems with access to foreign equipment – R-Opra faced such a problem (part of the R-Pharm group of Alexei Repik, see Kommersant dated September 22) .

The Federal Treasury recognizes the shift in procurement towards a single supplier and proposes to respond to changes by strengthening control, including the widespread introduction of electronic actuation. According to the FC, in 2022, savings on the results of contracting under the law on public procurement (FZ-44) amounted to 4.7% against 6.42% last year, and on procurement of state-owned companies – 5.4% against 7.7%. “These are just the norms that were adopted this year. Two or three years will pass, we’ll see,” Anna Katamadze, deputy head of the treasury, warned about the future consequences of the changes. According to her, the adjustment of regulation is necessary taking into account industry specifics. So, for example, against the backdrop of numerous concessions, developers in the industry will need to switch to the exchange principle of purchasing building materials. “We build a lot, we don’t know the price,” she complained.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service also drew attention to numerous concessions for construction: as part of the anti-sanctions package, purchases were increased during turnkey construction, and opportunities for renegotiating contracts were expanded. However, as a result of combining works in different markets and attracting one performer, competition is also reduced. At the same time, the FAS cannot evaluate the effectiveness of such measures due to the lack of design estimates.

Diana Galieva