FAS: OPERATORS OF ELECTRONIC PLATFORMS REPORTED ON THEIR TECHNICAL READINESS TO CONDUCT ELECTRONIC AUCTIONS

Proposals to reduce the starting time of auctions, aimed at preventing collusion of auctions, are provided in the “optimization” package of amendments to the Law on the Contract System

“We support all the innovations laid down in the “optimization” package of amendments. The Ministry of Finance, the FAS Russia and the Treasury of Russia have done a tremendous amount of work to improve the legislation on the contract system,” Artem Lobov, Head of the Department for Control over Public Procurement of the FAS Russia said during the expert discussion “The Second Optimization Package in Questions and Answers”. – Currently, the operators of electronic platforms have announced their technical readiness to conduct electronic auctions in 2 hours from the moment of submitting applications. The corresponding proposal was included in a package of amendments to reduce the possibility of collusion at auctions for all types of goods, works, and services. We believe that in the future, the time for holding auctions after the deadline for submitting applications should be reduced as much as possible”.

It should be reminded that the document also provides for a reduction in the number of ways to conduct purchases, a total rejection of cyclical nature. The customer will not need to re-announce the auction, if no one came to them, he will be able to apply to the antimonopoly authority to approve the conclusion of a contract with a single supplier.

In order to combat the traps for formal rejection of participants, the draft law includes proposals of the FAS Russia to extend the “consent” introduced in the construction sector to other purchases of works and services, as well as to purchase goods with certain features. It will allow avoiding the requirements for entrepreneurs to fill in multi-page applications and eliminate artificial reasons for rejecting participants.

In the context of combating “professional complainants” and in order to improve the quality of contract performance, universal prequalification is being introduced. Only a person who has experience in executing a contract (treaty) in the amount of at least 20% of its initial (maximum) price for all purchases over 20 million rubles will be able to file a complaint on the purchase.

In order to balance the rights and obligations of the parties, the procedure for unilateral termination of contracts is being improved.

In addition, the amendments expand the functionality of the Unified Informational System (UIS). All complaints should be submitted exclusively through this information system with automatic notification to all interested parties. It is also planned to transfer all claim correspondence to the UIS.

It is expected that many provisions of the legislation will be fundamentally changed in order to simplify and improve the efficiency of procurement procedures, motivate fair entrepreneurs and prevent collusion at auctions.

For reference:

The expert discussion “The Second Optimization Package in Questions and Answers” was organized by the joint working group under the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs in Moscow and the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry.