Transparency International Ukraine has recently published the research findings “Non-Price Criteria in Prozorro: for What the Government Is Willing to Pay More.”
Non-price criteria are a function of Prozorro allowing to consider other things than the price while selecting the winner of a competitive tender. That is, procuring entities can decide for themselves what they are willing to pay more for.
“There is a myth that the price is the end-all, be-all in Prozorro. Non-price criteria prevent this myth from becoming a reality. This is a mechanism that allows to use other criteria while selecting the winner, in particular, the quality,” explains TI Ukraine’s research projects coordinator Artem Davydenko.
However, the study conducted by TI Ukraine shows that procuring entities are less and less likely to use non-price criteria in their purchases. The new version of the Law “On Public Procurement” could not change this trend.
From the beginning of 2017 to November 30, 2020, procuring entities used non-price criteria in only 0.7% of lots in which they could be used.
Among the reasons for this situation, researchers have identified that not all procuring entities and participants understand how non-price criteria work. At the same time, there is no single approach in judicial practice and decisions of the AMCU Board regarding non-price criteria, nor is there an exhaustive list of them.
“Non-price criteria are a very useful tool, which, unfortunately, is used less and less. This should be fixed. We have identified the main reasons for this situation and now we propose to work out a solution to the problem together,” sums up Ivan Lakhtionov, Director of TI Ukraine’s Innovation Projects Program.
