Transparency International Ukraine and MERT presented a new public procurement monitoring tool – the “Best Practices Index” (https://index.dozorro.org). This is an electronic analytical system ranking customers in the ProZorro system. Currently, the index is designed for more than 600 customers grouped into 11 groups (schools, councils, social services, medical institutions, higher educational establishments, education departments, cultural departments, water companies, energy companies, courts, postal services of Ukraine).

The developer of the index methodology Dmitryi Palamarchuk explained how the customer’s place in the rating is determined: “We have four procurement targets: be competitive, transparent, accessible and have quality procedures. In these four categories, there are indicators that point to different aspects. The rating is not built for the whole country, but within the group of customers. We are looking for the worst indicator in the group for each indicator (a total of about 50) and we develop a rating for each. And after that we already calculate the index for all four categories. This figure is calculated 0 to 100.

The First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Maksim Nefedov underlined the fact that the index should be not a punitive, but a motivating tool. “We want to offer a positive element. Where there’s gingerbread, there must be freshly whipped cream. There must be some kind of a tool that allows you to evaluate and show what specific areas you need to stretch, learn or change the rules in order to be better. We want to offer the best practices for every aspect. It is not enough just to say that “in terms of transparency you are on a treadmill with all.” We want to show – “Have a look, there are customers, who are in the top five and explain the reason.

«Ukrposhta» will become the first a governing body that control the procurement of customers subordinated to it. Nadiia Begun, Director of the Tender Procedure Department of Ukrposhta, shared plans for using the index for internal monitoring needs: “We and our colleagues launched our own rating system. We tried to understand the working process, where to focus our efforts at first. Now, since there is such a great tool, we will reduce these actions. We will review tools of our colleagues and focus on the overall rating, which is unique for Ukraine. ”

The index was launched within the framework of Transparency and Accountability in Government Support and Services Project (TAPAS), supported by UK Aid and Eurasia Foundation. At the presentation, the project leader, Carlos A. Guerrero, explained why the donors were interested in the implementation of this tool: “This tool, introduced by TI Ukraine, will increase the level of monitoring and bring it to a new level. The tool is very important for all stakeholders and those who people who use the procurement system. It will support public purchasers. Because of the complex approach, it will be possible to identify the risks in procurement with a new degree of complexity. The index will also provide important information for business, the public and journalists.”

EBRD Public Procurement Reform Adviser Eliza Nevyadomskaya admitted the speed of the index pilot version developed and launched: “We will promote monitoring for public procurement. We will monitor how purchases become more transparent and how competitive they are as well as the institutional capacity of both suppliers and purchasers. A launch of the index is an example of how much can be achieved in a short period of time. If everyone uses the system of electronic procurement, it will mean that the state monitoring system becomes more simple in use. ”

In future, the index will be expanded for a number of groups and customers in each group.