March 4, 2024

Public procurement. Part II.

Chapter 4. Certain types of procurement procedures.

4.1. Electronic store.

An electronic store is a competitive way of carrying out public procurement of goods (works, services), which do not have specific requirements, providing for bidding in electronic form on a special site in the electronic public procurement system.

There are the following criteria for the implementation of procurement procedures through an electronic store. Public procurement can be carried out in the electronic store:

– goods worth up to 25,000 amounts of Basic Calculated Value units per contract (hereinafter referred to as “BCV”) (for budget customers — up to 2500 amounts of BCV);

– works and services worth up to 100 BCV per contract (for budget customers — up to 50 amounts of BCV).

The state purchase of the same type of goods by a budget customer through an electronic store can be carried out in the amount of no more than 10,000 amounts of BCV during one financial year, and the purchase of the same type of works and services by a budget customer cannot exceed the amount of 500 amounts of BCV (by a corporate customer -1000 amounts of BCV) during one financial year.  

The electronic store is formed from the proposals of the participants in the procurement procedures.  The participant’s offer displayed in the electronic store is a public offer addressed to government customers, the latter, in turn, examines the participants’ offers and selects the necessary product. The participant’s offer is active for 15 working days from the date of its placement in the electronic store. After this period, the participant has the right to activate it for another 15 working days. The participant has the right to withdraw the offer or make changes and additions to it at any time before its acceptance by the state customer.

After the state customer has selected a suitable offer, he uses the price request mechanism. The electronic public procurement system in automatic mode, implementing the price request mechanism, provides mailing to the participant who offered the selected offer, as well as to all participants offering similar goods (works, services) in the electronic store, offers to participate in the procurement procedure. Participants have the right to submit their proposals within 48 hours from the moment the electronic public procurement system sends an offer to participate in the price request. A participant who has received an offer to participate in the procurement procedure has the right to make an offer at a price lower than the price of the offer chosen by the state customer.

The next step is to compare the price offers submitted by the participants, carried out by the electronic public procurement system in automatic mode. The electronic public procurement system registers the completed transaction between the state customer and the contractor who offered the lowest price.

The electronic public procurement system forms a contract in accordance with the conditions set out in the participant’s offer chosen by the state customer and the lowest price offered by the participants. If, according to the results of the procurement procedures, only the participant who proposed the selected offer took part, the electronic public procurement system sends a request to the state customer allowing bidding in electronic form. At the same time, the state customer has the opportunity to send a request to the participant who offered the selected offer for a lower reasonable price than the price offered by him. The participant who proposed the selected offer may accept or reject such a request within one business day.

If the price request is accepted by the participant who proposed the selected offer, the electronic public procurement system registers the transaction between the state customer and the contractor based on the price of the request sent by the state customer.

If, within one working day after the completion of the procurement procedures, the state customer does not send a price request, the electronic public procurement system registers the transaction between the state customer and the contractor.

4.2. A reduction auction.

A downgrade auction is a competitive way of conducting public procurement on a special platform of the electronic public procurement system, in which the only criterion for determining the winner is the price.

A reduction auction is carried out if:

– the product has standard properties;

– there is no need to evaluate and compare the technical, operational and other characteristics of the product;

– the cost of goods under one contract should be up to 25,000 (for budget customers — up to 6,000) amounts of the BCV.

The winner of the auction is the participant who offered to deliver the goods on the terms set out in the announcement at the lowest price. At the same time, this norm does not cancel the requirement to supply goods that meet established quality standards. The main condition is that the public procurement of services and works cannot be the object of an auction.

The auction is held in electronic form. First of all, in order to conduct an auction for lowering prices, the state customer places an announcement, no less than five days before its implementation, in the electronic procurement system through a special information portal. The auction, admission to the auction for each lot in accordance with the amount of collateral deposited, the determination of the auction winner, registration of the transaction and the formation of the contract are carried out by the electronic public procurement system in automatic mode. Participants have the right to submit price offers an unlimited number of times during the entire period from the start of the auction until its end.

When the auction ends, the electronic public procurement system automatically determines the offer with the lowest price submitted during the auction. The participant who submitted the lowest bid is selected by the electronic public procurement system as the winner of the auction. The name of the contractor is displayed in the electronic public procurement system, which automatically records the completed transaction and forms a contract in accordance with the conditions set out in the application of the state customer.

If one participant participated in the auction or no one participated, the auction is considered invalid, and the winner is not determined. The state customer can extend the auction for 3 working days or make a purchase through an electronic store or selection of the best offers.

4.3. Selection of the best offers.

The selection of the best offers is a competitive way of conducting public procurement based on a comparison of offers received from several participants in procurement procedures.

Public procurement through the selection of the best offers is carried out if the following conditions are met:

• the criteria for determining the winner have not only a monetary, but also a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the public procurement of goods (works, services);
• the cost of goods (works, services) under one contract is up to 25,000 amounts of BCV (for budget customers — up to 6,000 amounts of BCV).

If decrees and resolutions of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan grant state customers the right to make purchases without holding a tender, the procurement procedure is carried out by selection, regardless of the amount of public procurement. At the same time, in cases when the cost of goods (works, services) exceeds 25,000 amounts of BCV (for budget customers — 6,000 amounts of BCV), technical specifications for public procurement in accordance with the procedure established by law are submitted for examination to the state unitary enterprise “Center for Integrated Expertise of Projects and Import Contracts” under the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction The Republic of Uzbekistan.

To carry out public procurement through selection, a procurement commission consisting of at least five members from among the employees of the state customer is formed. At least 2/3 of the total number of members of the procurement commission must be present during the selection process, each meeting and decision must be formalized in minutes.

In order to select the best offer, the state customer places ads in the electronic public procurement system through a special information portal, as well as, at the request of the state customer, on its official website or on the official website of its higher authority, as well as in the mass media.

If the decrees and resolutions of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan grant state customers the right to make purchases without holding a tender, the announcement of the selection is placed only after receiving a positive conclusion on the terms of reference for the state procurement of the Center for Integrated Expertise.

The participants send their proposals in accordance with the customer’s requirements specified in the announcement. Next, the procurement commission evaluates the proposals. For evaluation, the commission draws up a competition sheet. After evaluating the proposals, the minutes of the meeting of the procurement commission are drawn up. It must indicate the winner of the procurement procedure – the supplier whose offer was recognized as the best. After that, the Customer publishes the protocol in the electronic public procurement system for 2 working days for public discussion.

4.4. Tender.

A tender is a competition providing for the procedure for determining the contractor of public procurement through a competitive public procurement procedure, according to the results of which the winner is the participant in procurement procedures who has proposed the best conditions for the execution of a public procurement contract.

Public procurement through a tender is carried out under the following conditions at the same time:

• the criteria for determining the winner are not only monetary, but also quantitative and qualitative assessment of goods (works, services);
• for corporate customers, the cost of goods (works, services) is over 25,000 amounts of BCV) under one contract;
• for budget customers, purchases must be in the amount of more than 6 000 amounts of BCV under one contract.

First of all, the customer submits an announcement of the tender on a special information portal at least 30 days and no more than 45 days before the deadline for accepting proposals from participants.

The draft tender documentation is first considered by the tender procurement commission and only after its approval, a decision is made to hold a tender. The customer may make changes to the tender documentation no later than 3 days before the deadline for submitting proposals. This period may be extended for at least 10 days from the date of the changes. Changing the product (work, service) is not allowed.

The decision is made by a majority vote of the total number of members of the procurement commission. The results of the consideration of proposals and their evaluation are recorded in the protocol, an extract from which must be published on a special information portal within 3 working days from the date of its signing. After the publication of the protocol, the bidders have the right to send a request to the customer for clarification of the results. The customer is obliged to provide explanations within 3 working days.

Acceptance of the winning offer can be made only if:

– public procurement has not been canceled;

– the participant who sent the winning offer is not suspended;

– there are no violations of the tender procedure.

An agreement is concluded no later than 10 days after the announcement of the winner.

 4.5. Public procurement carried out under direct contracts.

Public procurement can be carried out under direct contracts if:

– the purchase of goods (works, services) authorized for public procurement from a single supplier included in the Register of Unified Suppliers is carried out <http://xarid.uz/supplier>;

– public procurement of goods (works, services) is carried out under direct contracts on the basis of decrees and resolutions of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

– procurement of goods (works, services) necessary to meet the needs of the Republic of Uzbekistan in order to eliminate emergency situations is carried out;

– public procurement, related to the appointment of a lawyer (representative) to participate in court proceedings;

– the purchase of the results of intellectual activity, such as works of science, literature and art, performances, phonograms, broadcasts of broadcasting or cable broadcasting organizations, is carried out from the only person who has the exclusive right to this object of intellectual property;

– the purchase of goods (works, services) is carried out, the prices (tariffs) for which are regulated by the state.

According to PP-3953, there is a list consisting of 46 goods (works, services), the purchase of which is carried out by government customers under direct contracts.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan maintains a register of unified suppliers on a special information portal. The register of unified suppliers contains a list of goods (works, services) authorized for public procurement from a single supplier, and a list of unified suppliers.

Chapter 5. Monitoring and control of procurement procedures.

Monitoring in the field of public procurement is a system of continuous monitoring of compliance with legislation on public procurement, the implementation of legally established goals, principles and restrictions of public procurement, carried out by collecting, summarizing, systematizing and evaluating information about their conduct. The main form of control of state bodies over compliance with legislation on public procurement is inspections carried out by comparing and analyzing statistical and other information in accordance with the procedure established by law.

State control of procurement procedures is carried out by the following bodies:

The Accounting Chamber of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

Competition promotion and consumer protection committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

In addition to state control in the field of public procurement, public control is also carried out.

Citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan, citizens’ self-government bodies, as well as non-governmental non-profit organizations and mass media registered in accordance with the procedure established by law, exercising public control, have the right:

– to prepare proposals for improving legislation on public procurement;

– to send requests to government customers for information on the implementation of procurement procedures and on the progress of contract execution;

– to carry out independent monitoring of procurement procedures and assessment of the effectiveness of public procurement, including assessment of their compliance with the requirements of this Law;

– apply to government agencies with an initiative to conduct verification activities;

– contact law enforcement agencies in cases of violations in the actions (inaction) of the state customer, the operator of the electronic public procurement system, the authorized body, procurement commissions and their members;

– go to court.

Chapter 6. Consideration of complaints.

6.1. The Commission for the Consideration of Complaints in the field of public procurement.

Complaints in the field of public procurement are reviewed by the Public Procurement Complaints Commission (hereinafter referred to as the “Commission”), consisting of representatives of relevant government agencies, operators of electronic public procurement systems and the public and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Ministry of Economy and Finance is the working body of the Complaints Commission and organizes its activities.

Each participant, as well as persons exercising control, have the right to appeal in court or in accordance with the procedure provided for by Law the actions (inaction) of the state customer, the procurement commission, its members, the operator of the electronic public procurement system, if such actions (inaction) violate the rights and legitimate interests of the participant.

6.2. The procedure for filing and reviewing complaints.

After receiving the complaint, the Commission notifies the state customer about this and suspends the procurement procedure for a total period of up to 10 working days. The complaint is considered by the Commission within 3 working days after its receipt.  The Public Procurement Complaints Commission considers the complaint with the participation of the state customer and the participant, except in cases when the participant agreed to consider the complaint without his participation or did not participate without a valid reason, and makes a decision within 7 days.

If the participant’s complaint is found to be justified, the Commission may take the following measures:

• establish a ban on illegal actions, decisions or execution of illegal procedures by the state customer;
• partially or completely cancel illegal decisions of the state customer, including if they violate the terms of the documentation on public procurement;
• to make a decision on the completion of procurement procedures;
• to include the performer in the Unified Register of Unscrupulous performers.

The decisions of the Public Procurement Complaints Commission are binding on all subjects of public procurement.

The contractor may appeal the decision of the Public Procurement Complaints Commission in court.