Prozorro Market has become a mandatory tool for food procurement

Educational and healthcare institutions and other state customers that carry out public procurement for budgetary funds will now purchase a number of products primarily from an electronic catalog. The Government adopted the relevant amendments to the peculiarities of public procurement for the period of martial law(Resolution No. 1178) at a meeting on February 9, 2024. The condition applies to procurements worth UAH 100 thousand and above.

"The Ministry of Economy has analyzed which set of products is most often purchased by educational and medical institutions and proposed amendments to the current regulations to simplify the procurement of such products for customers and suppliers. The electronic catalog procurement mechanism is the most understandable and accessible, so we suggest that procuring entities and suppliers use the electronic catalog in their procurement. The decision will also help prevent possible abuses and reduce corruption risks in procurement," explained Deputy Minister of Economy Nadiya Bihun.

The list of goods to be procured through the catalog includes, in particular, meat - chicken, pork, beef, frozen fish, eggs, milk and dairy products including sour cream and kefir, cheese products, beet sugar, pasta, flour and various cereals, vegetables and fruits - cabbage, beets, carrots, apples, potatoes, etc.

The Prozorro Market electronic catalog is part of the public procurement reforms and allows customers to conduct competitive procurement of typical goods in just 9 days, gathering competition twice as high as during a classic tender procedure. The centralized procurement organization Professional Procurement has been appointed as the catalog administrator for consumer goods, including food.

"Prozorro Market is not only a fast, convenient, safe and cost-effective procurement method, but also one that saves three times more than open tenders. The amount of food procurement in the electronic catalog already exceeds UAH 2 billion, and in 2023, every third procurement in the system was made using our tool," said Yevhen Yakubovsky, Director of Professional Procurement.

It is envisaged that if the procurement from the electronic catalog by request for proposals does not take place, the procuring entity may conduct a procurement at an open tender without increasing the expected cost of the procurement. Or a procurement by request for proposals, taking into account the peculiarities of public procurement for the period of martial law.

By the same decision, the Government banned the procurement of goods, works and services from individuals and legal entities from the Russian Federation, Belarus and Iran, from companies whose ultimate beneficiaries or owners of more than 10% of shares are citizens of these countries.

Exceptions:

• citizens legally residing in Ukraine;
• assets of citizens from these countries in the supplier companies have been transferred to ARMA;
• goods from the Russian Federation and Belarus are necessary for the repair and maintenance of goods purchased before October 19, 2022.