Public Procurement: New Rules of the Game From July 1 of the current year, public procurement will begin to be carried out according to new rules.

     From July 1 of the current year, public procurement will begin to be conducted according to new rules. During this time, business entities must prepare for working in the new conditions. The National Marketing Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus (https://ncmps.by/) provides clarifications on the main issues that may arise for enterprises in this regard. Why the changes? In the perspective of our country's accession to the WTO and the development of e-government, it became necessary to bring the legislation of the Republic of Belarus on public procurement into compliance with international requirements. A new version of the Law "On Public Procurement of Goods (Works, Services)" has been adopted, which will enter into force on July 1, 2019. What is the essence of the new rules? In the transition to the electronic type of public procurement in full, the implementation of electronic procurement based on OCDS (Open Contracting Data Standard) and open data in Belarus. A State Information and Analytical System (GIAS) will be developed and implemented. What are the benefits of the innovations? GIAS will contribute to increasing the transparency and efficiency of public procurement and reducing operational costs for buyers and sellers, as well as improving the quality of public services as a whole. As a result of the innovations, the automated system will be able to analyze the entire procurement lifecycle, from procurement planning to contract execution. It will be possible to sign contracts in the form of an electronic document, as well as additional agreements, including those on contract termination. An electronic single-source procurement module will be implemented, and information (certificate) on single-source procurement will become available. In addition, a product catalog will be available. How can an enterprise optimally enter the new system?