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A public procurement framework serves to regulate the business process of agreeing a contract for supplies, services or works by public sector entities.
The public procurement process may be shaped by different procedures (depending on the value and characteristics of the contract). The public procurement procedure prepared and conducted by the contracting entity should result in a ready-to-sign public contract.
To ensure that a public contract is agreed accurately, the procedure should pursue the values of transparency, competition, economy and accountability. Public procurement is all about ensuring quality of public services through an efficient contract attained within a reasonable timeframe.
Since public resources are scarce, the efficiency of the public procurement process is the principal consideration of all governments in the region. The effectiveness of public procurements depends on the legislation in force, efficiency of national regulatory bodies and professionalism of procurement officers. Open, transparent and non-discriminatory public procurement is considered to be the best tool to achieve 'value for money' by optimising competition among tenderers.
Presently all EBRD countries of operations are in the process of developing or enhancing their public procurement systems and respective laws in order to meet WTO/GPA requirements and international public procurement best practice.
The EBRD, as an investor, is particularly well suited to fostering public procurement reform and promoting a good balance between (a) competition and transparency safeguards and (b) efficiency aspects in the development of public procurement regulations.
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