The Professional Procurement State Enterprise has announced the first procurement with World Bank funds in the Prozorro electronic system. A special module has been developed for such procedures, which is used for procurement with funds from international donors.

Professional Procurement SE cooperates with the Ministry of Social Policy and procures the necessary goods for the project ‘Modernisation of the Social Support System’. Its goal is to improve the social sector and the quality of social services in Ukraine.

The first iteration of the project will include the purchase of computer hardware and software to improve and optimise the work of 25 territorial offices of the Pension Fund. The procurement procedures are in line with World Bank standards and Ukrainian legislation, although they have some differences compared to national procedures. Recently, they have been conducted in Prozorro, which not only significantly increases efficiency and competitiveness, but also requires extensive preparation.

"The use of Prozorro for procurement under World Bank-funded projects demonstrates the effectiveness of our public procurement system. In addition, it helps to involve Ukrainian businesses in the supply chain of World Bank projects. This is a good signal for other international partners to use Prozorro more actively in their projects, including those aimed at restoring Ukraine. This is important for local suppliers because they already know public procurement procedures well and will therefore be more active in tenders. This will provide even more opportunities for Ukrainian producers to develop and help create new jobs and stimulate economic growth,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

Professional Procurement is the first centralised procurement organisation to procure through Prozorro for the money of international donors in the interests of another public customer. In particular, the government agency analyses the market, communicates with potential suppliers, prepares technical documentation, qualifies participants and supports the procurement process.

"International partners actively support Ukraine, and our goal is to ensure the most efficient use of their funds to justify their trust. The World Bank operates in accordance with its policy that regulates procurement at all stages. It aims to ensure optimal value for money, efficient and economical use of resources, protection of contractual rights and obligations, etc. The Professional Procurement team takes a comprehensive approach to procurement, market research and document analysis. This allows us to organise procurement at a qualitatively new level - to predict and solve possible problems at the planning stage. This is how we achieve the best results," explained Yevhen Yakubovsky, Director of Professional Procurement SE.

According to the procedure, the first procurement stage includes clarifying and submitting proposals to suppliers. After that, the bids are opened. In this case, the World Bank's procedures do not provide for a three-round descending auction; all participants must submit the lowest bid immediately at the first round.