V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University’s public procurement policy

General description

One of the University functions is to procure goods, works and services to meet the existing needs. This function is carried out by public funds rational use and competitive economy development. The Public Procurement Policy (hereinafter referred to as the Policy) is inextricably linked to political, legal, social, financial, institutional, ethical and technological tasks that should contribute to the University’s sustainable socio-economic development, competitiveness and dynamic integration into international markets, in particular into the EU common market.

The purpose of the Policy is to ensure efficient and transparent procurement of goods, works and services to meet the University’s needs, to create a competitive environment in the field of public procurement, to prevent corruption in this area, and to develop fair competition.

An important component of the Policy is the legislation that defines the principles, concepts and procedures for concluding contracts on goods, works and services procurement in order to meet the University’s needs.

Today, the legal regulation of the public procurement system in Ukraine is carried out in accordance with the Law of Ukraine ˮOn Public Procurementˮ, which ensures electronic procurement system and an electronic appeal system.

One of the Policy’s directions is to ensure predictability and stability of the system by aligning with EU rules and adapting it to the international standards.

The University public procurement is centralized, which means it reduces the total procurement costs, taking into account the needs of structural units and goods and services consumers.

This model promotes standardization, professionalization, legal clarity, and flexible procurement methods implementation, including e-procurement.

An important task of the Policy is to modernize public procurement, to improve the quality and manageability of the procurement process, to ensure budgetary savings and to integrate the public procurement function into the University’s financial management system.

The Policy involves control over the type of goods, works and services procured by the University, their necessity, the total cost of such goods and services, and the ways to carry out the procurement process. To achieve these results, the Policy is aimed at ensuring transparent, clearly structured, comprehensive economic analysis and University procurement monitoring.

In particular, corruption is one of the public procurement problems. To detect and prevent it, the University has to increase the transparency level of its actions and the officials’ responsibility. Transparency of public procurement involves informing the market about planned and concluded contracts, publishing all necessary conditions and requirements for potential participants and contractors, timely and complete reporting on the procedures and contracts execution. Transparency in public procurement also implies the availability of a regulatory framework, detailed guidelines, explanations, methodologies and standards, and relevant decisions on procurement procedures. Clear, predictable rules, simple conditions for participation in procedures, standard documents, and a clear division of responsibilities among structural units and specialists limit the officials’ ability to make unreasonable or unlawful decisions regarding the goods, works or services procurement and thus reduce the risk of corruption. Similarly, the public procurement policy involves using public electronic communication and adjusting public procurement procedures to the standards.

Thus, the Policy includes the main areas of public procurement, including a set of tasks to comply with the current legislation on public procurement. The Policy also aims to improve the structure, HR system, and procedures and practices of their application.

Purpose of the Policy

The purpose of the Policy is to create a modern and efficient public procurement system aimed at creating a competitive environment and further development of fair competition in procurement, as well as to fulfil international obligations in the field of public procurement.

Main directions of the Policy implementation

The main directions of the Policy implementation are:

to adjust public procurement to the relevant EU directives;
to ensure proper financial, technical and manpower resources, to improve the interaction of structural units in the field of public procurement and financial management;
to implement e-procurement in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine, EU requirements and standards, and the best international practices;
to develop professional training of public procurement specialists and professionalize public procurement;
to promote international cooperation in the field of public procurement.
Adjusting public procurement to the relevant EU directives aims:
to implement basic concepts, requirements for the technical specifications preparation, criteria for participants’ qualification and evaluation of their proposals, and other elements of public procurement management envisaged by the EU Directives and the Association Agreement;
to harmonize standard procurement procedures, techniques and tools in the field of public procurement;
to ensure public procurement openness and transparency in order to reduce the risks of corruption.

The development of the e-procurement system involves:

preparing relevant local regulations, establishing requirements for information structuring and standardizing at all stages of public procurement, providing access to electronic technologies used for the public procurement procedures purposes;
using electronic means to facilitate and standardize communication at all stages of public procurement, including: planning, publication of public procurement information, providing access to technical specifications and other tender documents in electronic form, submitting electronic proposals, ensuring the possibility of automated evaluation of tenderers’ proposals or individual elements of proposals, which allows to include non-price criteria for such evaluation along with price criteria, contracts conclusion and payment, appeals, etc.

Public procurement professionalization involves:

introducing authorized persons combined with specialists’ training using modern approaches and technologies;
creating the position of ˮPublic Procurement Specialistˮ at various levels; establishing qualification requirements for employees performing relevant functions at various procurement stages (financial planning, preparation of specifications, marketing, organization of procurement procedures, legal support and contract management, etc.) The professionalization process is supported by training programs for public procurement specialists using modern teaching methods (online courses, modular distance learning, etc.);
optimizing the functions of the authorized persons, including the comprehensive economic analysis development, monitoring the effectiveness of the public procurement system in terms of quality and cost;
optimizing the control functions in the field of public procurement, eliminating duplication and limiting the powers of control in this area;
providing the necessary financial and technical and human resources for effective functioning in the field of public procurement.

International cooperation in the field of public procurement includes:

interaction with the relevant state agencies and international organizations representing the interests of foreign states or international organizations members in the field of public procurement in order to harmonize the principles and procedures of public procurement by means of reciprocity, following international technical standards and exchanging information on public procurement.

Policy objectives:

The main objectives of the Policy are:

to implement the current legislation in the field of public procurement;
to ensure rational and efficient use of funds by creating a transparent, open, understandable, accessible, stable public procurement system and e-procurement system;
to improve procurement process efficiency and to eliminate corruption in this area by increasing professionalism, implementing measures to prevent and eliminate corruption, introducing an electronic procurement mechanism and public participation to monitor public procurement system.

Expected results of the Policy

Implementation of the Policy allows to:

ensure effective public procurement system functioning that meets international standards of transparency, accessibility, stability and competition;
adjust public procurement to the requirements of EU directives;
ensure electronic procurement functioning;
reduce the level of corruption in public procurement;
increase the businesses and people’s level of trust regarding public procurement system;
optimize costs in the public procurement system.

Local regulatory framework

In order to comply with the norms and requirements of the current legislation of Ukraine in the field of public procurement and to implement the University’s policy in the field of public procurement, the University has adopted and is implementing the following regulations:

1) Regulations on the Authorized Person of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.

The Regulation on the Authorized Person of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (hereinafter — the Regulation) has been developed in pursuance of part seven of Article 11 of the Law of Ukraine ˮOn Public Procurementˮ (hereinafter — the Law) and defines the legal status, general organizational and procedural principles of the authorized person’s activity.

When developing this Regulation, the Customer — V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University — was following the Model Regulation on the Authorized Person, approved by the Order of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine ˮOn Approval of the Model Regulation on the Authorized Personˮ No. 40 dated 08.06.2021.

2) Special Provisions for the Procurement of Goods, Works and Services to Meet the Needs of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.

The Special Provisions for the Procurement of Goods, Works and Services for the Needs of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (hereinafter referred to as the SPP) are developed to regulate the internal relations of the customer, which are not subject to the Law of Ukraine ˮOn Public Procurementˮ.

The purpose of the SPP is to regulate the internal relations of the customer by objectively and impartially determining and distributing the areas of competence, functions (duties) and responsibilities among structural units, officials or other employees of the customer to procure goods, works and services on the principles of joint, coordinated, consistent and professional interaction using the relevant experience, potential, as well as functional assignment and professional duties.

3) Methodology for Determining the Expected Value of the Procurement Item of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.

The Methodology for Determining the Expected Value of the Procurement Item of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (hereinafter referred to as the Methodology) is used by the customer to determine the expected value of the procurement item of goods, works and services, the procurement of which is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Ukraine ˮOn Public Procurementˮ and shall be advisory.

When developing this methodology, the customer — V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University — was following the Model Methodology for Determining the Expected Value of the Procurement Item, approved by the Order of the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine ˮOn Approval of the Model Methodology for Determining the Expected Value of the Procurement Itemˮ dated 18.02.2020 No. 275 (as amended).