1 E-Procurement in Azerbaijan Republic Challenges and perspectives Elshad Samedzade, PHD & Arzu Aliyev Web-site:

2 State Procurement Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan Welcomes the participants of the 8 th Regional Public Procurement Forum!!! Welcome to Albania !

3 Legal base of public procurements The State Procurement Agency (SPA) was established under Decree No.583 by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic dated May 16, 1997 to carry out state policy in the field of procurement of goods (works and services) purchased by state funds. SPA’s duties were determined by the Charter approved by Decree No.855 by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic dated February 20, 2003 according to the requirements of article 4 of the Law “On public procurements”. “The Action Program on “E-government” formation in in the Republic of Azerbaijan” approved with the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan Republic The Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Electronic Signature and Electronic document, March 9, 2004 The Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Electronic Trade, May 10, 2005

4 Agency’s Duties SPA is charged with the following duties: establishment and improvement of the normative-legal base regulating public procurement in the Republic of Azerbaijan; ensuring control over the legality of procurement of goods (works and services) purchased by state funds on the basis of tender and implementation of contracts; carrying out measurements as provided by the existing legislation to improve the qualification level of specialists of procurement organizations in the field of public procurement; creation of a public procurement data base, as well as the implementation of other duties as determined by the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

5 Organizational Chart of the Agency Director General Department Economic Sector Department of Regulation of Procurement of goods (works and services) Sector of Electronic Database Formation Department of Economic Analysis and Control Sector of Economic analysis Department of Training Organization, International Relations, Law and Hearing Complaints Sector of International relations Finance sector Chief of StaffDeputy Director

6 Requirements for creating Public Procurement Information System in Azerbaijan

7 Program 1.Learning world experience, expert involvement, specialists’ business trips, preparing technical tasks etc. in terms of E-procurement system 2.Planning system program and network 3.Creating web portal that includes the Agency’s, clients’ and contractors’ interface; information security, establishing storage and archiving, its integration with e- signature and e-payment systems 4.Integration, system adjustment, testing and adjusting the system 5.System Implementation, training the staff, conducting seminars and trainings for relevant government authorities, involving Press and TV for explaining the system 6.System follow-up for a year and making necessary corrections

8 Network 1.Computers, telecommunication, electrical equipment etc. for main and reserve stations 2.Installation, adjustment

By using this website which is created by the initiative of the Ministry of Economic Development you can find information on how to obtain permissions, licenses etc. which is required to participate in public procurements held in Azerbaijan. 9

10 Challenges 1)In terms of general E-government project State authorities should do several work in order for the system to function harmonically as a whole system. 2)E-signature process should be developed 3)Procurement organizations are less experienced 4)There should be trust and reliance on online system

Trainings SPA organizes trainings on “public procurement” which are regularly held for employees of the ministries, committees, institutions and organizations as well as employees of departments of education, health, culture, local executive authorities, municipalities of the cities and regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan to improve the qualification level of specialists involved in public procurement procedures from procurement organizations. 11

A workshop on E-Procurement with a joint initiative of the State Procurement Agency and SIGMA (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management), April 6, 2011; SIGMA organized a seminar on “E-procurement” in Tbilisi on May 19, 2011; A workshop on “Public Procurement Procedures in an E-procurement Perspective” with a joint initiative of the State Procurement Agency and SIGMA, June 22, 2011; SPA representative participated at Asia Pacific Regional e-GP Conference organized by Asian Development Bank in Indonesia, November 22-24,

13 Ratio of total amount of implemented public procurements according to each corresponding financial source in 2011 (in thousand manats)

14 Dynamics of performance of state procurement contracts based on the reports submitted to the State Procurement Agency in years (in thousand manats)

15 Thank you! Thank you!