Proposed by the Center for Business Ethics and Corporate Governance
The objective of this “problem definition” is to help render Russia’s electronic system for public tendering, found at http://zakupki.gov.ru, more fair, transparent and user-friendly for Russian citizen entrepreneurs and less vulnerable to corruption and fraud. This challenge could be approached from three different directions:
1. First, develop an “application”, “search mechanism” or other tool to help Russian citizens and business to use the portalhttp://zakupki.gov.ru consistently and effectively to participate in the electronic tender process. Specifically, focus on improving the auction process in a sector where the Russian government intends to spend a significant amount of public funds, such as innovation to increase energy efficiency. The tool should help a Russian entrepreneur who has invented a new energy efficiency technology use the portal to identify specific opportunities to sell the technology to a Russian federal, regional or city government agency or state-owned enterprise. This system should help the entrepreneur search the portal, identify specific opportunities and participate in tenders in the energy efficiency industry throughout Russia.
2. Second, develop an “application”, “search mechanism” or other tool to help Russian citizens, businesses and civil society organizations analyze the terms of electronic tenders on the portal http://zakupki.gov.ru to ascertain whether there is fraud or corruption in the design or execution of the tender. For example, this tool should help identify electronic tenders that may include specific design parameters for goods that can only be supplied by one supplier that has been “pre-selected”. It should help identify tenders where such pre-selection also leads government authorities to issue price terms for goods that are significantly above the market price. There are numerous examples of such fraudulent tenders that have been identified and stopped by civil society organizations.
In addition, participants in electronic auctions are able to use electronic tactics to exclude other bidders for public procurement. One method reportedly used is to hide information about state procurements by replacing Cyrillic letters with identical-looking English letters in the title of the tender, thereby making it impossible to search for the tender by its title. In such cases, only the bidder tipped off by the purchaser would know the correct combination of letters necessary to locate the tender and gain a guaranteed win.
3. Third, develop an “application” or other tool that helps Russian businesses that lose electronic auctions on the portalhttp://zakupki.gov.ru due to corruption or fraud defend their legal rights. For example, under Federal Law “No 94-FZ “On the Placement of Orders for Delivery of Goods, Fulfillment of Works, Rendering of Services for Government and Municipal Needs” (2005, amended 2007, 2008), the government customer is obliged to cancel the contract in the event that it is established that there has been elimination of competition in the auction. To enforce this legal right, citizens and businesses should have an application or tool that provides them access to information about how enforcement works in practice, e.g., how to file a complaint with court, assure the complaint is heard and acted upon quickly before the tender goes forward. In addition, this application or tool could help victims of rigged tenders find examples of how other entrepreneurs have successfully defended these rights.
This tool could also provide the citizen or business with quick access to the list of “unscrupulous suppliers” maintained by the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service.
Reference Materials for this Problem Definition:
(i) The “Goszakupki Portal” at http://zakupki.gov.ru.
(ii) The website of the Russian Institute for Development of Freedom of Information at http://www.svobodainfo.org/en/node/459
(iii) The Register of Dishonest/Unscrupulous Suppliers available at http://rnp.fas.gov.ru.
(iv) Federal laws governing government public procurement, public auctions, access to information, and information technology, as well as protection of competition and protection of information, including Federal Law N 94-FZ “On the Placement of Orders for Delivery of Goods, Fulfillment of Works, Rendering of Services for Government and Municipal Needs” (2005, amended 2007, 2008).
(v) Federal Laws providing citizens the right of access to information on government decision-making, including N 149-FZ “On Information, Information Technologies and on the Protection of Information” (2006, amended 2011).
(vi) http://www.rospil.info/