The representatives of the RA Ministry of Finance headed by First Deputy Minister Karen Brutyan took part in the discussion on “Participation of Business and Civil Society in Implementing Procurement Legislation Reforms” initiated by Armenian Business Coalition and Armenian Lawyers’ Association.
The event was held to diagnose the gaps of public procurement legislation and discuss the changes in it, one of the key directions of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” Project.
Karen Brutyan noted that meetings with representatives of the public sector and business are being held for legislative reforms, as a result of which it is expected to diagnose and raise the possible issues.
Changes in the sectoral sub-legislative acts were also discussed, through which, according to Karen Brutyan, it is envisaged to remove formal requirements and not to burden the participants of the procurement process taking into account that these requirements do not affect the end result.
“The content of procurement should be such that the agencies present their needs to the public still at the stage of budget discussions, justifying their purpose. The procurement process is one of the riskiest areas, so the most important thing here is to ensure publicity and accountability, which should be carried out with the direct involvement of the civil society”, - said Brutyan.
Karen Zadoyan, Chairman of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, noted that business and civil society representatives have always responded to legislative changes after the basic rules of the game are defined. This is a unique opportunity to participate in the initial stage of solving key issues.
At the end of the discussion, the specialists responded to NGO representatives' questions and an agreement was reached that NGO representatives would submit their proposals on legislative amendments to the Ministry of Finance.