More transparency for public procurement in Romania

The government in Bucharest and the US Trade and Development Agency on Wednesday signed a memorandum to provide training for 50 employees of Romanian public procurement institutions.

The latter are to attend a three-day seminar given by teachers from the George Washington University on how to obtain the best value for money and how to incorporate an assessment of life cycle costs into public procurement processes.

Dean Thompson, Charge d'Affaires at the US Embassy in Bucharest, said an adequate revision of public procurement rules and the implementation of a prevention system to identify conflicts of interest would help Romania combat corruption in this area.

In the opinion of the US official, an efficient public procurement system is vital to achieving sustained economic growth, while supporting businesses.

"You can have the best policy in place, but it doesn't mean much if the capability to implement is not there", Dean Thompson also said.

He added that public funds must be used to purchase the latest technology, arguing that ensuring fair conditions for both established companies and those who provide new and innovative technologies would bring added value to public money and increase the efficiency of public investments.

The prevention system mentioned by the US official will be implemented jointly with the National Integrity Agency.

Attending the signing of the memorandum, Romania's finance minister Eugen Teodorovici said the reform of the public procurement system is one of his government's goals.

He said a new package of laws to implement the European directive in the field would be launched for public debate at the end of the month, so that Parliament could pass it in autumn.

The package entails four bills on public procurement, public utilities, contestation and concessions.

The minister also said that the government would issue a decision in July to regulate the structure of the National Public Procurement Agency and make it "more supple and dynamic".

Teodorovici also announced that the national public procurement strategy is be approved by the European Commission within the next two weeks.