Radio România Internațional

Tag: public procurement

  • Romania has a new public procurement law

    Romania has a new public procurement law

    A new set of
    public procurement laws has been passed by the Chamber of Deputies, Parliament’s
    decision-making body, one month later than requested by the European
    Commission, which has criticised Romania for the delay. The new laws
    incorporate the EU directives and rules to be applied to all EU member states.
    The passing of these laws will simplify the public investment process, leading
    to a decrease in the number of legal challenges.




    According to
    economic analyst Valentin Ionescu, the new European directives enforced at the
    beginning of 2015 preserve something of the previous ones. Valentin Ionescu:




    Indeed,
    mechanisms have been introduced that make the whole process more flexible first
    of all through the fragmentation of big contracts, which will allow several
    companies to have access to contracts of procurement and works. On the other
    hand, the initial tender price has increased, which is bad, because that cannot
    contribute to curtailing corruption. On the contrary, it can fuel corruption,
    leading to the creation of cronyism networks if procurement contracts can be
    awarded without a tender.




    The European
    Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu has hailed the passing of the
    laws and has expressed hope that the European fund absorption rate will
    increase in Romania. Corina Cretu:




    It was an
    emergency and I was very worried because public procurement practically blocked
    all operational programmes and beneficiaries could not make any acquisitions in
    the absence of regulations. We hope other urgent issues will be addressed now
    so that we can step up the European fund absorption rate and not lose the
    entire year from the viewpoint of the European fund absorption.




    According to the
    European Commissioner, Romania is lagging behind when it comes to the
    absorption of European funds, whose rate in the present financial framework is
    very low and it must take advantage of all opportunities it gets in the
    2014-2020 programming period. Corina Cretu has added that the project
    development and fund absorption rate must be stepped up and has recalled that
    in Brussels all conditions have been provided for Romania to absorb as many
    European funds as possible. According to the European official, the objective
    of the European Commission and of Romania is that the structural and cohesion
    funds should again boost economic growth and the creation of jobs for
    Romanians. The European Commissioner had warned even before the public
    procurement law package was passed that if the absorption of funds did not
    start in the coming months, Romania risked blocking its sustainable economic
    and social development. We recall that, on paper, the European fund absorption
    rate stands at 75% for the 2007-2013 period.

  • 7 September, 2015

    7 September, 2015

    Prosecutors with the higher court in Bucharest have placed under preventive detention the mayor of Bucharest, Sorin Oprescu, under charges of bribery. Several of his subordinates and associates have also been detained for questioning in this same case. His arrest did not come as a surprise to commentators, who had pointed out that over the last few months a number of public servants ranking high in City Hall had been convicted of corruption. Find out more after the news.



    Romanian PM Victor Ponta and Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici submit today a bill in the lower chamber of the Romanian Parliament to reform public procurement. The head of the government claims such a reform is necessary because the present regulations cause unspent moneys to accrue without the possibility of being spent. At the same time, Chamber of Deputies chairman Valeriu Zgonea is set to present the principles for absentee voting. He is in favor of the speedy passing of a bill to provide the necessary resources for the ballot to be fair and guarantee Romanians living abroad the proper exercise of this fundamental right.



    World nr. 2 in womens tennis, Simona Halep of Romania, plays in the eighth finals of the last Grand Slam this year, the US Open, against Sabine Lisicki of Germany, ranked 24th. The Romanian player leads 3-1. She will also play in the quarter finals of the mixed doubles, joining another Romanian star, Horia Tecau. The two will face off against the fourth favorite pair, Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Leander Paes of India. Tecau will also join his long time partner in the doubles, Jean-Julien Rojer, against the US pair Eric Butorac/ Scott Lipsky.



    The George Enescu International Festival continues in Bucharest. Performing today is the San Francisco Symphony, directed by Michael Tilson Thomas, part of the Great World Orchestras cycle. The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen conducted by Trevor Pinnock plays as part of the Chamber Recital cycle. Through 20th of September, over 3,000 Romanian and foreign artists take part in the most prestigious music event in the country. This edition also features the London Symphony Orchestra, under Romanian conductor Ion Marins baton.



    A strategic inter-agency exercise, Histria 15, run by the Ministry of Defense will run for two weeks starting today in south eastern Romania, involving around 7,000 personnel from the ministries of defense, interior, justice, transportation, public finance, economy, health and information society, joined by employees of all the intelligence services. This is the largest such exercise ever run in Romania, aiming to prepare for organizing and executing a wide array of missions.



    Tens of thousands of protesters have set up tents in the center of Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova, after Sundays widespread marches. They call for President Nicolae Timofti to step down, claiming he represents the interests of elites and does not act against corruption. In early April, Moldovas central bank announced it discovered that three institutions accounting for about a third of the countrys banking assets have granted loans worth about 15% of the GDP to undisclosed parties. Protesters also call for the removal of immunity for elected officials in order to facilitate prosecution.



    Romanian Minister of Agriculture Daniel Constantin request on Monday from European officials emergency support solutions for farmers in Romania hit by the drought, as well as for farmers hit by the dairy crisis. He attends in Brussels the meeting of the European Council for Agriculture and Fishing. The debates, chaired by Luxembourg, focus on hardships in farming across Europe. Talks will also be held at the level of commissions to identify concrete means of applying solutions.

  • More transparency for public procurement in Romania

    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.