A new edition of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On public procurement” has been drafted

The Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan, together with specialists from relevant ministries and departments, has developed a new edition of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On public procurement” (“Draft law”). Asian Development Bank and the World Bank also took an active part in the development of the Draft law.

The Ministry of Finance notes that the Draft law has been developed taking into account the best practices and international experience in the field of public procurement, including the main provisions of the Model law of the United Nations Commission of International Trade law (UNCITRAL) and recommendations of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

In order to increase the transparency of public procurement, the following key changes will be introduced:

• participation of strategically important business entities and enterprises as corporate customers with a special public procurement procedure;
• increasing the number of operators of the special information portal on public procurement;
• there have been agreed the criteria for the electronic market, auctions, and selective purchases, which now constitute up to 25 thousand times more than the base estimated amount (up to six thousand times more than the budget for customers);
• tenders (selections) will be held in electronic form in accordance with the established procedure;
• participants in procurement procedures and public procurement executors are required to disclose their founders and beneficial owners.

The Ministry of Finance noted that the creation of opportunities for electronic public procurement will lead to greater openness and transparency in the industry, the development of a competitive environment, reducing the human factor and preventing corruption.