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On 18 September, during the second meeting of the Steering Committee of the Public Procurement Component of the European Union technical assistance programme "Public Finance Management Support Programme for Ukraine (EU4PFM)", the results of the six-month cooperation of the Accounting Chamber with the Programme, the improvement of methodological recommendations in the field of public procurement audit, the exchange of experience and advisory support for auditors were discussed. This Component provides support to the Ukrainian authorities that control the public procurement process within their authority: The Accounting Chamber, the Ministry of Economy, the State Audit Service and the Antimonopoly Committee.
The meeting was attended by Eriks Mezalis, Team Leader, EU4PFM Procurement Component, Henrik Huitfeldt, Head of Sector, Economic and Social Policies, EU Delegation to Ukraine, Ekaterina Yakovleva, Sector Manager for Public Financial Management, EU Delegation to Ukraine, representatives of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the Accounting Chamber, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, the State Audit Service of Ukraine and international experts.
During the meeting, they discussed the results of the EU4PFM Programme activities within the Component in the first half of 2024 and detailed the further work plan of the Component until the beginning of 2025.
Gennadiy Plis, a Member of the Accounting Chamber, thanked the representatives of the European Union for supporting Ukraine in implementing reforms to integrate into the European Community, and the experts of the EU4PFM Public Procurement Component for technical assistance in strengthening the institution's capacity to audit the procurement sector:
“Thanks to the EU4PFM, the Accounting Chamber has received a draft of methodological recommendations for public procurement audit. The methodologists have already worked out the recommendations and submitted them to the relevant departments for processing. These guidelines harmoniously complement our methodologies for conducting compliance and efficiency audits, which are in line with international standards.”
Gennadiy Plis also emphasised the importance of the Programme's support in the issue of a future clearer legal definition of the functions of the authorities involved in the process of public procurement control.
"As far as violations are concerned, their detection is only the first stage. In the Accounting Chamber, the main stage is to find out the reason for the deviation, its possible consequences and to prepare recommendations for eliminating the shortcomings and minimising their effects. So, while other control bodies are working on establishing and documenting the fact of the violation, the Accounting Chamber is working on changes to the system so that it will not allow such deviations in the future," summarized Gennadiy Plis.
After discussing the results of the work, the Component Steering Committee agreed on a plan for the next period, which includes further expert support, assistance to government institutions in the screening process, research on international best practices in public procurement reform and digitalisation of the public procurement system.
For reference: Every year, the Accounting Chamber analyses the report of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, which contains an analysis of the functioning of the public procurement system (in terms of quantitative and cost indicators of procurement in terms of procurement procedures and items, the level of competition, the number of complaints) and general information on the results of procurement control, as well as the annual report of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine in terms of its impact on the execution of the state budget, and also carries out audits of the efficiency of public procurement by separate state bodies.
