BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 2. The Azerbaijani parliament has adopted a new rule for signing tender contracts, Trend reports.

This issue is reflected in the draft law amending the law "On state procurement" at today’s plenary session of the parliament.

According to the draft law, tender contracts between the purchasing organization and economic entities will be concluded through the "Digital State Finance" information system based on the results of the procurement procedure in Azerbaijan.

According to existing legislation, this law doesn’t apply to purchases that were not foreseen in the purchasing organization’s procurement plan for the current year and where the total value does not exceed 10,000 manat ($5,880) within a budget year (or up to 20,000 manat, or $11,760, in the case of high-level, 1st- and 2nd-category state agencies, as well as purchasing organizations not financed from the state budget as of January 1 of the current year).

According to the proposed amendment, in the case mentioned in the above paragraph, the contract concerning such procurements will be signed via the relevant information system designated by the relevant executive authority (organization), and the corresponding data will automatically and immediately be transmitted to the portal by the information system once the contract is signed. The procurement commission will publish the relevant information on the portal within three business days from the effective date of the procurement contract.

After the procurement contract comes into effect, the name of the purchasing organization and the supplier that signed the contract (if a natural person, their surname, first name, and patronymic), the taxpayer identification number (TIN), the procurement subject, the procurement method, the contract value, and the implementation period will be transferred immediately to the portal by the information system, and the procurement commission will publish the relevant information within three business days from the effective date of the procurement contract.

Under the current legislation, procurements related to confidential information and the associated procedures are conducted on paper.

According to the draft law, the conclusion and sending of contracts for procurements specified in the above paragraph, as well as contracts for procurements covered by this law, except for cases where the winning supplier is a non-resident, will be carried out electronically through the information system.

Under the current legislation, this law does not apply to the procurement of goods, works, or services that are:

• provided only by state authorities (institutions) or natural monopoly entities and whose prices (tariffs) are regulated (determined) by the state;
• goods, work, or services within the framework of relations regulated by the law "on public-private partnership";
• the composition of the supervisory board (board of directors) is approved by the body (organization) determined by the relevant executive body or in agreement with the body (organization) determined by the relevant executive body. Goods, works, or services purchased at the expense of other financial resources, excluding funds from the state budget of Azerbaijan and the budget of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, including funds from special-purpose budget funds, budget loans, subsidies, loans received with state guarantees, state grants, assistance, and funds from extra-budgetary state funds.

Besides, centralized procurement of food products (except those purchased for state reserves) by purchasing organizations is carried out by the relevant authority designated by the executive authority in accordance with procedures established by the authority. This law doesn’t apply to purchases that were not foreseen in the purchasing organization’s procurement plan for the current year and where the total value doesn’t exceed 10,000 manat within a budget year (or up to 20,000 manat for high-level, 1st and 2nd-category state authorities or organizations not funded by the state budget as of January 1 of the current year).

According to the draft law, contracts for the procurement of the goods, work, and services mentioned in the two paragraphs above will be concluded and sent electronically via the information system.

Under the current legislation, if the procurement authority does not make a decision within 10 business days after receiving the final protocol, the protocol is deemed approved, and the information is immediately reflected on the portal.

According to the draft law, the procurement commission’s final protocol, the decision of the supervising authority (if no decision is made by the supervising authority, the final protocol will be deemed approved), and the winning supplier’s offer (the volume of works and price proposal) will be transmitted immediately to the information system.

Under the current legislation, the purchasing organization accepts the winning supplier’s offer within three business days before the expiration date of the offer’s validity period.

According to the proposed change, the purchasing organization will prepare the procurement contract via the information system and simultaneously send an acceptance notification to the supplier through the portal. The winning supplier will sign the procurement contract within five business days using a qualified electronic signature in the information system and provide the purchasing organization with the required execution guarantee under this law. The purchasing organization will sign the procurement contract with a qualified electronic signature in the information system within the period specified in the conditions set out, but no later than 10 business days.

Under the current legislation, the procurement commission may, with the approval of the supervisory authority, increase or decrease the procurement item’s volume (quantity) by up to 10% without changing the price or specifications of each unit, provided that the overall expected price is not exceeded.

According to the draft law, if the volume (quantity) of the procurement item is changed, the purchasing organization will immediately transmit this information to the information system.

Under the current legislation, after the procurement contract comes into effect, no changes are allowed to the contract terms. Written requests from the parties regarding amendments to the procurement contract terms are considered within 10 business days.

According to the draft law, changes will be made through the information system if an agreement is reached.

Under the current legislation, closed tenders, procurement from a single source, and framework agreements resulting in open tenders or quotation requests can only be applied for upon the approval of the supervising authority.

According to the draft law, approvals for procurement methods given by the supervising authority will be immediately transmitted to the information system.

The "information system designated by the relevant executive authority" refers to the "Digital Government Finance" information system.

The draft law was put to a vote after discussions and passed on first reading.

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