Presentation by Iuri Cicibaba, Moldova (ENG) Second SIGMA Regional ENP East Conference on Public Procurement, Kyiv 29-30 May 2018

1. MTender: dilemmas and challenges in
development of full cycle electronic
procurement system
Iuri CICIBABA
May 2018
Ministry of Finance of Republic of Moldova

2. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
Main objectives of the eProcurement reform
Increase efficiency and value for money in the procurement processes
Reduce transaction costs for all stakeholders, SMEs in particular and
ensure a competitive and sustainable eProcurement model
Increase transparency and prevent corruption behavior during end-to-end
public procurement cycle*, from pre-tendering to post-tendering
The Government of Moldova has the goal of implementing eProcurement in
compliance with the 2014 EU Directives on Public Procurement and with the aim
to:

3. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
Main pillars of the eProcurement Reform
Key features
of the
eProcuremen
t model
Multi-
platform
hybrid
model
Cost-
efficient
Open
Source
Open Data
Open
Contracting
End-to-end
electronic
public
procuremen
t
Interoperabl
e with
eGovernme
nt services
eProcurement
scheme will seek
efficiency through
the reuse of
existing tools
whenever possible
and a sustainable
users’ fees
eProcurement
applications will be
open source and
fostering
transparency and
accountability by
incorporating Open
Data and Open
Contracting
standards
eProcurement scheme
will cover entire public
procurement process,
from procurement
planning to invoicing
and payments under
public contracts
eProcurement system
will be designed to
ensure interoperability
with existing and
future e-Government
services and national
public registers

4. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
The decision for a multi-platform hybrid model
A comparative analysis of international best practices was conducted with the support
of EBRD. Two main alternatives were identified:
Single platform scheme
eProcurement Back-end
eProcurement Front-end
Contracting
Authorities
Economic
Operators
eProcurement
Front-end 1
eProcurement
Front-end N
CA 1 EO 1
eProcurement Back-end
CA N EO N
Legend
Government owned Private owned Procurement agents
Hybrid multi-platform scheme

5. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
The decision for a multi-platform hybrid model
The following benefits and drawbacks were identified:
+ Easy end-to-end management of the
global procurement process
+ Simplified integration with other
eGovernment systems
+ Better suited to countries with low
eGovernment services maturity
— High initial investment
— Single supplier may exploit its
monopolistic position
— Discourages innovation and future
enhancements
— High dependency on a single system
and a single provider (security
breaches, provider drop-out, etc.)
+ Low development, implementation
and maintenance costs
+ Encourages competition between
eProcurement platform providers
+ Risk is shared between platform
suppliers
+ Platform providers encourage
participation of EO in PP processes
+ Central unit manages and replicates
all information to the multiple
eProcurement platforms
— Complex management of the
eProcurement environment
— Need for a private offer of
eProcurement platforms
Single platform scheme Hybrid multi-platform scheme

6. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
The decision for a multi-platform hybrid model
The hybrid model was chosen for Moldova due to the following reasons:

7. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
Coverage: the procurement life cycle for Moldova
All public procurements should be covered by the system starting
planning and finalising with the payment for the public contract
Selection
Tendering
Purchasing
Preparation Execution
Performance
Guarantees
Low Volume, High
Value
High Volume, Low
Value
Contract
Management
Identificatio
n
of needs
Call for bids
or quotes
Expiration
of
guarantee
Receipt of
products or
services
Planning
Reportingon
procurement
results
Post-tenderingTenderingPre-tendering
Public
Contract
Ordering
from
Framework

8. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
Coverage: the procurement life cycle for Moldova
Allocation of the module Phase of the procurement lifecycle
Pre-tendering Tendering
Post-
tendering
Networking Electronic
Procurement Platform
Central Unit
eGovernment
tools
All public procurement should be covered by the system starting
planning and finalising with the payment for the public contract as it is
showed below

9. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
MTender scheme
The functional scheme for the eProcurement system has been
designed as follows:
Public users
MTender
Central Database
Unit Modules
MLog
Governmental electronic
systems
MConnect
MSign
Mpass
(eAuthentication)
Registers and state
systems
State Register of
Juridical Units
Tax Service
Information System
State Treasury
State Register of
Population
State Register of
Licenses
State register of
non-commercial
organisations
Connection
between the
systems
Criminal Records
register
Electronic
Services
External
Systems
Mnotify
(eNotification)
TED
(eSender)
Business
Intelligence
System
Web
portal
N Networking Electronic Procurement Platforms
PPA
Government
institutions
Contracting Authorities/
Contracting Entities
Economic Operators
NCSA
Registers and state
systems
Cabinets

10. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
MTender main characteristics
The main modules and characteristics of the Central Database Unit are depicted
as follows:
ePlanning
eContract
Management
Central
Database
eAuction
eGovernment
tools
Government
registers
The Central Database
allows for real-time
communication and
information exchange
within all eProcurement
platforms, while keeping
full traceability of the
public procurement
processIntegration with
eGovernment tools to
take advantage of a
modern and already
tested eGovernment
environment, which
reduces the need of
deploying other
alternative solutions
Integration with several government registers
in order to reduce the need of inputting
information manually and automatise
administrative checks
ePlanning allows Contracting authorities to
better organise their procurement needs
and aggregate purchases to maximise
efficiency
This module allows the
control of the contract
execution, including the
launch of second
competition procedures
within framework
agreements, payments
and invoicing
Advanced eAuction
functionality that allows
not only for evaluation
based on lowest price
criteria but also for other
quality criteria and a semi-
automated evaluation of
bids

11. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
MTender pilot development
Test the eProcurement
system in a low risk
environment
Partial implementation
of newest eProcurement
features
Test micro and small
value procedures
Full coverage of the
public procurement cycle
Full coverage of the
public procurement
processes
Implementation of
aggregated demand
mechanisms
Train users in the use of
eProcurement
Connection to
government registers
Full integration with
eGovernment services
Pilot
Full
Deployme
nt
The eProcurement reform has been designed to be implemented in
two stages:

12. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
MTender pilot development
The eProcurement reform pilot included the following developments:
Micro value
procedures
Partial
Implementati
on of
ePlanning
Business
Intelligence
tools for
internal use
Developme
nt of
Central
Database
Partial
connection
to State
Treasury
Integration
with
MCloud,
MPass and
MConnect
Developme
nt of
eAuction
Partial
Implementat
ion of
eContract
Managemen
t

13. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
Open Contracting Data Standard
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is an open data schema
describing how to release documents and data at each stage of a
contracting process as machine readable, flexible, extensible, user
friendly data
Planning Tender Award Contract Implementation Contract Record
MTender
OCDS
• Digital public procurement cycle
• Market Access: big and small business
• Reporting, monitoring and audit of public
procurement

14. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
eContract Management
https://mtender.gov.md/procurement/tenders/view?id=824#a1
https://achizitii.md/en/public/tender/10001326

15. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
MTender: Business Intelligence

16. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
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At the moment – 3 platforms
e-licitatie.md achizitii.md yptender.md

17. Ministry of Finance
of Republic of Moldova
THANK YOU
Ministerul Finanțelor al Republicii Moldova
str. Constantin Tănase, 7,
MD-2005, Republica Moldova
tel. +373 22 262 500
web: www.mf.gov.md
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