The Accounts Chamber sees risks for public procurement due to high key rate
A high key rate may increase the share of failed government purchases in the short term, the Accounts Chamber (AC) has warned in its report on government tenders. The auditors explained: the rate increase reduces the availability of bank guarantees for potential suppliers, which reduces their activity at tenders.
Often, to participate in a tender, the customer asks to make a security deposit, which many form from credit funds, recalled Andrei Barkhota, PhD in Economics. According to him, the availability of the latter has sharply decreased amid the growth of the key rate.
The influence of the rate also affects fines and penalties if contract terms are violated, added Andrei Girinsky, associate professor at the PFUR Economics Department.
According to the SP report, when the Central Bank raised the rate from 16% to 18% in the summer of 2024, the average monthly value of failed deals jumped from 58% in July to 69% in August.
In 2023, 60% of government purchases failed, according to the SP report. Thus, in 2023, the total volume of proposed contracts was for Br10.6 trillion - of which contracts for Br4.2 trillion were executed. Since 2017, the number of failed deals has increased by 18%.
The point is that many government agencies make centralized and large orders - for example, they publish one notification for the supply of medicines for all entities at once. Too large a purchase does not take into account the capabilities of manufacturers and market offers, which discourages suppliers from bidding, the auditors explain.
In most cases, suppliers with five years of experience in the public procurement market win the largest orders in terms of value, according to the SP report. This hinders the development of competition.
Read more in the exclusive material of Izvestia:
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