After the EBRD and UNCITRAL Initiative workshop for the Kyrgyz representatives in Vienna in March 2013, the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) of the U.S. Department of Commerce in cooperation with the Public Procurement Methodology Department within the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic organized a two-day workshop on international best practices in public procurement in Bishkek on June 11-12 2013.

The workshop aimed at using the US procurement expertise in order to identify and present best public procurement practices and assist with capacity-building of the Kyrgyz procurement officials responsible for their implementation. The workshop brought together US and international procurement experts, Kyrgyz procurement staff as well as representatives of the non-governmental sector. Topics discussed included current public procurement legislative and institutional framework of Kyrgyzstan presented by Mr Akzhigit uulu Melis, Head of the Public Procurement Methodology Department of the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic. The topic of basic principles of a procurement system, accountability, integrity, and transparency was presented by Professor Christopher Yukins, EBRD UNCITRAL Initiative Expert and Co-Director of the Government Procurement Law Program at the George Washington School of Law. Dr. Karen Pica, Procurement Policy Analyst for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy within the U.S. Office of Management and Budget emphasized the importance of training programs for the procurement staff and discussed the American practices in this area.

Discussions held during the workshop centered mostly on the topic of the new draft law on public procurement which is now under consideration in the Kyrgyz government. The EBRD UNCITRAL Initiative contributed to drafting and preparation of the new law, using the 2011 UNICTRAL Model Law as a benchmark. In Bishkek, the workshop participants were encouraged to formulate challenges and recommendations to be reflected in the new law, which resulted in the creation of an initiative group, headed by the representative of the civil society Ms Anara Dautalieva. The group prepared a list of recommendations to be presented to the Kyrgyz Vice-Prime Minister Mr. Joomart Otorbaev with the aim to have some of the proposals incorporated into the new draft law on public procurement.

The proposals of the group included:
a)establishment of a training centre for public procurement specialists and the need for a substantial public procurement training     (lasting approximately one month) for all relevant employees of the Ministry of Finance, Chamber of Accounts and other law     enforcement bodies; 
b)use of services provided by public procurement consultants;
c)establishment of an independent review body in the form of the Board of Arbitrators to review tender complaints;
d)reinstate in the draft public procurement law provision on the use of the Third-party Court (Commercial Arbitration)
e)reinstate the provision on the exclusion of risky personnel on the basis of the relevant information provided by the Ministry of Interior, which the draft law does not currently contain. 

It remains to be seen which proposals the final version of the new public procurement law will contain. It is expected that the new law will be adopted by the Kyrgyz parliament in autumn. Once the legislative framework is established, EBRD and UNCITRAL Initiative will be ready to assist the Kyrgyz government with further reform steps in the area of public procurement.

The text was prepared by Oleg Pakhomov, EBRD UNCITRAL Initiative Procurement Specialist.

The views and opinions expressed herein are solely personal and can in no way be interpreted as the official position of the EBRD or UNCITRAL.