Prozorro

At first glance, public procurement seems overly complicated. Of course, it takes time to understand the terms, lists of documents, and the nuances of participation. Therefore, suppliers who have recently registered on the site may not decide on the first participation for a long time. If you are such a supplier, we invite you to read this article, where we have collected the main questions and tips for purchasing.

How to Understand the Terminology?

Basic terms to understand to get started on site:

1. Prozorro – an electronic trading system for conducting public procurement in an online format.
2. Public procurement (or public tender, public auction) – a procedure for the acquisition of goods, services, or work, the customer of which is a state institution. These can be city councils, schools, enterprises, etc.
3. The subject of the purchase is what the customer is purchasing (for example, 100 kg of vegetables, or cleaning services, or performing a major road repair).
4. Purchase budget – the expected cost of the subject of the purchase, which the customer indicates in the advertisement.
5. Tender documentation – a list of customer requirements provided by them as part of the description of the procurement conditions. This is where the requirements for the subject of the purchase and the supplier, the list of required documents, etc. are indicated.
6. Tender offer (or price offer) – an application for participation in the auction, which the supplier submits through the site to become a tenderer and claim a contract with the customer.
7. Acceptance of offers – the stage of the tender, during which suppliers can submit their tender proposals through the electronic platform.
8. Auction – a tender stage, a three-round procedure during which all bidders compete to win by lowering their bid. The winner of the auction is the participant who has offered the best price by the end of the third round.
9. Bid – the price offer that the participant makes during the auction round. It must differ from the bidder's previous offer by at least an bid increment (an amount determined by the customer, the minimum price reduction during the auction round).
10. Qualification – the last stage of the tender, during which the customer checks the tender offer of the auction winner for compliance with the requirements and recognizes them as the winner of the purchase or disqualifies.

More definitions related to the topic of procurement can be found in our Glossary. If necessary, you can always contact our support managers with a question.

What Type of Public Procurement Should a Newcomer Participate in?

If you open the "Tender type" filter on the Prozorro tender search page, you will see a list of 16 different types of procedures, each of which has its own nuances of participation. But you don't need them all at first. Usually, beginners start with such purchases:

1. Simplified/subthreshold purchase – in this case, the purchase budget does not exceed UAH 200,000 (or UAH 1 million if the customer is a monopolist). Instructions for participation in a simplified/subthreshold purchase.
2. Open bidding – the budget for such purchases is limited to the amount from UAH 200,000 to EUR 133,000. Instructions for participation in open bidding.

Prozorro

Through these procedures, almost all items are purchased in Prozorro. They have a simple participation algorithm – it is enough to correctly submit a tender offer and make the most favorable bid during the auction.

What Documents May Be Useful for Participation in the Procurement?

The exact list of documents is given by the customer in the tender documentation – to participate in the procurement, the supplier must provide them all. To better navigate this issue, check out the materials prepared by the SmartTender team:

If you have any questions about the preparation of a particular document or you think that the customer's requirement is discriminatory, you can consult with your personal manager at SmartTender or lawyers of our site.

What to Do if the Customer or Another Procurement Participant Violates the Rules?

In public procurement, you can always file a complaint with the Antimonopoly Committee (AMCU) if you think that the actions, decisions, or requirements of the customer are dishonest or if a supplier whose tender proposal does not meet the procurement requirements has been selected as the winner.

To properly prepare for an appeal, we suggest that you read the article “What to Look for During a Complaint Filing” or contact SmartTender lawyers.

We also recommend that you follow the articles and webinars on legal topics that are regularly published on our site.

What to Do After Winning the Auction?

After the end of the auction, the qualification stage begins, during which the customer carefully reads the tender offer of the supplier who offered the best price. If it complies with the purchase conditions, the customer publishes the intention to conclude a contract with such a supplier. If it does not comply, the supplier is disqualified, and the customer proceeds to consider the tender proposal of the participant who took second place in the auction.

If the customer has published an intention to conclude a contract with you, you must provide a police clearance certificate from the Ministry of Internal Affairs within 10 days. To speed up the receipt of this document and instead of two weeks to wait a maximum of 2 days, use the service for ordering a MIA certificate on SmartTender.

What Are the Most Common Supplier`s Mistakes?

The SmartTender team constantly analyzes the work of Prozorro procurement suppliers and finds out which mistakes most often lead to losses. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with a selection of common beginner mistakes and tips on how to avoid them in this article. Also, the site regularly publishes a selection of TOP-3 mistakes of the month.

If your first participation in the purchase was unsuccessful – do not worry. According to statistics, SmartTender users start winning after the second participation. We suggest analyzing your possible mistakes using our instructions.

What Is the Difference Between Public Procurement and Commercial Procurement?

Public procurement has at least 10 differences from commercial tenders. The most important are:

1. The customer of the commercial purchase is a private company, which can choose the winner at its own discretion. On the one hand, this is good, because there are no strict requirements for participants. On the other hand, it is more difficult to predict the result, since the lowest bid does not always guarantee victory.
2. For participation in public procurement, the participant pays a commission. Participation in commercial auctions is free.
3. Public procurement data is open, so you can analyze your competitors and build a participation strategy that will help you win as often as possible. Data on commercial tenders are confidential.

Read more about the differences between commercial and public tenders in this article.

What to Do if You Are Not Registered with SmartTender.biz Yet?

To be able to use all the benefits and tools of our electronic platform, you need to register. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the registration form.
2. Fill in the appropriate fields.
3. Wait for confirmation by email that your account has been successfully created.

The step-by-step instructions for registering suppliers are available here.

Take part in the Prozorro procurement and win with SmartTender!