The organizers and participants sometimes have a desire to suspend the tender. The reasons for this may be different: preparation of documentation, inconvenient date, waiting for additional applicants. Each party to the procurement procedure has its own levers of influence on the timing of tenders.

From the Organizer`s Side

The Law of Ukraine "On Public Procurement" (or rather, its Article 31) provides for the possibility to stop the auction at any stage until the conclusion of the contract with the supplier. However, this can be done only if there are reasons listed in the Law:

there is no need for the subject of procurement;
it is impossible to eliminate errors that occurred during the organization of the purchase;
the order of posting procurement not complied with;
the auction does not comply with the annual procurement plan;
the most favorable price offered is higher than the amount allocated by the Organizer for the purchase;
at the start of trading, there are not enough registered participants.

A common reason for the termination of the tender are the comments of the State Audit Office of Ukraine – after the cancellation of bidding, the Organizer will not be responsible for any errors found.

From the Participant’s Side

Participants have limited ability to suspend electronic auctions. It all depends on how the tender complies with the norms of the Law of Ukraine “On public procurement”.

Complaint on the Organizer

The ProZorro system is designed in such a way that each of its users can fight anti-competitive actions. Therefore, a potential supplier has the right to file a complaint with the Organizer in the following cases:

requirements of the tender documentation are prescribed for a specific participant;
there are signs of the interconnectedness of other Participants and/or the Organizer;
indicated unrealistic delivery terms or other additional conditions;
The organizer requires more than one documentary confirmation of the execution of similar orders in the past.

Regardless of the validity of the reasons for filing a complaint, at the time of its consideration by the competent authorities the bidding is automatically suspended. The further fate of the procurement depends on the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU).

If the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine is made in favor of the Organizer, the system will automatically extend the deadlines for the auction. If in favor of the Participant – the auction, as a rule, will be canceled. You can see the results of filing your own and others complaints in a special section of your personal account of the SmartTender.biz electronic platform.

Questions or Requirements for the Organizer

The question to the Organizer or the requirement to change the conditions of the purchase is indirect reasons for suspending the tender. The Prozoro system also blocks the tender procedure until a response is received. Most of the Organizers are in no hurry to communicate with potential suppliers. The method really works, albeit not with 100% reliability.

Technical Implementation of the Auction Stop

Assume that the Organizer makes a decision to cancel the bidding or suspend them to change the requirements for the subject of the procurement and the supplier. This must be indicated in all tender documentation, as well as the appropriate protocol must be uploaded to the system.

Usually, after canceling a procurement, it can be manually re-created with updated conditions. The main thing is that the customer remains the need for the subject of procurement. Usually, this is done in cases where it is impossible to eliminate errors.

Frequent cancellations of the same auction due to the absence of the need for this product followed by the creation of exactly the same purchase in the ProZorro system is a sign of possible actions aimed at restricting free competition.