Legislation and governing of public procurement in Azerbaijan: Independence and responsibilities of the State Procurement Agency of Azerbaijan Republic Alekber Guliyev, State Procurement Agency of Azerbaijan Republic Internet:

AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC Republic of Azerbaijan is a country located in the east of the South Caucasus:  total area comprises 86.6 thousands km²  population of 9 million people  In 1991 after the collapse of USSR Azerbaijan become independent country.

Legislation  In 1997 the Law of Azerbaijan Republic “On Tender” was adopted by the Azerbaijan National Assembly  In 1998 according to the Decree of the President of Azerbaijan Republic the State Agency on Procurement was established  The Law Of The Republic Of Azerbaijan “On Public Procurement” was adopted by the National Assembly of Azerbaijan in 2001  in March 2010 some amendments and additions were made to the Law “On Public Procurement”, it was decided to create the web site and to publish all tenders, requests for proposals, requests for quotations and information about the results.

Responsibilities of State Agency on Procurement of Azerbaijan Republic  Participate in creation and improvement of the legal base governing public procurement in the Republic of Azerbaijan, develop rules, instructions, other documents on public procurement and submit them to respective executive authorities for approval;  Supervise legality of procurement of goods, works and services on competitive basis as well as performance of contracts; suspend procurement procedures for up to 7 banking days in case of discovery of breach of law and if necessary raise the matter of cancellation of tender results to the procuring agency;  Consider disputes in public procurement procedure and in case of breach of law take measures in accordance with legislation requirements;

 Provide procurement agencies with methodological and organizational assistance on organization and conducting of public procurement, give recommendations, set up specialists’ professional level improvement courses, hold seminars and conferences, prepare relevant study and methodological materials;  Establish rules of production of reports on public procurement, ensure that regulations, documents and information governing public procurement are brought to public’s attention;  Produce and submit annual reports on public procurement to the President of Azerbaijan Republic and to the Cabinet of Ministers Responsibilities of State Agency on Procurement of Azerbaijan Republic

Independence and responsibilities  According to the regulations of the State Agency on Procurement the Director is appointed and dismissed by the corresponding decrees of the President of Azerbaijan Republic. This creates opportunity for the State Agency on Procurement to work to some extent independently respect to other agencies.

Public procurements in Azerbaijan: Procurement Methods  open tendering procedure  tender with limited participation  closed tender  method of request for proposals  two-stage tender  method of request for quotations  single-source procurement The minimum threshold for carrying out an open tender in the Law “On Public Procurement” is (fifty thousand) manat, i.e. approximately (sixty two thousand) US dollars.

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