Bank of Russia holds its first procurement conference

The conference was attended by over 100 current and potential Bank of Russia suppliers across all Russian regions, who learnt about the regulator's current counterparty requirements.

In his welcoming remarks Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Ruslan Vesterovskiy noted that integrity, professionalism and responsibility for performance are central to the effective system of regulator and supplier interaction.

The Bank of Russia’s procurement saw a number of major changes in the past two years. It grew more centralised, with a marked rise in the share of e-purchases and competitive procurements with an average of 3.7 bidders taking part in a tender. The tighter competition for procurement contracts alongside newly attracted counterparties secured a 12% reduction in the average contract value.

‘The priority of the procurement process is choosing a counterparty capable of meeting contractual obligations to a required level of quality within the desired timeframe and at a fair price. The main focus is on the need to secure an optimal ratio of these three factors’, Procurement Department Director Svetlana Repina emphasised.

The innovations in procurement included the practice of awarding a large contract to several winners in certain cases. It enables the scope of work to be divided, the risks of non-execution of the contract to be minimised, and contractual obligations to be delivered on time.

The supplier conference is envisioned as a regular event in the future. It will be complemented with similar sectoral conferences.