Scope of the state order: optimization of the contract system continues

April 01, 2015 17:27

The first month of spring has brought good news to the players of public procurement market: several resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation amending the existing law "On the contract system" have come into force. Innovations affect not only state-owned companies and municipalities, but also service providers.

According to the resolution #199 dated March 6, 2015, the customer can not claim financial support for contract execution from the supplier, who won the tender. It is worth noting that this right is non-binding, so you can not say for sure that the customer will use it. The resolution is applicable only in case of a postpay and if the purchase is announced for SMEs and socially oriented non-commercial organizations .

At first glance it may seem that the introduction of financial support is a guarantee of contractual obligations fulfillment and that is why it is equally convenient for customers and contractors. However, in this case supplier is forced to allocate an impressive amount of money from its budget that could be spent on business development or support of current business projects.

The main advantage of this innovation is a connection of small businesses to the state order, as they are often unable to provide financial support without prejudice to its activities. Negative consequence may be the entry of unscrupulous suppliers. Deprived of financial obligations to the customer, they can abuse their position: disrupt the terms, perform the contract improperly or abandon it at all.

Another Government resolution #198 which also entered into force on March 6, allows to change essential terms of the contract, namely price, delivery time and number of products in a certain order. Changes in contractual obligations may be dictated by jumps in the currency market or unexpected rise in prices for purchased equipment and subcontracting services.

Notification of contractual obligations change should be directed to the customer in a written form detailing the reasons. A petition to change the points of the contract can be satisfied if contract settlements are made in rubles, contract completion will take place in 2015, and the period of supply is greater than six months.

The resolution legitimacy applies to contracts entered into in accordance with the federal law # 44-FZ and the federal law # 94-FZ, but so far only a narrow range of procurement gets under the new rule: reconstruction and modernization work on capital construction as well as goods and services included in the list of state institutions. To date, this list is not made public.