On December 5-7, CLDP facilitated a workshop on procurement in Chisinau, Moldova. CLDP organized the workshop in collaboration with the Public Procurement Agency of Moldova (PPA), the Ministry of Finance of Moldova, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine (MEDT), and the U.S. Embassy in Moldova. Fifty-two procurement officials from the PPA and contracting authorities at the national and regional levels of Moldova attended the workshop along with a delegation of 10 procurement officials from Ukraine.

The workshop focused on centralized purchasing and the processes used by central purchasing bodies to obtain the best prices and products for their clients. Centralization of purchasing is integral to procurement reform in Moldova and is part of Moldova’s Public Procurement Strategy for 2017-2020.

Moldova’s procurement system is currently decentralized with more than 4,000 local contracting authorities involved in procurement. These contracting authorities currently lack professionalization, resources and leverage to create competition among suppliers, and due to their sheer numbers are difficult to oversee. Through this workshop, CLDP contributed to increasing the capacity of procurement systems in Moldova and Ukraine in terms of transparency, efficiency, accountability, and openness to competition. Additionally, the workshop supported regional integration by providing a platform for participants to share information with their counterparts in both formal and informal settings.