Конкуренция и право :: English version :: The Ministry of Labour has issued recommendations for identifying and mitigating corruption risks in procurement

The Russian Ministry of Labour and Social Protection has published Guidelines for the identification and mitigation of corruption risks in the procurement of goods, work, or services to provide for state or municipal needs.

These guidelines have been developed for entities involved in procurement activities in accordance with Federal Law No. 44-FZ “On the contractual system in the area of the procurement of goods, work and services to provide for state and municipal needs” dated 5 April 2013 and Federal Law No. 223-FZ “On the procurement of goods, work and services by specific types of legal entities” dated 18 July 2011, and are aimed at providing advisory and methodical support for entities holding events designed to identify and mitigate corruption risks.

The guidelines have been prepared in pursuance of clause 16(b) of the National Plan for counteracting corruption for the period 2018–2020 (approved by the Russian President’s Decree No. 378 dated 29 June 2018).

Please be reminded that all companies, irrespective of their forms of ownership, must develop and take anti-corruption measures (Article 13.3 of Federal Law No. 273-FZ “On anti-corruption activities” dated 25 December 2008 as amended by Federal Law No. 231-FZ dated 3 December 2012). The reduction of the level of corruption is a priority goal of anti-corruption policy.

The Guidelines outline the principles on which a system for assessing corruption risks in procurement should be built in legal entities:

the activities aimed at assessing corruption risks should not be at variance with the legal regulations and other statutory instruments of the Russian Federation (the lawfulness principle);
the corruption risks should be assessed taking into consideration the actual possibilities of the relevant entity, including the availability of staff, finances, time, and other resources (the rational distribution of resources principle);
there should be a direct interconnection between the results of the assessment of corruption risks and the measures taken to prevent corruption;
the measures being taken should be well-timed and regular, etc.

The Guidelines establish a detailed action algorithm for entities to prevent corruption in procurement. It is envisaged that the procedure for assessing corruption risks and taking measures to mitigate them should consist of the following successive stages:

preparatory stage;
describing the procedure of procurement in the relevant authority (entity);
identifying corruption risks;
analysing corruption risks;
ranking corruption risks;
devising measures aimed at mitigating corruption risks;
approving the results of the assessment of the corruption risks; and
monitoring the implementation of measures aimed at mitigating the corruption risks identified.

The Guidelines contain a detailed description of each stage of the activities to be implemented by an entity to prevent corruption; in addition, they set out the directions of such activities as well as specific measures to be taken at each stage.

The use by entities of these Guidelines is expected to result in the following:

a unified approach will be ensured to the organisation of activities aimed at identifying corruption risks that arise at various stages of procurement;
every entity will devise a register (roadmap) of corruption risks arising in procurement and of measures aimed at mitigating such risks; in addition, every entity will set up corruption indicators.

It is recommended that the register of corruption risks and the plan to mitigate corruption risks should be published on the relevant entity’s official website in the Internet.

A comprehensive implementation of the above measures should have a positive impact with regard to decreasing the number of violations in procurement processes and would mitigate the risks for an entity and its officers to be held liable for corrupt practices.

Pepeliaev Group’s experts