ArmInfo. The Armenian government prioritizes competitive procedures for the implementation of various programs. This was stated by Deputy Finance Minister Avag Avanesyan on January 14 at a meeting of the National Assembly Committee on Economic Affairs, where he presented amendments to the Law on Procurement and a package of related laws in the first reading.
According to the Deputy Minister, by the end of 2025, the country will see an increase in the average procurement competitiveness index, currently estimated at 3.3 points, which is quite high. In Georgia, for example, this index is approximately 2.4. Moreover, in Armenia, competitiveness is assessed not based on general procedures, but on a lot-by-lot basis. However, this practice, as the Deputy Minister noted, has led to serious problems in the implementation of large programs, especially when the results of procurement procedures are challenged in court. The need to adopt the draft laws is due to both the need to regulate potential problems arising in connection with the suspension of procurement processes organized for the purpose of ensuring public interests, defense interests, and national security, and the need to exclude the suspension of procurement processes after the adoption of final judicial decisions of the court of first instance.
Avanesyan emphasized that an analysis of current regulations shows that, in practice, there are cases where procurement processes organized to ensure defense and national security interests are suspended, resulting in customers being unable to resolve their issues within the established timeframes.
The proposed regulations aim to eliminate the possibility of suspending procurement procedures for public purposes, defense, and national security. This condition must be established in the invitation to purchase, based on the prior consent of the government. The possibility of extending procurement deadlines based on a first-instance court decision will also be eliminated. If the invitation to the procurement procedure contained information indicating that it was organized to ensure the public interest or the interests of defense and national security, then appeals against the actions or inactions, or decisions of the customer and the evaluation committee, will not be suspended. Furthermore, this information may be included in the invitation with the prior consent of the government. The execution of final court decisions in disputes involving appeals against the actions of the contracting authority and the evaluation committee may not be suspended due to the acceptance of appeals and cassation appeals filed against these decisions.
A cassation appeal may be filed against decisions of the Court of Appeal following the review of appeals filed against decisions made in procurement-related disputes. Exceptions include decisions to terminate proceedings by way of a settlement agreement, as well as decisions to terminate appellate proceedings based on the dismissal of an appeal, within 15 days of the publication date of these decisions.
