This document summarizes the program for the ENI East Regional Conference on Public Procurement held on April 24-25, 2014 at the OECD Headquarters in Paris. The conference brought together central public procurement authorities from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine to discuss challenges in aligning procurement policies with international standards and developing effective remedies systems. Experts from the EU and its member states shared experiences on reforming regulatory frameworks and institutions. Participants also discussed priorities and opportunities for further cooperation in public procurement reform.

1. This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the
European Union, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OECD and its member countries or of beneficiary countries participating in the SIGMA Programme.
This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to
the name of any territory, city or area.
ENI East Regional Conference on Public Procurement
Salle D, OECD Headquarters
24-25 April 2014
Programme
Conference Hotel: Radisson Blu, Paris-Boulogne

2. Purpose of the Conference:
The main purpose of the conference is to provide an opportunity for information sharing and networking
for the central public procurement authorities of the countries in the European Union’s eastern
neighbourhood: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
The central public procurement offices play a key role in the public procurement reform process since they
are normally being responsible for the following functions: preparing and drafting primary and secondary
procurement legislation, exercising certain monitoring and controlling functions, provision of information
and advice, capacity-strengthening and international coordination. On the other hand, there are still only
few independent bodies for complaints review and remedies, although all the countries are becoming
increasingly aware of the need to improve their practices in this respect.
The main topics of the Conference will be the challenges presented by the continuing need to align policies
with good international practice and the increasing pressure to develop the remedies systems. The new EU
legislative package (the three new public procurement directives adopted early 2014) will serve as an
important reference and will be presented by a representative of the EU Commission.
Format of the Conference:
The Conference will be interactive and based on case presentations. Experts from IPA countries and EU
Member States as well as representatives of the EU Commission will inform about EU policies and provide
examples of good practice. Participants will be asked to briefly present recent developments and share
experience from their countries in the specific field covered in each session. The meeting will also provide
all participants with the opportunity to meet informally and compare national experiences and discuss
specific issues among peers, and to establish a network for more regular exchanges in the future.
The working languages of the conference are English and Russian, with simultaneous interpretation during
all scheduled sessions. Sigma will distribute its relevant public procurement briefs in English and Russian;
see http://www.sigmaweb.org/publications/publicprocurementpolicybriefs.htm.
Participants:
Participation is by invitation only.
The Conference will be attended by senior officials responsible for designing and implementing public
procurement reforms in their countries: usually heads of public procurement offices and their key staff,
but also officials from the leading ministries and other governmental agencies in charge of public
procurement as well as from the complaints review bodies. Participation of DG MARKT and national
experts from EU Member States has been confirmed. Representatives of other international agencies
active in the region (such as EBRD and the World Bank) will be invited as observers.
Each ENPI-East country will have five official delegates at the conference. Their travel and accommodation
costs will be covered by SIGMA. In total, some 30 participants, including SIGMA staff and experts, are
expected to attend.

3. Wednesday 23 April
18.30-20.00 Welcome Cocktail offered by Sigma (Radisson Blu Hotel)
Day 1: Thursday 24 April
Developing the Public Procurement Framework: Policies and
Institutions
08.15-09.00 Coffee and Registration
09.00-09.15 1. Welcome and Introduction
Karen Hill, Head of Programme, SIGMA
Daniel Ivarsson, Senior Advisor, SIGMA
09.15-10.45 2. Policy Making and Regulatory Development for Public Procurement:
Challenges and Approaches
Michael Fruhmann, Head of Unit, Federal Chancellery, Austria
Brief Country Presentations
Reference documentation: SIGMA Brief No 26
10.45-11.15 Coffee Break
11.15-12.30 3. Regulatory References and Their Use: the New EU Directives,
DCFTA/Association Agreements/GPA, UNCITRAL Model Law, National
Regulations on Public Finance and Public Administration
Niels Schuster, DG MARKT, EU Commission
Daniel Ivarsson, SIGMA
Reference documentation: SIGMA Brief No 1
12.30-13.30 Lunch

4. 13.30-15.00 4. Public Procurement Reform: the UK Experience
Peter Bennett, Senior Policy Adviser, Cabinet Office, United Kingdom
Brief Country Presentations
Reference documentation: SIGMA Brief No 26
15.00-15.30 Coffee Break
15.30-16.15 5. Regulatory Development: Good Practice for Drafting Laws and
Regulations
Edward Donelan, Senior Advisor, SIGMA
Reference documentation: Drafting Guidelines
16.15-17.00 6. Central Public Procurement Functions: Identification, Combination,
Separation, Conflicts of Interest, Checks and Balances
Daniel Ivarsson, SIGMA
Erika Bozzay, SIGMA
Brief Country Presentations
Reference Documentation: SIGMA Briefs Nos 21 & 27; SIGMA Paper No 40
19.30-20.15 Registration for dinner offered by SIGMA on a Bateau Mouche, Port de la
Bourdonnais
Day 2: Friday 25 April
Putting Policies into Practice: The Example of the Remedies System
09.00-10.30 7. Setting Up a Remedies System: Business Reasons, Regulatory
Requirements and Good Practice
Mihaela Matokanovic, SIGMA Expert, Croatia
Brief Country Presentations
Reference Documentation: Sigma Briefs Nos 12 & 25, SIGMA Paper No 41
10.30-11.00 Coffee Break

5. 11.00-12.30 8. Current Practices in Complaints Review: Examples from the Region and
the EU
Erika Bozzay, SIGMA
Brief Country Presentations
Reference Documentation: SIGMA Brief No 12, SIGMA Paper No 41
12.30-13.30 Lunch
13.30-15.00 9. Current Priorities and Coming Activities in the Neighbourhood East:
Reform ambitions for 2014 and Beyond
Marian Lemke, Senior Advisor, SIGMA
Contributions from Participants
15.00-15.30 Coffee Break
15.30-16.15 10. Networking Opportunities with the Region: Common Interests and
Possibilities for Exchanging Views and Ideas
Marian Lemke, SIGMA
Contributions from Participants
16.15-16.45 11. Conference Organisation: Lessons Learned and Proposals for Next Year
Daniel Ivarsson, SIGMA
Annes McGoogan, SIGMA
Contributions from Participants
16.45-17.00 12. Concluding Remarks
Karen Hill, Head of Programme, SIGMA
Daniel Ivarsson, SIGMA