1.
© OECD
8th IPA Regional
Public Procurement
Conference
Experiences of introducing centralised
purchasing in the EU
Mr Uwe Flach, BBG Bundesbeschaffung GmbH,
Austria
13 – 14 June 2018
Bečići, Montenegro

2.
1
partnership vs. centralisation
shared services provider

3.
Why a procurement reform
in AT?
2
Until 2001:
Each ministry and subordinated authorities did procurement
independently
• Prices were higher than in the case of joint purchasing
• Loss of synergies: each ministry had its own purchasing department
• Challenges in professionalization of procurement
• Challenges regarding transparency
Comprehensive procurement
reform in 2001
Improve efficiency of public
procurement
& reduce and optimize public
expenditure

4.
AT Solution: Implement a central
Shared Service Organisation
• Federal Act on the Foundation of the Federal Procurement
Agency (BBG)
 main goal: “... economically reasonable volume and demand concentration in
order to optimise the prices and conditions...”
 only for public supply and service contracts
 observance of SMEs
 mandatory for the Federal Administration, unless they get better prices
elsewhere or have special urgent requests
 entitles BBG to perform projects for other contracting authorities (“3rd party
customers”)
• BBG setup as private limited (liability) company
• Owned by Republic of Austria (represented by Ministry of
Finance (MoF)
• Decree of MoF is defining goods and services
3

5.
Role of Ministry of Finance
• Supervision & Responsibility
 Appointment of the Managing Directors
 Supervisory Board
• 4 members
• Approval of the yearly working program and budget
• Strategic alignment
 Replies to parliamentary questions
• Financing
• Controlling
• Legal framework 4

6.
Success factors for
implementing shared services
• Project management
 Goals, costs, milestones, project team
• Change management
 Organisational & legal aspects
• Collaboration with stakeholders and open
communication
• Phased process instead of big bang
5

7.
We know the
market
We know our
customers
We master
public procurement law
Purchase
The secret of success for BBG
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