WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
13 September 2012 
 (12-4907) 
Committee on Government Procurement Original:   English 
  
 
 
CHECKLIST OF ISSUES FOR PROVISION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO 
ACCESSION TO THE AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA 
 
Second Revised Replies by the Republic of Moldova
* 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 29 August 2012 , is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Republic of Moldova. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
 Public procurement in the Republic of Moldova (RM) continued to grow over the last years, 
both in terms of amount of funds allocated for procurement and thei r share in the National Public 
Budget (NPB) and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).   Thus, the volume of public procurement has 
grown from US$30.3 million in 2000 to about US$600 m illion in 2007 (the highest value ever), and in 
2011 it registered around US$480 million, which represents almost 27 per cent of the total public expenditures and over eight per cent of the total GDP. 
 The Government of the Republic of Moldova considers the accession to the WTO Agreement 
on Government Procurement (GPA) as an important st ep in the establishment and maintenance of an 
efficient system of government procurement, which could lead, according to forecasts, to saving significant amounts from the total expenditures in curred in this field (20-25 per cent). 
 This document is mainly intended to pr esent the new public procurement regulatory 
framework established by the new Law of th e Republic of Moldova on Public Procurement 
No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007 (please see the Annex to this document (at page 19) for the full text 
of the new Law No. 96-XVI) .  N.B.:   For convenience, the relevant Articles of the revised text of 
the Agreement (GPA/113, dated 2 April 2012) have  been shown in parentheses following each 
reference to corresponding Ar ticles of the unamended 1994 GPA.  
II. LEGAL FRAMEWORK 
1. Is there a single central law on pr ocurement?  If so, please specify? 
2. What are the other laws, regulations, decrees,  administrative rulings, decisions, policy 
guidelines and other instruments governing government procurement?  Please provide a 
                                                      
* Original replies to the Checklist (GPA/35 of 21 June 2000) were provided by Moldova in document 
GPA/W/177, dated 9 January 2002 and revised replies in document GPA/ACC/MDA/1, dated 
11 November 2008.  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 2  
 
  summary of the subject areas dealt with by each  of these instruments.  Please also explain the 
main differences (if any) that exist between their application at the central and sub-central levels of government and at other types of entities. 
3. To what extent will the provisions of the Ag reement be applied directly or need to be 
transposed into the relevant law?  In the ev ent of direct application of the Agreement over 
conflicting provisions of domestic law, please indicate the relevant legal basis. 
 
 Before the entry in force of the new Law on Public Procurement No. 96-XVI of 
13 April 2007
1, the relations in this field continued to be regulated by the Law on procurement of 
goods, works and services for the state needs No. 1166-XIII of 30 April 1997, and by a number of 
governmental regulations, of which, th e most important are the following: 
(a) Government Decision on the approval of th e Regulations regarding the organizing 
and functioning and the staff of the Public Procurement Agency No. 747 of 24 November 2009 (Official Monitor (OM) No. 171-172/826 of 27 November 2009); 
(b) Government Decision on the approval of the Regulations for procurement of services 
for the execution of design works for public investments No. 44 of 13 January 2006 
(OM No. 25-27/142 of 10 February 2006); 
(c) Government Decision for the approval of the Regulations on the procedure of 
preparation and review of the List of  vendors (contractors) who are banned to 
participate in public procurement pro cedures No. 105 of 30 January 2006 (OM 
No. 21-24/138 of 3 February 2006); 
(d) Government Decision on special public  procurement resources of the Public 
Procurement Agency No. 278 of 16 March 2006 (OM No. 47-50/314 of 24 March 2006); 
(e) Government Decision on procurement of goods, works and services for the state 
needs for 1999 No. 50 of 27 January 1999 (OM No.10-11/91 of 4 February 1999); 
(f) Government Decision on the management a nd supervision of public procurement 
procedures No. 595 of 25 June 1999 (OM No. 67-69/626 of 1 July 1999); 
(g) Government Decision on the approval of the Regulations on public procurement of 
works No. 1123 of 15 September 2003 (OM No. 204-207/1181 of 26 September 2003); 
(h) Government Decision for the approval of the Regulations on procurement of goods 
and services through invitation to bid No. 832 of 13 August 2001 (OM No. 104-105 
of 24 August 2001); 
(i) Government Decision on the main measures for more efficient public procurement 
No. 782 of 30 June 2003 (OM No. 135-137/819 of 4 July 2003); 
(j) Government Decision for the approval of  the Regulations on singe source public 
procurement No. 951 of 4 August 2003 (OM No. 182-185 of 19 August 2003); 
                                                      
1 See Annex to this document.  The Law entered into force three months after its publication 
(Article 76), i.e. on 27 October 2007.  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 3 
 
 
  (k) Government Decision for the approval of the Regulations on generation and use of 
special resources of the public instituti ons from the provision of tender documents 
No. 98 of 31 January 2005 (OM No. 20-23/150 of 4 February 2005); 
(l) Government Decision on valuation, hom ologation and procurement of literary, 
dramatical, and musical works and works of fine arts for the completion of state 
collections No. 1312 of 28 December 2000 (OM No. 1-4/11 of 11 January 2001); 
(m) Regulations of the working group for the procurement of goods, works and services, 
approved by the National Agency for Public Procurement on 5 March 2003 (OM 
No. 62-66 of 4 April 2003); 
(n) Regulations on the contract for the procurement of goods and services for 
governmental beneficiaries (public procurem ent contract), approved by the National 
Agency for Public Procurement on 17 November 1999 (OM No.1-4 of 6 January 2000), etc. 
 Given the adoption of a new Law on Public Procurement No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007, the 
governmental regulations mentioned above were re quired to be harmonized, within six months from 
the publication of the Law, with its provisions (A rticle 76).  In addition, the Law envisages the 
development and approval of several governmental re gulations to ensure further development of the 
legal base in this field.  These partic ularly relate to the following issues: 
(a) low value procurement procedures (Article 2); 
(b) list of qualified economic operators (Article 17); 
(c) list of banned economic operators (Article 18); 
(d) procurement procedures based on a framework agreement (Article 50); 
(e) single source procurement procedures (Article 53); 
(f) procurement procedures based on i nvitations to bid (Article 54); 
(g) procurement procedures based on dynamic system (Article 55); 
(h) procurement procedures based on electronic tender (Article 56); 
(i) structure and content of applications for offers of consultancy services (Article 61); 
(j) etc. 
 Similarly to the previous Law on Public Procurement, the new Law provides for the 
supremacy of international treaties over the domestic le gislation.  Thus, if the international treaty to 
which the Republic of Moldova is a party, in partic ular the GPA, contains other provisions than those 
stipulated in the national legislation on public pr ocurement, the international provisions shall apply 
(Article 7 of the Law). GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 4  
 
  III. SCOPE AND COVERAGE 
4. Please summarize the organization of the government in your country at each level. 
5. Please list all central government entities (m inistries, departments, agencies, etc.) 
procuring goods, services and construction services. 
6. What entities at the sub-central level of government (states, provinces, municipalities, 
etc.) procure goods and services? 
7. Which are the enterprises owned or controlled by the government that are subject to the 
rules on government procurement?  Which are th e other entities or categories of entities (Annex 
3-type entities) owned and controlled by the gove rnment that engage in procurement?  Specify. 
8. Do entities listed in response to questions 5, 6 and 7 apply in their procurement the main 
law (if one exists), other legislation provided by the federal or central level of government or are 
they autonomous from federal or central governme nt in their procurement rules and practices?  
Where any of these entities are not subject to the main procurement law, please list the entities 
concerned and indicate which laws, regulations , etc., they are subject to.  How will your 
government ensure the implementation of th e Agreement by such entities below the 
central/federal government level? 
9. Are there any general exceptions from the scope of application of the national 
procurement rules, for instance for essential na tional defence or security reasons?  Please 
provide details. 
10. Please provide available statistics on the procurement by government entities in your 
country in the last two years, including, to the extent available, a breakdown by entity and by 
categories of products and services. 
 The administrative organization of the territory  of the Republic of Moldova consists of two 
levels:  villages, communes, towns and municipalitie s - the first level and rayons - the second level 
(Law on Local Public Administration No. 123-XV of  18 March 2003).  The public administration of 
the Municipality of Chisinau and of the Autonomous Territorial Operator of Gagauzia is regulated by 
special laws.  The legal status of the region of Tr ansnistria, where the Mold ovan authorities currently 
are not exercising their power, shall be defined in  the framework of negotiations taking place between 
the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria under the auspices of the OSCE, mediated by Ukraine and 
the Russian Federation and with the participation of  the United States and the European Union (the so 
called 5+2 format), in accordance with the provisions of the Law of the Republic of Moldovan on the Basic Provisions of the Special Legal Status of the Settlements on the Left Bank of Nistru River 
(Transnistria) No. 173-XVI of 22 July 2005. 
 The central public authority that supervises a nd coordinates generally the field of public 
procurement is the Public Procurement Agency (PPA ).  The Agency has functional autonomy, but is 
subordinated to the Ministry of Finance of Republic  of Moldova.  The Agency carries out its activities 
and is managed based on the Regul ations approved by the Government Decision No. Nr. 747 of  24 
November 2009.  Pursuant to the provisions of  the new Law on Public Procurement, the Agency 
exercises its powers through its local subdivision s (Articles 8 and 9 of the Law No. 96-XVI of 
13 April 2007), subject to adequate financing. 
 All procurement contracts entered into by a " contracting authority " shall fall under the scope 
of the Law on Public Procurement .  For the purposes of Article 12 of the Law No. 96-XVI, the 
capacity of " contracting authority " is granted to " public authorities ", as defined by the legislation of  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 5 
 
 
  the Republic of Moldova, " persons of public interest" , as well as " associations of such authorities or 
persons ".  Pursuant to Article 12(2) of the Law, " legal person of public interest " is any entity which 
enjoys legal personality and has been created with a view of satisfying a public interest, and not for 
profit.  In the meanwhile, the activity of the entity should be mainly financed from public funds or its 
performance should be supervised by public au thorities, or its administration, executive or 
supervisory board should consist of more than 50 per cent of state representatives. 
 It should be mentioned that the Government  could decide to apply the Law on Public 
Procurement to legal persons acting on markets on wh ich, based on a regulatory or administrative act, 
or the existence of a monopoly, competition is excl uded (Article 12 (4), Law No. 96-XVI).  Here we 
could first include a number of state enterprises or enterprises in which the State is the main 
shareholder.  It has not been provided by the Law on Procurement of Goods, Works and Services for 
State Needs No. 1166-XIII of 30 April 1997.  The li st of such enterprises sh all be approved by the 
Government. 
 In respect of the central and second-level local public administration, the duties of a 
"contracting authority" in the procurement of goods, work s and services are exercised by the 
following main state authorities: 
A. Central public authorities: 
 
1. Office of the President of RM and in stitutions subordinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
2. Office of the Parliament of RM and institutions subordinate d to it and under its 
supervision; 
3. Office of the Government of RM and in stitutions subordinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Europ ean Integration of RM and institutions 
subordinated to it and under its supervision; 
5. Ministry of Internal Affairs of RM a nd institutions subordinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
6. Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry  of RM and institutions subordinated to it 
and under its supervision; 
7. Ministry of Defence of RM and ins titutions subordinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
8. Ministry of Culture of RM and ins titutions subordinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
9. Ministry of Environment  of RM and institutions subor dinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
10. Ministry of Finance of RM and ins titutions subordinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
11. Ministry of Education of RM and in stitutions subordinate d to it and under its 
supervision; 
12. Ministry of Justice of RM and ins titutions subordinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
13. Ministry of  Labour, Social Protection and Family  of RM and institutions subordinated 
to it and under its supervision; 
14. Ministry of Health of RM and ins titutions subordinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
15. Ministry of Economy of RM and ins titutions subordinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
16. Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications  of RM and institutions 
subordinated to it and under its supervision; GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 6  
 
  17. Ministry of Regional Development a nd Constructions of RM and institutions 
subordinated to it and under its supervision; 
18. Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure
 of RM and institutions subordinated to 
it and under its supervision; 
19. Ministry of Youth and Sports  of RM and institutions subor dinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
20. National Bank of Moldova; 21. Court of Accounts; 22. The Supreme Court of Justice; 23. Constitutional Court; 
24. Office of the General Prosecutor; 
25. National Commission of Financial Market; 26. National Agency for the Protection of Competition; 27. Public Property Agency; 28. Consumer Protection Agency; 
29. Energy Efficiency Agency; 
30. Public Procurement Agency; 31. State Tax Service; 32. Customs Service; 33. The National Regulatory Agency for Telecommunications and Informatics; 
34. National Agency for Regulation in Energetics; 
35. State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI); 
36. State Construction Inspectorate; 37. Agency for Intervention and Payments for Agriculture; 38. Sanitary-Veterinary and Animal Products Safety Agency; 39. State Ecological Inspectorate; 
40. State Hydrometeorological Service; 
41. Geology and Mineral Resources Agency; 42. National Agency for Regulation of Nuclear and Radiological Activity; 43. Agency "Apele Moldovei"; 44. Fisheries Service; 45. National Employment Agency; 
46. Labor Inspection; 
47. Interethnic Relations Bureau; 48. National Statistics Bureau; 49. Border Service; 50. Agency "Moldsilva"; 
51. Agri-industrial Agency "Moldova-Vin"; 
52. Material Reserves Agency; 53. Cadastre and Land Relations Agency; 54. Centre for Combating Economic Crime and Corruption; 55. Information and Security Service; 56. Licensing Chamber; 
57. Tourism Agency; 
 
B. Local public authorities: 
 
1. Council of Chisinau municipality and in stitutions subordinated to it and under its 
supervision; 
2. Council of Balti municipality and institu tions subordinated to  it and under its 
supervision; 
3. Council of Gagauzia TAU and instituti ons subordinated to it and under its 
supervision;  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 7 
 
 
  4. 32 rayon councils and institutions subo rdinated to it and under its supervision. 
 
TABLE 1:  PUBLIC PROCUREMENTS  REGISTERED BY PPA IN 2011 
 
Procurement 
Procedure No. of Contracts in % Amount in MDL in % 
Tender 16537 38.9 3,659,074,792.34   66.8 
Invitation to bid 23190 54.8 1,513,165,462.05   27.60 
Single source 2734 6.3 305,236,962.73 5.6 
Total: 42461 100 5,477,477,217.12   100 
Source : PPA 
 The ratione materiae  of the Law on Public Procurement No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007 is 
defined based on two key criteria: 
(a) a minimum threshold of the estimated valu e of MDL 20,000 (US$1,600) for contracts 
of public procurement of goods and MDL 25,000 (US$2,000) for contracts of public 
procurement of works and services;  the estim ated value of the procurement contract 
shall be computed without VAT; 
 
(b) the fact that the procurement contract is not excluded from the scope of the Law on 
Public Procurement. 
 
 Public procurement contracts whose estimated value, without VAT, does not exceed the aforementioned threshold shall be entered into pursu ant to the procedure provided by the Regulations 
on Low Value Public Procurement.  A special stat us is reserved for public procurement contracts 
exceeding MDL 2.5 million (US$200,000) in case of contracts for goods and services and 
MDL 99 million (US$8.25 million) in case of works. 
 Currently 16 types of contracts are excluded fro m the scope of the Law, some of which are 
contracts for the concession of public works and services and public procurement contracts whose 
objective is procurement of goods for re-sale (Article 4 (g) and (i), Law No. 96-XVI). 
 The following are also excluded from its scope: contracts classified for security reasons if 
their performance must be accompanied by special safe ty measures as established by legislative acts, 
and contracts for procurement of goods, works and services related to the production and trade with 
guns, ammunitions and arming systems (Article 4 (j) and (k), Law No. 96-XVI).  In the other cases, 
the contracting authorities from the area of national security, public order, safety and national security 
have the duty to apply the provisions of Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007.  
TABLE 2:  PUBLIC PROCUREMENTS BY  LOCAL PUBLIC AUTHORITIES IN 2011 
 
The territorial 
administrative 
unit, 
District 
(rayon)  Goods Works Services Total  
Amount in 
MDL Nr. of 
contracts Amount in 
MDL Nr. of 
contracts Amount in 
MDL Nr. of 
contracts Amount in 
MDL Nr. of 
contracts 
Anenii Noi 13,520,863.00 340 5,347,179.00 69 1,230,928.00 18 20,098,970.00 427 
Basarabeasca 6,584,454.25 96 1,374,681.71 18 0.00 0 7,959,135.96 114 
Briceni 11,059,675.65 232 2,233,465.30 30 2,066,472.00 41 15,359,612.95 303 
Cahul 16,115,568.43 536 6,429,427.68 84 1,292,703.45 32 23,837,699.56 652 GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 8  
 
  Cantemir 6,456,092.00 122 2,641,254.00 38 917,559.00 12 10,014,905.00 172 
Călăraşi  12,697,213.06 253 4,038,618.41 50 1,513,153.27 29 18,248,984.74 332 
Căuşeni 15,440,904.00 368 5,291,609.00 72 521,510.00 15 21,254,023.00 455 
Cimişlia 9,879,701.12 166 2,897,924.09 39 1,813,531.32 29 14,591,156.53 234 
Criuleni  14,315,553.00 303 15,719,532.00 97 1,809,678.00 36 31,844,763.00 436 
Donduşeni  7,138,608.84 215 1,437,323.23 20 634,274.66 13 9,210,206.73 248 
Drochia 13,224,813.71 520 3,739,577.44 57 671,219.53 28 17,635,610.68 605 
Dubăsari 7,561,337.42 152 2,563,416.69 40 769,146.00 13 10,893,900.11 205 
Edineţ 12,754,769.00 275 2,463,129.00 38 1,562,581.00 33 16,780,479.00 346 
Făleşti 8,749,082.11 139 2,636,921.78 36 794,755.09 11 12,180,758.98 186 
Floreşti 16,421,242.32 507 7,654,587.27 93 871,085.54 17 24,946,915.13 617 
Glodeni 7,553,892.00 117 1,726,422.00 26 664,970.00 10 9,945,284.00 153 
Hînceşti  29,469,645.00 637 9,027,232.00 125 3,455,859.00 82 41,952,736.00 844 
Ialoveni  12,027,472.66 204 11,882,454.51 102 2,878,877.40 42 26,788,804.57 348 
Leova  18,436,243.00 1171 3,666,766.00 93 3,847,229.00 272 25,950,238.00 1536 
Nisporeni 15,587,648.00 247 5,532,037.00 68 1,258,381.00 19 22,378,066.00 334 
Ocniţa 8,895,969.00 178 3,541,824.00 48 1,144,596.00 20 13,582,389.00 246 
Orhei 4,425,837.00 189 2,046,013.00 38 234,686.00 10 6,706,536.00 237 
Rezina 10,643,345.00 282 2,292,240.00 31 494,331.00 9 13,429,916.00 322 
Rîşcani 13,581,327.00 384 3,262,281.00 44 1,914,936.00 50 18,758,544.00 478 
Sîngerei 13,845,958.00 237 9,524,024.00 86 1,172,631.00 22 24,542,613.00 345 
Soroca 13,884,902.00 315 3,511,043.00 46 3,927,462.00 54 21,323,407.00 415 
Străşeni 13,494,430.41 234 2,205,764.53 29 1,080,151.66 17 16,780,346.60 280 
Şoldăneşti 10,169,773.85 326 449,902.00 9 1,884,510.28 31 12,504,186.13 366 
Ştefan Vod ă 18,589,166.00 739 4,490,255.00 71 1,385,071.00 36 24,464,492.00 846 
Taraclia 5,132,384.98 131 1,849,779.95 24 575,251.97 10 7,557,416.90 165 
Teleneşti 9,866,549.47 239 5,382,284.60 64 896,542.00 13 16,145,376.07 316 
Ungheni 16,108,529.63 257 4,936,167.92 70 1,907,951.86 23 22,952,649.41 350 
Municipiul 
Chişinău 55,163,418.24 751 16,821,920.94 209 13,896,496.9
6 210 85,881,836.14 1170 
Municipiul 
Bălţi 2,271,123.00 46 777,227.00 10 1,141,052.00 20 4,189,402.00 76 
UTA 
Gagauzia 26,887,868.00 808 4,843,045.00 63 3,362,585.00 76 35,093,498.00 947 
TOTAL: 477,955,360.15 11716 164,237,330.05 2037 63,592,167.9 1353 705,784,858.2 15106 
Source : PPA 
  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 9 
 
 
  IV. NATIONAL TREATMENT AND NON-DISCRIMINATION 
11. Identify the specific provisions in the legislation which reflect the national treatment and 
non-discrimination commitments of Article III of the Agreement (Article IV:1, 2 and 7 of the 
revised text). 
12. Please provide details of any provisions in national legislation according domestic 
supplies and suppliers treatment more favourable than that accorded to foreign supplies or 
suppliers or according supplies or suppliers of  any country more favourable treatment than 
those of any other country. 
13. Please provide details of any provisions in national legislation allowing a locally 
established supplier to be treated less favourabl y than another locally established supplier on 
the basis of its degree of foreign affiliation or ownership or discriminating against locally 
established suppliers on the basis of the country of production of the good or service being 
supplied. 
14. Please specify to what extent, if at all, more favourable treatment is granted to any 
sectors of the economy, regions or specifi c categories of suppliers or supplies. 
15. Please specify any provisions requiring or allo wing the use of offsets or measures with 
similar effect, such as domestic content, licen sing of technology, investment, counter-trade or 
similar requirements in the qualification or selection  of suppliers, products or services or in the 
evaluation of tenders and award of contracts. 
 Any economic operator having the status of an  enterprise either Moldovan resident or not 
(natural or legal person) is entitled to particip ate in the procedure of being awarded a public 
procurement contract.  Notwithstanding, the contrac ting authority may decide, in conformity with the 
legislation, to restrict the circle of  participants to national entities only. 
 It is mandatory to grant non-Moldovan reside nt economic operator national treatment in case 
of public procurement exceeding, in case of c ontracts for goods and services MDL 2.5 million, and 
contracts for works – MDL 99 million (Article 2( 3) Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007), provided 
however that they are entitled to do so under the la ws of their jurisdiction.  Further, the Law 
guarantees that the terms for financial guarantees, technical qualifications and information necessary 
to establish the financial good-standing shall not be less favourable to non-Moldovan residents as 
opposed to Moldovan residents and that they sh all not otherwise discriminate any non-Moldovan 
resident (Article 15(5) Law No. 96 of 13 April 2007). 
 Pursuant to the provisions of Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007, all goods and services shall 
be treated equally regardless of the region.  Further,  the right to participate in the procedure of being 
awarded public procurement contract may be reserved,  by the Government, to a rate that shall not 
exceed 20 per cent of the amount of procurements, to the Society of the Blind and Disabled, the Production Workshop of the Republic Psychiatric Hosp ital, penitentiaries and to other disadvantaged 
persons or the Government may establish the term s of participation in these procedures within 
employment programmes in the manner provided for by  the legislation (Article 5(2), Law No. 96-XVI 
of 13 April 2007). 
 The legislation of the Republic of Moldova in the field of public procurement does not 
specify the criteria related to environmental and wo rkers safety, but these la rgely fall under the scope 
of environmental and labo ur legislation.  Thus, in the procurement process the parties involved are 
bound to observe these provisions deriving from the national regulatory regime. GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 10  
 
  V. ELEMENTS SPECIFIC TO PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES 
16. Please provide a general description of yo ur existing procurement methods and 
procedures, including the main procurement me thods used and a brief description of each 
method, and the extent to which qualification of suppliers and open, selective and limited 
tendering for each level of government is used. 
17. Identify the provision in your country's le gislation requiring non-discrimination as 
regards the qualification of suppliers in terms of Ar ticle VIII (Article IX of the revised text) and 
selection of suppliers in terms of Article X (Artic le IX of the revised text).  Indicate any 
exception to this requirement.  What are the provisions ensuring non-discriminatory access of 
new suppliers to existing qualification lists? 
18. In situations where qualification procedures  and selective tendering may be used, to 
what extent do entities allow suppliers to beco me qualified during the procurement process?  To 
what extent do entities maintain permanent lists of suppliers? 
19. What are the conditions and circumstances fore seen in your legislation allowing the use 
of the limited tendering method under Article XV  of the Agreement (Article XIII of the revised 
text)?  What measures exist in order to ensure that this method is not used with a view to 
avoiding maximum possible competition or in a manner which would constitute a means of discriminating among foreign supplies/suppliers or  in favour of domestic supplies/suppliers? 
20. Article XIV of the Agreement (Article XII of  the revised text) allows for negotiation 
under certain conditions.  Are entities allowed to  proceed to negotiations?  If so, which 
categories and what are the conditions imposed? 
21. Article XI (Article XI of the revised te xt) sets out the minimum time-periods for 
tendering and delivery.  What are the rules a nd practices regarding time-periods in your 
legislation?  Does the legislation reflect the various minimum time-periods as set out in the 
Agreement?  If not, give information on any different time-periods which have been established in your national legislation. 
22. Briefly describe the procedures for the submission, receipt and opening of tenders and 
awarding of contracts, in particular the pro cedures and conditions guaranteeing regularity of 
the openings and consistency with the non-discri mination provisions of the Agreement.  How is 
the information on the proceedings related to the receipt, opening and evaluation of tenders maintained by entities? 
23. Please identify the provisions in your le gislation setting the parameters for the 
prescription of technical specifications by en tities as part of the evaluation criteria. 
24. Identify the measures in national legislat ion ensuring that awards are made in 
accordance with the evaluation criteria and ess ential requirements specified in the tender 
documentation. 
 The basic procedure of awarding a public proc urement contract is by  way of open tender. 
Additionally public procurement contracts may be awarded using the following procedures: 
(a) restricted tender; 
(b) framework agreement; 
(c) competitive dialogue; 
(d) negotiated procedures;  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 11 
 
 
  (e) procurement from a single source; 
(f) invitation to bid; 
(g) dynamic procurement systems; 
(h) electronic tender; 
(i) procurement in case of social housing plans; 
 
 The manner of carrying out the specific types of  procurement shall be regulated by means of 
special Regulations enacted by the Government. 
 " Open Tender " means a procedure which includes offers  by all economic operators willing to 
participate at the tender.  The contracting aut hority shall beforehand publish, subject to the 
requirements set out in the Law, an adequate par ticipation invitation and shall make available the 
tender documents to economic ope rators (Article 35, Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007).  The 
structure and contents of the te nder documents is provide d by in the standard  documentation approved 
by the Government.  The fee that the contracting authority may collect for tender documents includes 
only expenditures related to their printing and delivery to the econom ic operator (Article 36-37, Law 
No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007).  Currently, the price of a package of tender documentation (the scope 
of work) is fixed at a rate of MDL 200 (US$16).2 
 The economic operator's offer is valid up to th e deadline specified in the tender documents.  
Unless otherwise provided in the tender documents , the bidder may amend or withdraw its offer 
before the expiration of the deadline for submitting o ffers, without losing its deposit for the offer.  The 
amount of the deposit for the offer shall not exceed three per cent of the estimated value of the 
procurement contract. 
 Upon procurement of goods and works, the cont racting authority shall request that the bidder 
submit, upon the time of the conclusion of the contr act, an insurance of its performance.  The amount 
of the insurance for contract performance shall not  exceed 15 per cent of the estimated value of the 
procurement contract.  Upon the procurement of goo ds of less than MDL 200,000 and works of less 
than MDL 1 million, the contracting authority is entitled not to request from the economic operator a 
deposit for the offer or an insurance for its execution. 
 The contracting authority shall award the " economically  most favourable offer ", taking into 
consideration the preferential margins of 20 per cen t provided pursuant to Article 5(2) of Law No. 96-
XVI of 13 April 2007.  In accordance with Article 45, the criteria of the " economically  most 
favourable offer " are as follows: 
(a) in case of public procurement contracts for goods – price, terms of delivery, terms of 
payment, profitability, quality, aesthetic, f unctional and technical characteristics, the 
possibilities and costs of technical servicing and technical support; 
 (b) in case of public procurement of works – th e offered quality, cost of one operator of 
bidder's product at the end of works, total price, bidder's experience etc;  the rate of 
relevance of the price in the total evalua tion of the offers shall not be less than 
80 per cent; 
 (c) in case of public procurement of services – the offered quality, cost of one operator of 
bidder's product, total price, bidder's experience etc;  the rate of relevance of the price 
in the total evaluation of the offers  shall not be less than 40 per cent. 
 
                                                      
2 Paragraph 4 of the Regulations on generation and use of special resources of the public institutions 
from the provision of tender documents (Government Decision No. 98 of 31 January 2005). GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 12  
 
   When awarding a contract, economic operators that directly or indirectly encourage 
professional development, employment of disabled and special needs, fight against unemployment 
and environmental safety, including during the pe rformance of the contract, employment of the 
unemployed or implementation of professional deve lopment actions for the unemployed or youth, 
improvement of labour conditions and labour safety, rural development and professional agriculture 
development, protection and s upport of small and medium enterprises, inclusive as part of 
subcontracting mechanics, may be granted priority.  Such facilities shall always be published in the 
participation invitation (Article 66,  Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007). 
 Acquisition contracts of the winning offers en ter into force upon their registration with PPA 
and one of the operators of the State Treasury.  Un registered contracts have no legal power (Articles 
47(4) and 67(8), Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007). 
 " Restricted tender " means a procedure used in procurement of goods, works and services 
having a complex character or where a high number of economic operators are active on the market.  
A restricted tender is carried out by the same  rules as for the opened tender, subject to the 
pre-selection procedures based on the qualificati ons of the economic operators mentioned in 
Article 16 of the Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007, in particular managerial competence, experience, 
good repute, qualified personnel, fi nancial condition, technical base, other competencies that are 
necessary for a qualitative performance  of the contract during the entire period of validity of the 
public procurement contract etc.  The prelimin ary sign-up in the List of Qualified Economic 
operators, which is managed by the Agency pursuant  to the regulations approved by the Government, 
is not mandatory (Article 17(2) and (3), Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007). 
 Further, when evaluating the qualifications of  each economic operator that has submitted an 
application for pre-selection, only the pre-selection criteria specified in the pre-selection documents shall apply.  Additionally, Article 15(5) of th e Law No. 96-XVI guarantees the non-discrimination in 
the qualifications of the supplier for the purposes of the provisions of Articles VIII and X of the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (A rticle IX of the revised text). 
 " Tender based on a Framework Agreement " means a procedure carried out by entering into 
an agreement by one or several contracting authorities and one or several economic operators, agreeing on the terms and conditions for contracts th at shall be awarded during a specified period of 
time, in particular as regards prices and, if the case may be, expected quantities (Article 50). 
 " Tender based on a Competitive Dialogue " means a procedure of open tender carried out in 
two stages, applicable in case of "especially comple x" procurement contracts (Article 51(2)) in which 
any business person may request to participate and in which the contracting authority undertakes a 
dialogue with the candidates admitted to the tende r, with a view to developing one or several 
alternative solutions capable of responding to needs based on which selected candidates will be 
invited to submit offers (Article 51). 
 " Tender based on Negotiated Procedures " means  a tender procedure in which contracting 
authorities negotiate with bidders the offers submitted  thereby, in order to adapt them to the needs 
expressed in the participation announcement, scope of  work and additional documents, if any, and in 
order to identify the most favourable offer.  The ca ses of use of tender based on negotiated procedures 
are provided for in Article 52(1) of the Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007. 
 " Procurement from a Single Source " means a procurement procedure used in the special cases 
specified by the applicable legislation, in particular in case of " maximum urgency " as a result of 
unpredictable events which render impossible the comp liance with the periods of time specified for 
open or negotiated procedures, by publishing a par ticipation announcement.  The situations invoked to 
justify a " maximum urgency " must not be attributable to the c ontracting parties (Article 53).  The  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 13 
 
 
  manner of carrying out of the procurement from a single source is established by the Regulations 
approved by Government Decision No. 951 of 4 August 2003. 
 " Procurement based on an invitation to bid " means a procurement procedure where each 
economic operator may submit one single bid, without  being entitled to change it.  No negotiations 
may take place between the contracting authority and the bidder on the terms of the bid.  The 
procedure may be used for contracts of procuremen t of goods, works and services that have a defined 
specification, provided however that the estimat ed value of the procurement does not exceed 
MDL 200,000 for goods and services and MDL 1 million for works.  The manner of carrying out of 
the procurement through invitation to bid is laid  down in Regulations approved by Government 
Decision No. 832 of 13 August 2001. 
 " Tender based on the Dynamic Procurement System " means an entirely electronic 
procurement procedure of current use whose charact eristics, generally available on the market, meet 
the needs of the contracting authority, being limite d in time and opened for the entire period to any 
economic operator meeting the selection criteria and which submits an estimated offer according to 
the requested needs.  The tender based on the dynamic procurement system is carried out in 
compliance with the requirements for open tenders at  all its stages up to the award of the contract 
within the said system.  All bidders meeting th e selection criteria and which have submitted an 
estimated offer consistent with the scope of work and the additional documents, if any, are invited and 
admitted in the system; estimated offers may be impr oved at any point in time, provided that they will 
continue to be consistent with the scope of work. 
 " Electronic Tender " means a procurement procedure implying an electronic device displaying 
in descending order new prices and/or new values rela tive to certain elements of the offer, which are 
made after a first complete evaluation of offers, allowing their classification based on automated evaluation methods.  Certain contracts for services and certain contracts for works which refer to 
intellectual activities, such a designing works, ma y not form the object of electronic tenders.  The 
manner of carrying out of the procurement through  electronic tender is laid down in Regulations 
approved by the Government. 
 " Procurement in case of Social Housing Plans " means a special awarding procedure used for 
public procurement contracts for designing and deve loping a facility of social housing intended to 
identity the members of the works development team (Article 57). 
 " Procedure of Procurement of Consultancy Services " means the procedure provided for by 
Chapter VII (Article 60-64) of the Law No. 96-XVI  of 13 April 2007.  Generally procurement of 
consultancy services take place via announcements published in the Public Procurement Newsletter 
and in media outlets of internationa l coverage, of offers for services or  calls for pre-selection.  In all 
cases where there is doubt as to whether the subject of procurement is a good or a service, the procurement shall be treated as a procurement of goods. 
 In general terms, the deadline for submitting and receiving participa tion applications and 
offers shall be sufficient to allow economic ope rators both Moldovan and foreign to prepare and 
submit offers before the ending of the tende r procedures (Article 26, Law No. 96-XVI of 
13 April 2007).  When determining the deadline, c ontracting authorities shall take into account the 
complexity of the expected procurements, the anticip ated area of subcontracting and the usual time for 
the transmittance of offers through mail from the country and abroad. 
 Further, in case of open or restricted tende rs, the period for submission and receipt of 
participation applications and of o ffers shall be of at least 15 calendar days as of the publication of the 
participation announcement, and in case of public proc urements directly subsidised by more than 
50 per cent by contracting authorities (Article 2(3) , Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007), of at least GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 14  
 
  40 calendar days.  In case of repeated contract and in case of urgency, the offer submission period 
may be reduced to not less than 10 calendar days. 
 In case of procedures by way of invitation to bid, the period for submission and receipt of 
offers shall be of at least 10 calendar days fo r works and services and three calendar days for goods as 
of the date of the launch of the participation inv itation, and in case of public procurements directly 
subsidised by more than 50 per cent by contrac ting authorities (Article 2(3), Law No. 96-XVI of 
13 April 2007), of at least 25 calendar days.  In case of secondary procurements, repeated contracts 
and in case of urgency, justified by the contracti ng authority, the offer s ubmission period may be 
reduced to not less than five calendar days for works and services and two calendar days for goods. 
 Offers shall be opened at such time as sha ll be specified in the tender documentation as 
deadline of the submission of offers or such time as shall be specified as the deadline of the prolonged 
period, in such place and in conformity with the procedures provided for in the tender documentation.  
Bidders or their representatives are entitled to particip ate in the opening of the offers (Article 43(2), 
Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007). 
 The name and contact information of each bi dder whose offer is opened and the cost of the 
offer shall be communicated to those present at the opening, as well to those who were not present or 
not represented at the opening, upon their request, and shall be registered in the procurement 
procedure report (Article 43(3), Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007). 
VI. INFORMATION (TRANSPARENCY OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT) 
25. Article XIX:1 of the Agreement (Article VI  of the revised text) foresees the publication 
of laws, regulations, judicial decisions, admi nistrative rulings of general application and 
procedures regarding government procurement.  Please give the name of the relevant 
publication(s) and indicate the media used for this purpose.  Please also provide, where available, the address of an Internet website whe re the legislation referred to in questions 1 and 
2 can be found. 
26. Article IX:1 (Article VII:1 of the revised text) of the Agreemen t foresees the publication 
of invitations to participate for all cases of inte nded procurement by entities.  Please give the 
name of the relevant publication(s) and indicate th e media to be used for this purpose.  Please 
also provide, where available, the address of an Internet website where such invitations are 
published. 
27. Please specify the types of information that your legislation requires to be included in 
notices of invitation to tender or in tender docu mentation, and identify the relevant provisions 
of your legislation. 
28. Article IX:1 of the Agreement (Article IX:7  of the revised text) foresees publication of 
permanent lists of qualified suppliers by entities ma intaining such lists.  Please give the name of 
the relevant publication(s) and indicate the mean s used for this purpose.  Please also provide, 
where available, the address of an Internet website where such lists are published. 
29. Article XVIII:1 of the Agreement (Article  XVI:2 of the revised text) foresees the 
publication of details of contract award notices by entities.  Please give the name of the relevant publication(s) and indicate the means to be used for this purpose.  Please also provide, where available, the address of an Internet we bsite where such notices are published. 
30. Please specify the types of information that no tices of contract awards should contain in 
your country and identify the relevant provisions in your legislation.  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 15 
 
 
  31. Please specify the relevant provisions in your legislation enabling, as foreseen in 
Article XVIII:2 (Article XVI:1 of the revised text ), the provision of information to other Parties 
and unsuccessful tenderers regarding the reasons why a tender was not selected. 
 All laws, decrees, decisions of the Govern ment and other regulatory documents of the 
Republic of Moldova shall be published, pursuant to  the Law on the Manner of Publication and Entry 
into Force of Official Documents, No. 173-XIII of 6 July 1994, in the Official Monitor of the Republic 
of Moldova  and also on the official web-sites of the Parliament, Government, relevant ministries and 
departments.  Publication is effected in the offi cial language, accompanied by a Russian translation.  
The Government provides free and unrestricted access vi a the Internet to all laws and regulations that 
are duly published, as well as access to updates as and when they are being amended (Article 10/1 of 
Law No. 173-XIII).  Official documents, except those that constitute state secret, may not enter into 
force without being officially published (Article 1(5) of Law No. 173-XIII).  Laws and regulations 
that modify the conditions of import or export ma y not enter into force before the expiration of 
30 days following their adoption. 
 The contracting authority is bound to publish a ll announcements of intentions of expected 
public procurements as well as all invitations to  submit offers both in the Public Procurement 
Newsletter and the Agency's website (Article 19-20 , Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007).  After the 
publication of the announcement in the Public Proc urement Newsletter these may also be published in 
other media outlets, both national and international.  If after the publi cation of the invitation to bid, 
but before the deadline for opening or receiving of fer, it is necessary to correct or republish the 
invitation, the corrected invitation shall be publishe d in the same media outlets  and shall have equal 
value as the original one. 
 Announcements of intentions to organize a tender should be published separately for goods, 
works and services within a maximum of 30 calendar da ys as of the date of approval of the relevant 
contracting authority's own budget.  The announc ement of intention shall include all public 
procurement contracts expected to be awarded be fore the end of the budgetary year.  For the 
procurement contracts whose estimated value fo r goods and services is less than MDL 200,000, and 
for works - less than MDL 1 million, the pub lication of the announcement is not mandatory 
(Article 19(3), Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2006). 
 The contracting authority may specify in the scope of work the entity or entities from which 
candidates or bidders may obtain relevant info rmation on the obligations related to taxes, 
environmental safety and the labour conditions in th e Republic of Moldova, whic h shall be applied to 
works on site or to services provided during the period of performance of the contract. 
 Announcements awarding public procurement cont racts shall be published within 30 calendar 
days as of the date of the conclusion of the public  procurement contract (Article 21, Law No. 96-XVI 
of 13 April 2007). 
 The contracting authority shall inform th e bidders participating in the procurement 
procedures, upon their request, about all contract awarding decisions.  Further, upon the request of 
candidates and bidders, the contracting authority is  under an obligation to offer explanations on the 
procurement procedures applied, as well as the r easons for not selecting a rejected bidder, the 
characteristics and relative advantages as well as the complete firm name of the awarded bidder (Article 22, Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007). GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 16  
 
  VII. BID CHALLENGE PROCEDURES 
32. Please provide information on ex isting challenge procedures. 
33. Are there specific provisions enabling a ccess of foreign suppliers to challenge 
procedures? 
34. To the extent that this information does not fully respond to the following points, please 
provide the supplementary info rmation necessary to do so: 
 (i) The time-limit to launch a complaint contained in the Agreement is "not less 
than 10 days" from the time when th e basis of the complaint is known or 
reasonably should have been known.  What are the limits in your domestic 
legislation? 
 
 (ii) What body is responsible for the cha llenge procedures?  Is this a "court" or an 
"impartial and independent review body"?  If the latter: 
   - How are its members selected? 
 
  - Are its decisions subject to judicial review?  
- If not, how will the requirements of paragraph 6 of Article XX (Article 
XVIII:6 of the revised text) be taken into account? 
 
 (iii) What is the applicable law by ref erence to which the challenge body will 
examine complaints? 
  (iv) Which rapid interim measures are provided to correct breaches of the 
Agreement and to preserve commercial opportunities? 
 
  - Do these measures include the po ssibility to suspend the procurement 
 process?  On what conditions? 
  (v) How do challenge procedures provide  for correction of the Agreement?  What 
types of compensation for loss or da mages suffered can the challenge body 
order? 
  (vi) Give any available information on  the time-periods for the stages of the 
challenge process, including to obtain interim measures and a final decision. 
 
 (vii) What are the usual costs to cond uct a challenge procedure?  Are there 
possibilities foreseen to do so free of charge? 
 
 The procurement procedure may be cancelled by  contracting authorities or upon the request 
of the Agency, following an audit.  Cancellation may be undertaken before the date of issuance of the 
communication regarding the results of the applica tion of the public procurement procedure but, in 
any case, before the date of the conclusion of the contract, for the grounds specified in Article 59(1) 
of the Law. 
 Furthermore, any economic ope rator alleging that within the procurement procedures the 
contracting authority, by its decision or the procedure applied had breached the law, a right 
recognized by law of the economic operator, which resulted or may result in loss, may challenge the  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 17 
 
 
  decision or the procedure applied by the contrac ting authority with PPA, in the manner provided for 
by the Law No. 96 of 13 April 2007.  The Law on Public Procurement does not require the payment of stamp duties for the launch of the challenge proceedings. 
 The Law allows the reimbursement of loss cau sed by the unlawful actions of the contracting 
authorities, except for lost profits or the lost possi bility to obtain income.  Damages shall be allotted 
only based on final court judgement (Artic le 72(7) Law No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007). 
 The following may not be challenged: 
(a) choice of the procedures for the selection of consultancy services offers; 
 (b) limitation of participation in the procurement procedure, resolved pursuant to the 
applicable legislation (Article 15( 1), Law No. 96 of 13 April 2007); 
 (c) decision to reject all offers; 
 (d) failure to make reference to this La w, other regulatory documents on public 
procurement, as well as failure to  inform on right to challenge. 
  The general period for submission of challenges is  up to 10 calendar days as of the date when 
the economic operator took knowledge of the circumst ances that based its challenge, of the decision 
of the procedure applied by the contracting author ity.  Challenges of invitations to participate in 
tenders or of tender documentation may be submitted before the openi ng by the contracting authority 
of the offer packages. 
 Following a prima facie review of the challenge, the Agency may decide (Article 72(4) Law 
No. 96 of 13 April 2007) the following: 
(a) initiate the procedure of amicable resolution of the claim; 
 
(b) totally or partially satisfy the claim; 
 (c) totally or partially dismiss the claim; 
 (d) request that offers be re-evaluated; 
 
(e) take other resolution measures pursuan t to the applicable legislation. 
  Generally, the law applicable to the substance of the challenge shall be the Law No. 96-XVI 
of 13 April 2007, as well as other governmental regulato ry documents in this field.  Upon need, the 
Agency and the administrative court may additionally apply the conflict of laws rules of the private 
international law, contained in the Ci vil Code of the Republic of Moldova. 
 The Agency shall review the challenge within  20 working days from its submission and shall 
issue its decision within the same period of time based on the documents presented or following its 
review in an open session, inviting in writing and w ith the participation of at least the Agency's 
representative, the challenger, the contracting authorit y and the awarded bidder, if any.  In the process 
of review of the challenge, the Agency may inv ite field experts that would submit written and/or 
verbal reports in the hearings on the challeng es (Article 73(6), Law No. 96 of 13 April 2007). GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 18  
 
   The Agency may, either upon the request of th e interested economic operator or ex officio, 
order the  suspension of the conclusion/performance of the public procurement contract if the 
challenge is material and contains a stat ement which, being proven, confirms that: 
(a) without such suspension the econo mic operator shall incur losses; 
 
(b) there is a chance of satisfaction of the challenge; 
 (c) the suspension shall not damage the parti es involved in the procurement procedure. 
  Upon the proposal of the Agency and/or the economic operator participating in the 
procurement challenging proceedings, challenges may be  solved amicably (Article 72(5), Law No. 96 
of 13 August 2007). 
 If the Agency fails to deliver its decision w ithin the specified deadline or if the economic 
operator is not satisfied with the Agency's deci sion, it may file an action with the competent 
administrative court.  After the filing of such acti on, the Agency is no longer competent in resolving 
the challenge (Article 73(10), Law No. 96 of 13 April 2007). 
 The contracting authority is bound to prepare and maintain the public procurement file for 
five years after the initiation of the procuremen t procedure (Article 32(1), Law No. 96-XVI of 
13 April 2007). 
VIII.  OTHER MATTERS 
35. To what extent is information technology being used in the process of government 
procurement?  Are notices of invitations to te nder and/or notices of contract awards published 
electronically?  Please provide the address of such electronic publications. 
36. Is there a contact point in your country for responding to enquiries from suppliers, 
other governments and the wider public relatin g to laws, regulations and procedures and 
practices regarding government procurement at th e central and/or sub-central level?  Please 
provide the address. 
 Moldova widely uses information technology in th e field of public procurement.  For further 
information on the activity of the Public Procurem ent Agency and the field of public procurement 
please see:  www.tender.gov.md .  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 19 
 
 
  ANNEX* 
 
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA 
 
LAW 
ON PUBLIC PROCUREMENTS 
No. 96-XVI of 13 April 2007  
 
Official Gazette "Monitorul Oficial"  No. 107-111/470 of 27July 2007 
 
* * * 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Chapter I 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 1. Definitions 
Article 2.  The coverage of the law 
Article 3.  Calculation of the estimated value of public procurement contracts and 
planning of such contracts 
Article 4. The exceptions 
Article 5. The special regime 
Article 6. The principles regulating the public procurement relationships 
Article 7. The legal framework 
 
Chapter II 
STATE REGULATION OF THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENTS 
 
Article 8.  The Public Procurement Agency 
Article 9. The Agency's principal functions in the sphere of public procurements 
Article 10. The Agency's operation and administration 
Article 11. The Agency's budget 
 
Chapter III 
PARTICIPANTS IN THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES 
 
Section 1 
The Contracting Authorities 
 
Article 12.  The status of the Contracting Authority 
Article 13.  The functions of the Contracting Authorities in the sphere of public 
procurements 
Article 14. Performing of the Contracting Authority's functions 
                                                      
* In English only. GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 20  
 
  Section 2 
The Supplier 
 
Article 15.  The Suppliers' participation in the public procurement procedures 
Article 16. The Supplier's qualifications 
Article 17. The list of qualified suppliers 
Article 18. The list of prohibited suppliers 
 
Chapter IV 
PUBLICITY AND TRANSPARENCY 
 
Article 19.  The notice of intended procurement  
Article 20. General rules regarding the draft and publication of a request for offers 
Article 21. The notice regarding the award of the public procurement contract 
Article 22.  Informing the bidders 
 
Chapter V 
THE PRINCIPAL (MAIN) REQUIREMENTS TO THE PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES 
 
Article 23. The rules regarding notices 
Article 24. Communication forms 
Article 25. The requirement to confirm the documents 
Article 26.  The timing for the submission and receipt of the applications for participation 
and bids 
Article 27. The rules for the description of  the goods, works and services 
Article 28. The language of the standardized documentation 
Article 29. The rejection of all bids 
Article 30.  Acts of corruption from the part of suppliers 
Article 31. The conditions regarding taxes, environmental issues and labor safety 
Article 32.  The public procurements file 
 
Chapter VI 
THE PUBLIC PROCUREM ENT PROCEDURES 
 
Section 1 
The types of the public procurement procedures 
 
Article 33.  Public procurement procedures 
 
Section 2 
The open tender 
 
Article 34. The initiation of an open tender 
Article 35. The invitation to participate in the open tender 
Article 36. The conditions regarding the offer of tender documents 
Article 37.  The tender documents 
Article 38. The explanations regarding the tender documents and their modifications  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 21 
 
 
  Article 39. The bid submission terms and conditions 
Article 40. The bid validity term, amendments and withdrawal 
Article 41. Alternative bids 
Article 42. The guarantee to secure the bid and the execution of the contract 
Article 43.  Opening of the bids 
Article 44.  Examination, evaluation and comparison of the bids 
Article 45.  The most advantageous bid in the economic terms 
Article 46.  A bid with an abnormally low price 
Article 47.  Bid acceptance, awards and conclu sion of the procurement contract 
 
Section 3 
The closed tender 
 
Article 48. The conditions for holding a closed tender 
Article 49. Pre selection (short-listing) procedure 
 
Section 4 
Other public procurement procedures 
 
Article 50. The framework agreement 
Article 51. The competitive dialogue 
Article 52.  The negotiation procedure 
Article 53. Procurements from a single source 
Article 54.  The request for price quotations 
Article 55.  The dynamic procurements system 
Article 56.  An electronic auction 
Article 57.  Procurements in the case of the social housing construction schemes 
Article 58.  Procurements via Universal Commodity Exchange 
Article 59. Cancellation  of the results of procurement procedures 
 
Chapter VII 
THE SPECIFICS OF THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENTS OF CONSULTANCY SERVICES 
 
Article 60.  The request of bids for consultancy services 
Article 61. The RFP for the consultancy services 
Article 62.  The evaluation criteria for the bids for consultancy services 
Article 63.  The procedure for the selection of the consultancy service bids 
Article 64.  Confidentiality 
 
Chapter VIII 
THE PUBLIC PROCUR EMENTS CONTRACT 
PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE REPORTS 
 
Article 65.  The principles of awarding a public procurements contract 
Article 66.  Preferences in the awards of public procurement contracts 
Article 67.  The public procurements contract 
Article 68.  Subcontracts GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 22  
 
  Article 69.  The ban on the procurements fragmentation or increase 
Article 70. The report on the procurements procedure 
 
Chapter IX 
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY 
 
Section 1 
Dispute Settlement  
 
Article 71.  The right of appeal 
Article 72.  Submission and examination of appeals 
Article 73.  Claim examination procedures 
Article 74.  Suspension of the procurements procedure 
 
Section 2 
Responsibility for the infringement of the public procurement law 
 
Article 75.  The forms of responsibility 
 
Chapter X 
THE CONCLUDING AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 76.  Coming into effect. Terminations . The Government's obligations 
  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 23 
 
 
   The Parliament hereby adopts this organic law. 
 
CHAPTER I:  GENERAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 1. Definitions 
 
For the purposes of this law, the following definiti ons shall be used in the following meaning: 
 
Public procurements:   Acquisition of goods, works performed or services provided for the 
needs of one or more Contracting Authorities; 
 
The Public Procurement Agency:   the central specialized administrative authority 
subordinated to the Ministry of Finance, with the functions of government regulation, supervision, 
control and inter-industry coordination in  the sphere of public procurements; 
[Art. 1, the definition as in the PL 109 of 04.06.2010, MO 131-134/30.07.10 art. 443 ] 
 
The contracting authority:  Public administration authorities, legal entities under public law 
as well as associations of such authorities or entities;  
Public funds:   The funds from the state budget, local budgets of administrative territorial 
units, the public social insurance budget, speciali zed foundations, specialized provisions of public 
institutions, the Statutory Medical Insurance F und, external loans accounted for as direct or 
guaranteed state debt;  
Public procurement contract:   A remunerative contract conc luded in writing between one or 
several suppliers and one or more Contracti ng Authorities and having as its subject matter the 
acquisition of goods, works performed or services provided within the meaning of this law; 
 
Standardized documentation:   The documents which comprise all information regarding the 
subject matter of the public procurements contr act and the procedures for its awards, including the 
terms of reference or description, as the case may be;  
Bid guarantee:   An amount of money or a guarantee to provide such amount, which is 
presented by the Bidder to the Contracting Authority together with the bid and which secures the validity of such bid;  
Contract execution guarantee:   The guarantee securing the execution of the contractual 
obligations provided for in the public procuremen ts contract concluded between the Contracting 
Authority or authorities and the bidder awarded the contract;  
The procurements workgroup:   The group of professionals  within the Contracting 
Authority, which implements th e public procurement procedures; 
 
Open Tender:   The public procedure, under which any interested supplier may submit a bid; 
 
Closed Tender:   The public procedure, under which any interested supplier may apply for the 
participation and under which only the suppliers short-listed (pre-selected) by the Contracting 
Authority may submit their bids; 
 
Electronic means:   The means which uses electronic data procession equipment, including 
digital compression and storage of data, which can be diffused, transmitted and received via cable, radio, optical devices or other electromagnetic devices;  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 24  
 
  The bid most advantageous in economic terms:   The bid selected as the winning bid 
according to the criteria laid down in this law and in the procedure of awarding a public procurements 
contract;  
A bidder:   The supplier who has submitted a bid acco rding to the procedure of awarding a 
public procurements contract; 
 
A supplier:   Supplier of goods, works and/or services , who can be an individual or an entity, 
or a public law entity, or an association of such  persons and/or entities which supply goods, works 
and/or services at the market. 
 
Article 2. The scope of the law 
 
(1) This law shall apply to public procurement c ontracts, which are not covered in Article 4 and 
which have an estimated value without value-adde d tax (VAT) no less than the threshold levels 
below: 
 
(a) for public procurement contracts to procure goods:  MDL 20,000;  (b) for public procurement contracts to procure  
works and services:      MDL 25,000. 
 
(2) This law shall apply also to public procur ement contracts directly subsidized by the 
Contracting Authority by more than 50 per cent, where they are not covered by the exceptions specified in Article 4.  
(3) This law shall provide also for the specific de tails regarding the public procurement contracts, 
which are not covered in Article 4 and which have an estimated va lue without value-added tax (VAT) 
no less than the threshold levels below:  
(a) for public procurement contracts to procure  goods and services:      MDL 2,500,000; 
 
(b) for public procurement contracts to procure works:  MDL 99,000,000. 
 (4) The public procurement contracts which have an estimated value without VAT less than the 
threshold levels specified in Paragraph (1) shall be  dealt with in conformity with the Government-
approved Regulation on low value public procurements. 
 (5) The present law is applied in the appropriate  manner to different types of public-private 
partnership that are not forbidden by the law. 
[Art. 2 par. (5) introduced by PL 181 of 15.07.10, MO 155-158/03.09.10 art. 559] 
 
Article 3. Calculation of the estimated value of  public procurement contracts and planning of 
such contracts 
 
(1) The estimated value of a public procurement c ontract shall be calculated based on the total 
amount payable, without VAT, as assessed by the Contracting Authority.  The structure of the total 
amount payable shall include all types of re muneration, including eventual bonuses, fees, 
commissions, obtained income and/or premiums or payments to the benefit of the bidders, with account at all times of possible options and eventual contract extensions.   GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 25 
 
 
  (2) The exact methods for calculation of the estimat ed value of public procurement contracts and 
their planning shall be laid down in a separ ate regulation approved by the Government. 
 
Article 4. The exceptions 
  The provisions of this law shall not apply to: 
 
(a) R&D service contracts, under which the Cont racting Authority is the sole beneficiary, 
where the deliverables are u sed for in-house purposes and to exercise its functions, 
provided the supplied services are paid solely  by the Contracting Authority and the 
prices for the provided services do not exceed or are within the range of the market 
prices for similar services; 
 (b) public procurement contracts which have arbitration and/or reconciliation services as 
their subject matter; 
 
(c) public procurement contracts in respect of the issue, purchase, sale or transfer of titles 
or other financial instruments, and in particular in respect of the operations to accumulate the Contracting Authorities' funds or capital; 
 
(c¹) the contracts of printing the bank notes and minting coins, as well as their 
transportation; 
[Art. 4 letter (c¹) introduced by the PL 41-XVI of 06.03.08, MO 63-65/28.03.08 art. 
205] 
 
(c²) contracts of adhesion nature, signed by National Bank of Moldova with international 
financial institutions, with non-resident economic agents, according to which are 
delivered goods, services, a nd construction services that ensure the service of 
automated interbank payment system, st ate securities market and inter-banking 
securities market, administrating the state's currency reserves, administration of state's currency operations, including the exte rnal debt, the external audit of the 
annual financial reports, accounts and registers of National Bank; 
[Art. 4 letter (c²) introduced by the PL  124 of 18.06.10, MO 121-123/16.07.10 art. 
380] 
 
(d) the services provided by the National Bank of Moldova;  
(e) public procurement contracts declared secr et under the applicable legislation, where 
their execution necessitates special secu rity measures required by the law; 
 (f) public procurement contracts which have employment contracts as subject matter;  (g) concession contracts for public services and works; 
 
(h) public procurement contracts awarded by a Contracting Authority to any other 
Contracting Authority or an association of Contracting Authorities based on the 
exclusive rights they are holding according to the law; 
 
(i) public procurement contracts which have  as their subject matter the acquisition of 
goods for subsequent resale; 
 (j) contracts for the procurement of goods by the Contracting Authority from the state 
provisions of tangible resour ces and emergency provisions; GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 26  
 
  (k) contracts for the procurement of goo ds, works and services connected with the 
manufacture of or trade in armaments, ammunition and armament systems; 
 (l) public procurement contracts regulated  by different norms and procedures and 
awarded according to: 
 
- the international agreements conclude d by Moldova and one or more third 
countries in respect of the goods or services required for joint implementation or operation of a certain venture by the signatory states, or regarding the services necessary for the joint implementation or operation of a certain 
project by the signatory states; 
 - the international agreements rega rding the deployment of troops and 
connected with the engagements of Moldova or a third country; 
 
- the specific procedures of an international organization. 
 
(m) contracts of printing the voting-papers and other electoral documents, of supplying 
with materials and equipment designated fo r electoral institutions in the electoral 
period. 
[Art. 4 let. (m) introduced by PL 216 of 17.09.10, MO 191-193/01.10.10 art. 634] 
 
(n) the public procurement contracts signed be tween Diplomatic missions and Consular 
offices of Republic of Moldova and suppliers residents of the State in which the first 
ones activate. 
[Art. 4 let. (n) introduced by PL 267 of 23.12.11, MO 13-14/13.01.12, in force from 
13.01.12] 
 
Article 5. The special regime 
 
(1) The Contracting Authorities operating in the s phere of the national de fense, public order and 
national security shall be obliged to apply the provis ions of this law, excepting the situations covered 
in Article 4. 
 (2) The right to participate in the procedures to award public procurement contracts may be 
reserved by the Government - to the extent not to exceed 20 per cent of the total volume of the 
procurements - for the Association of the Blind; th e Association of the Handicapped;  the Association 
of the Deaf;  the production facility of the Natio nal Psychiatric Hospital;  penitentiary system 
institutions and other disadvantaged parties; altern atively such parties may enjoy preferential terms 
and conditions for the participation in such pr ocedures within the framework of employment 
programs, as provided for in the legislation.  
Article 6. The principles regulating th e public procurement relationships 
 
The relations arising in connection with the public procurements shall be regulated on the 
basis of the following principles:  
(a) the efficient use of public funds and mi nimization of the risks for the Contracting 
Authorities; 
 (b) transparency of the public procurements;   GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 27 
 
 
  (c) ensuring of the competition and prevention of unfair competition in the sphere of 
public procurements; 
 (d) environment protection and promotion of the sustainable development principles via 
public procurements; 
 
(e) maintenance of the public order, morale and security;  protection of human health and 
human life, flora and fauna; 
 (f) liberalization and expansio n of international trade; 
 
(g) free circulation of goods, liberty to establish and provide services;  (h) equal treatment, impartiality and non-di scrimination for all bidders and suppliers; 
 
(i) support for the suppliers resident in Moldova - to the extent which does not come in 
conflict with the international laws  to which Moldova is a party; 
 (j) responsibility within the framework of the public procurement procedures. 
 
Article 7. The legal framework 
 
(1) The relations arising in connection with the public procurement are regulated by this law and 
other laws and Government resolutions a dopted in conformity with this law. 
 (2) Should an international agreement or treaty to which Moldova is a party establish the norms 
different from those provided for in this law, the pr ovisions of the international treaty shall prevail. 
 
CHAPTER II 
STATE REGULATION OF THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENTS 
 
Article 8. The Public Procurement Agency 
[Art. 8 title in the revision of PL 109 of 04.06.10, MO 131-134/30.07.10 art.443] 
 
(1) The Public Procurement Agency, further " the Agency" , is a public authority with the legal 
status of a specialized administrative authority, which is subordinated to the Ministry of Finance and established with the objective to exercise state re gulation, supervision, control and inter-sector 
coordination in the sphere of pub lic procurements.  The Agency is an independent functional unit. 
[Art. 8 par. (1)amended by the PL 109 of 04.06.10, MO 131-134/30.07.10 art.443]  
 
(2) The Agency shall have its own balance sh eet, bank account(s), the stamp bearing the State 
Ensign of Moldova and the name of the Agency in the state language.  Article 9. The Agency's principal functions  in the sphere of public procurements 
 
(1) The Agency shall perform the following principal functions:  
(a) develop and submit to the Government fo r approval the draft regulations necessary to 
exercise this law; develop suggestions regarding the introduction of modifications 
and amendments to the public  procurements legislation; GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 28  
 
  (b) coordinate, monitor, assess and contro l compliance of the Contracting Authorities 
with the public procurement procedures a nd procedures for the awarding of public 
procurement contracts; 
(c) produce, update and maintain the list of qualified supplies and supplier 
disqualification lists; 
(d) develop and implement standardized documentation for the public procurement 
procedures; 
(e) examine and register the tender doc umentation submitted by the Contracting 
Authorities during 15 calendar days starting with the date of presentation and registration of these at the Agency; [Art.9 par. (1) let. e) amended by PL 65 of 30.03.12, MO 92/15.05.12 art. 308] 
(f) examines reports on the public procurement procedures; 
(g) examine and register public procur ement contracts concluded as result of 
implementing the procurement procedures dur ing 15 calendar days from the date of 
deposit and registration at the Agency of tender documents (excepting the contracts 
concluded as result of implementing the request for price quotations procedure); 
[Art.9 par. (1) let. g) amended by PL 65 of 30.03.12, MO 92/15.05.12 art. 308] 
(h) request re-examination or cancellation, as the case may be, of the results of public 
procurement procedures; 
(i) maintain the automated public procurements register; (j) examine and settle disputes between th e parties participating in the public 
procurement procedures; 
(k) provide methodology assistance and advice re garding the public procurements to the 
Contracting Authorities, initiate and suppor t training efforts for the Contracting 
Authority staff involved in the preparation and implementation of the public procurement procedures and awarding of  the public procurement contracts; 
(l) issue the public procurements bulletin; deve lop and place in the Internet the web page 
"Moldova's Public Procurements", which is the formal venue for publication of invitations to tender, requests for proposals and information on the public procurements and awards of public procurement contracts; 
(m) submit to the Government quarterly and annual reports and statistical analysis on 
public procurements; 
(n) request and obtain from the relevant authorities the information on the suppliers 
participating in the public procurement procedures as well as any other information 
required by the Agency to perform its functions; 
(o) collaborate with international agencies and similar foreign entities operating in the 
sphere of public procurements; 
(p) coordinate the use of foreign technical assi stance in the sphere of public procurement; 
(q) perform other functions provided for in this law and other applicable laws and 
regulations. 
(2) The Agency shall perform its functions at the regional level via its territorial offices. 
[Art.9 par. (2) amended by PL 267 of 23.12.11, MO 13-14/13/01.12 art. 32, in force 13.01.12] 
  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 29 
 
 
  Article 10. The Agency's operation and administration 
 
The Agency's operation and administration shall follow the Regulations approved by the 
Government.  Article 11. The Agency's budget 
 
(1) The Agency's budget shall be comprised of:  
(a) own income resulting from activities wh ich are not contrary to this law; 
 
(b) allocations from the state budget; 
 
(c) other additional lawful sources. 
 
(2) The Agency's budget shall be developed, examined, approved and reported in compliance 
with the law.  
CHAPTER III 
PARTICIPANTS IN THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES 
 
SECTION 1.  THE CONTRACTING AUTHORITIES 
 
Article 12. The status of the Contracting Authority 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority may be any public  authority within the meaning of the term 
defined in the legislation of Moldova, including  legal entities under the public law, associations of 
such authorities or persons.  (2) A legal entity under the public  law shall mean any entity: 
 
(a) established exclusively to satisfy public n eeds, without any profit targets (industrial 
or commercial); 
 (b) with a separate legal identity;  (c) whose operations are secured to a ma jor extent with public funds, or whose 
management is subject to the controls exer cised by a public authority or another legal 
entity under the public law, or whose Administrative, Management or Supervision Board has more than 50 per cent of the members appointed by the above entities. 
 (3) Furthermore, the Contracting Authority may be an association of several Contracting Authorities, whose members appoint a legal entity from their midst by a civil law act to represent 
them as a single buyer in the relationships with an y Supplier, contractor to perform works or service 
provider.  (4) Other legal entities with an obligation to pe rform public procurements may be qualified as the 
Contracting Authorities by a Government decision acco rding to this law, where they operate at the 
markets in which the competition is excluded on the fo rce of a regulation or an administrative ruling 
or due to the existence of a monopoly.  (5) Any other entity, which does not satisfy th e aggregate of the requirements specified in 
Paragraph (2) hereof, may be qua lified upon request or decision of a competent governance body as a GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 30  
 
  Contracting Authority subject to the performance of the procurements in strict compliance with this 
law.  (6) A Contracting Authority may be a public author ity appointed by the Government to organize 
and perform in a centralized way the public proc urement procedures with the objective to satisfy 
certain needs in the respective goods, works or services for some other Contracting Authorities. 
 
Article 13. The functions of the Contracting Au thorities in the sphere of public procurements 
 
(1) The Contracting authorities shall perform th e following actions in the sphere of public 
procurement: 
 
(a) establish work groups in charge of impl ementing the public procurements within the 
Contracting Authority; 
 
(b) develop annual and quarterly public procurement plans; 
 (c) issue requests for proposals / invitations to  tender within the framework of the public 
procurement procedures; 
 (d) develop tender documentation packages a nd other documents applicable within the 
framework of the procurement procedures; 
 (e) initiate and perform the pub lic procurement procedures; 
 (f) ensure the extensive participation of Supp liers in the public procurement procedures; 
 
(g) examine, assess and compare the bids s ubmitted by Suppliers within the framework 
of the public procurement procedures; 
 (h) conclude public procuremen t contracts with Suppliers; 
 
(i) produce reports on the results of the pub lic procurement procedures and submit them 
to the Agency; 
 (j) execute and manage public procuremen t contracts according to their terms and 
conditions; 
 
(k) keep records of all documents produced and applied within the framework of the 
public procurement procedures. 
 (2) The Contracting Authority shall:  
(a) ensure the efficiency of the public procurements; 
 (b) ensure the objectivity and impartiality  within the framework of the public 
procurement procedures; 
 
(c) ensure the transparency and publicity of the public procurement procedures; 
 (d) submit upon the Agency's request any information regarding the conclusion and 
execution of the public procurement contracts. 
  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 31 
 
 
  Article 14. Performing of the Contracting Authority's functions 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority shall exercise its functions through the procurements work group, 
established for that purpose of the Contracting Aut hority's officers and experts with the relevant 
professional experience and expertise in the sphere of public procurements, which are selected from 
among the listed staff.  Depending on the subject of  the procurements, the Contracting Authority may 
establish one or more procurements work groups.  (2) The Contracting Authority may invite, if necess ary, professionals and experts in the sphere of 
particular procurements to act as advisors in the procurements work group.  In special cases provided 
for in the law, such professionals and experts ma y be granted a voting right in the work group. 
 (3) A member of the work group must sign (at his/her personal responsibility) a declaration in writing regarding the confidentiality and impartia lity, in which he/she undertakes to observe 
unconditionally the provisions of this la w and presents furthermore that he/she: 
 
(a) is not a spouse, relative or in-law (to the third degree inclusive) of any of the bidders; 
 (b) has not been within the last three year s a party to an employment contract or a 
cooperation contract concluded with any of the bidders, as shown in the labor record 
book, or has not been a member of the bidde r's administrative board or any other of 
the bidder's governance or management bodies; 
 (c) does not hold a stake or shares in the author ized and subscribed capital of any of the 
bidders. 
 
(4) Should a work group member present prior to the bid opening meeting to fall into one or 
several of the categories listed in Paragraph (3), he/she must request promptly his/her immediate 
removal from the work group and replacement with another person.  (5) The Agency may cancel the procurement pr ocess in the case of non-compliance with the 
provisions of the Paragraphs (3) and (4) above. 
 
(6) The procurements work group shall be guided in  its activities by this law and the Regulations 
approved by the Government.  
SECTION 2.  THE SUPPLIER 
 
Article 15. The Suppliers' participation in  the public procurement procedures 
 
(1) Any Supplier with the status of a resident  or non-resident business company (including 
individuals as well as legal entities) has the right to participate according to the stipulations of the 
present law, to the procedures of awarding the public procurement contract. [Art. 15 par. (1) amended by PL 267 of 23.12.11,  MO 13-14/13.01.12, art.  32, in force 13.01.12] 
[Art. 15 par. (1) amended by the PL 124 of 18.06.10, MO 121-123/16.07.10 art. 380]  
(2) Non-resident suppliers shall enjoy the rights a nd remedies similar to those granted to resident 
suppliers under this law solely in the case of the public procurements provided for in Article 2 
Paragraph (3) subject to compliance with the requirements of Paragraph (3) hereof. 
 (3) A foreign supplier shall enjoy in Moldova the rights in respect of the participation in the 
procedures of awarding public procurement contract s similar to the rights enjoyed by the Moldovan 
suppliers in the foreign supplier's home country. GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 32  
 
  (4) Suppliers may form associations for the purposes of submitting their bids and/or act as joint 
bidders.  An association (a group of suppliers) might be obliged to obtain a certain legal status - where 
such transformation is necessary for the proper execution of the contract.  (5) The participation terms and conditions set fo r the suppliers (which may include financial 
guarantees, technical qualifications and the information necessary to assess the supplier's financial, 
commercial and technical capacity and to check hi s qualifications) may not be less favorable for non-
resident suppliers that those required from resident  suppliers or otherwise discriminatory for the non-
resident supplier.  Article 16. The supplier's qualifications 
 
(1) To confirm the supplier's qualifications for the purposes of the public procurement 
procedures, the supplier must submit the documents issued by the competent authorities indicated by 
the Contracting Authority for th e purposes of the public procurem ent procedures and evidencing: 
 
(a) the Supplier's managerial competencies, experience, good repute, availability of the 
skilled staff and equipment, financial capacity and other cap acities necessary for 
adequate execution of the public procurem ents contract throughout the lifetime of 
such contract; 
 
(b) authority to conclude the public procurements contract; 
 (c) good standing, implying the availability of certificates confirming that the supplier is 
not in the process of liquidation or bankruptcy, its assets are not under sequestration and its business operations are not suspended; 
 
(d) payment of taxes and other statutory charges in compliance with the laws of the 
supplier’s home country; 
 (e) non-application during the last three years of any disciplinary, administrative or penal 
sanctions to the supplier's managers in c onnection with their professional activities or 
submission of erroneous data for the purpo ses of concluding a public procurements 
contract; 
 (f) the list of founders/shareholders and affiliates (affiliated persons). 
 
(2) The Contracting Authority shall take into account the Supplier's rights connected with the 
protection of its intellectual property and commercial secrets.  (3) The Contracting Authority shall assess the S upplier's qualifications, using the criteria and 
procedures described in the request for proposals/invitation to tender. 
 
(4) The Contracting Authority may disqualify the bidder at any stage of the procurement process 
in case it is found that the information submitted by the supplier for the qualification purposes is 
untrue or incomplete, or in other cases provided fo r in this law and other applicable laws and 
regulations.  
(5) The Bidder may be disqualified if he do es not present the supplementary information 
requested by the Contracting Authority within the requested term.  (6) The bidder may not be disqualified due to the fact that the qualification information presented 
by him is inaccurate or incomplete to an immaterial degree.  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 33 
 
 
  (7) The Contracting Authority may request the bi dders to present the documentary evidence, if 
necessary, and should it have any doubts regarding the bidder's and supplier's personal situation, it 
may request cooperation and the necessary informa tion from the competent authorities, including 
foreign ones.  
(8) The competent authorities and the authorities protecting and enforcing the law and order 
should present upon request of the Contracting Aut hority and free of charge within 10 calendar days 
the systematized information or any other info rmation regarding the supplier's legal status, 
involvement/non-involvement in criminal associati ons or groups as well as other information about 
the respective bidder and supplier, specified in this law.  In the case of non-resident suppliers such 
information may be sought from the competent foreign authorities according to the accepted 
international practices.  
Article 17. The list of qualified suppliers 
 (1) The list of qualified suppliers is a formal lis t maintained to ensure the suppliers' accessibility 
during the public procurement procedures.  (2) The inclusion in the List of qualified supplie rs may not be an obligatory requirement;  it is 
performed upon the supplier's request with the issuance of the confirming certificate upon such 
inclusion. 
 
(3) The list of qualified suppliers shall be deve loped, maintained and updated by the Agency 
according to the Regulations approved by the Government.  
Article 18. The list of prohibited suppliers 
 
(1) The list of prohibited suppliers is a formal list developed and maintained by the Agency for 
the purpose to restrict for three years the part icipation of prohibited suppliers in the public 
procurement procedures covered by this law.  (2) The list of prohibited suppliers shall be de veloped, maintained and updated by the Agency 
according to the Regulations approved by the Government. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
PUBLICITY AND TRANSPARENCY 
 
Article 19. The notice of intended procurement   
 
(1) The Contracting Authority must publish a notice of intended procurement in the Public Procurements Bulletin regarding the scheduled pu blic procurements.  In the case of the public 
procurements covered by Article 2 Paragraph (3), the announcement of  intent shall be published also 
in "The Official Journal of the European Community". 
 
(2) The notice of intended procurement shall be  published separately for the goods, works and 
services within 30 days upon approval of the respective Contracting Authority's budget.  (3) The notice of intended procurement shall cover all public procurement contracts scheduled to 
be awarded prior to the end of the budgetary y ear.  It shall not be necessary to publish an 
announcement of intent in respect of the procur ement contracts for goods and services with the 
estimated value of up to MDL 200,000 and for works - up to MDL 1,000,000.  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 34  
 
  (4) The publication of the notice of intended procurement shall not create an obligation for the 
Contracting Authority to perform the respective public procurements. 
 
Article 20. General rules regarding the developm ent and publication of a request for proposals 
 (1) The Contracting Authority must publish a requ est for proposals (further "RFP") in the Public 
Procurement Bulletin and on the Agency's web pa ge in all cases provided for by this law in 
accordance with the applied procurement procedures.  In the case of the public procurements covered 
by Article 2 Paragraph (3), the RFP shall be publishe d also in "The Official Journal of the European 
Community". 
 
(2) The RFP shall be published in the stat e language and, if necessary, in one of the 
internationally used languages.  (3) Standardized formats approved for the purpose sh all be used to develop and adjust the RFP, 
making it possible to publicize the public procurements. 
 (4) To ensure the maximum tr ansparency, the Contracting Authority may publish the RFP in 
other national or international mass media;  how ever, it may be done solely upon publication of the 
respective RFP in the Public Procurements Bulle tin and on the Agency's web page.  The RFP 
published in the other local, national or internationa l mass media should make reference to the issue 
number and date of the Public Procurements Bulleti n where the RFP has been first published, and it 
may not contain any information additional to that published in the Public Procurements Bulletin. 
 (5) The RFP shall be published well in advance to provide a realistic possibility for any interested 
supplier to participate without discrimination in the procedures of awarding the public procurements 
contract. 
 (6) Should it become necessary to adjust or pub lish anew the RFP after its initial publication, but 
prior to the deadline specified for the opening or su bmission of the bids, the adjusted RFP must be 
published in the same media and indicate the same value as the initial RFP.  Article 21. The announcement regarding the aw ard of the public procurement contract 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority must publish the announcement regarding the award of the public 
procurements contract in the Public Procurements Bulletin and on the Agency's web page within 30 
calendar days after the conclusion of such contract. 
 
(2) The announcement regarding the award of the pu blic procurements contract shall contain at 
least the following information:  
(a) the nature and quantity of  the goods, works or services forming the subject matter of 
the awarded contract; 
 
(b) the name and address of the Contracting Authority which has awarded the contract; 
 (c) the day of awarding the contract;  
(d) the name and other information identifying the winning supplier; 
 (e) the value of the awarded contract;  (f) the legal grounds for the use of the respective contract award procedure;  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 35 
 
 
  (g) the used procedure. 
 
Article 22. Notices to the bidders 
 
(1) Upon request of the bidders, the Contracting Authority must provide: 
 
(a) explanations regarding the applied procurement procedures; 
 (b) to the rejected bidders – the reasons fo r choosing a different bid as well as the relative 
characteristics and advantages and full name of the winning bidder. 
 
(2) The Contracting Authority shall notify the bidders participating in the procurement procedures, upon their request, about all contract award decisions.  (3) Such information on the awarded contract shal l not be provided, the disclosure of which is 
contrary to the law or public interest. 
 (4) The rejected bidder may request the inform ation, which evidences the impartiality of the 
procurement process.  For that purpose the Contr acting Authority shall prov ide free of charge the 
information regarding the relative characteristi cs and advantages of the winning bidder and the 
contract price, excepting the cases where the discl osure of such information might prejudice the 
competition at future tenders. 
 
CHAPTER V 
THE PRINCIPAL REQUIREMENTS TO  THE PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES 
 
Article 23. The rules regarding notices 
 
(1) The notices, amendments to th e information and their storage sh all ensure the integrity of the 
data and the confidentiality of bids  and applications for participation as well as the possibility of 
scrutiny and analysis in substance of the bids and applications for participation by the Contracting 
Authority solely after the deadlin e specified for their submission. 
 
(2) The tools used for electronic communications  and their technical characteristics must be 
continuously available to the public and compa tible with the generally used information and 
communication technologies.  
(3) The use of devices for electronic transmission and reception of the bids as well as the devices 
for electronic reception of the applications for par ticipation should satisfy the following requirements: 
 
(a) the information regarding the specificati ons necessary for the submission of bids and 
applications for participation via electronic channels, including their 
coding/encoding, must be available to the interested parties; 
 
(b) the bids submitted electronically must be confirmed with a digital signature. 
 
Article 24. Communication forms 
 (1) All notices may be given and all excha nge of information may take place, upon the 
Contracting Authority's choice, by mail, by fax, electronically, by phone or using a combination thereof.  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 36  
 
  (2) The chosen communication means should be generally accessible and they must not limit the 
suppliers' access to the procedure of awarding the public procurements contract.  
Article 25. The requirement to confirm the documents 
  The Contracting Authority may request the bidder to provide the evidence confirming the 
documents presented by him – according to the c onditions laid down for the relevant document 
category.  
Article 26. The timing for the submission and recei pt of the applications for participation and 
bids 
 
(1) The deadline for the submission and receipt of th e applications for partic ipation and bids must 
be established sufficiently well in advance to enab le the domestic as well as foreign suppliers to 
prepare and submit their bids prior to the completion of the tender procedures. 
 
(2) Establishing the deadline, the Contracting Authority must take into consideration the 
complexity of the scheduled procurements, the an ticipated subcontracted areas and the time normally 
required to receive the bids sent by the domestic and international mail. 
 (3) The Contracting Authority shall be respons ible for the establishmen t of deadlines for the 
submission and receipt of applica tions for participation and bids. 
 (4) In the case of an open or cl osed tenders, the term for the submission and receipt of the 
applications for participation and bids may be no less than 15 calendar days after the day on which the 
RFP is published, and in the case of the public proc urements covered by Artic le 2 Paragraph (3) – no 
less than 40 calendar days.  In the case of repeated contracts and in emergency situations (which must 
be substantiated by the Contracting Authority) th e term for the submission of bids may be reduced, 
however, it may not be less than 10 calendar days.  (5) In the case of the procedures implying the requ est to submit price quotations, the time for the 
submission and receipt of the bids may be no less than three calendar days for the goods and 10 
calendar days for the works and services after the RFP is circulated.  In the case of auxiliary 
procurements, repeated contracts and in the emergenc y situations (which must be substantiated by the 
Contracting Authority) the term for the submissi on of bids may be reduced, however, it may be no 
less than two calendar days for the goods and five calendar days for the works and services. 
 
(6) The hour and date of opening the bids will coincide with the deadline for submission of 
applications for participati on and receipt of the bids. 
[Art. 26 par. (6) introduced by the PL 77 of 12.04.12, MO 103/29.05.12 art. 347] 
 
Article 27. The rules for the descrip tion of the goods, works and services 
 (1) The characteristics of the goods, works and services requested by the Contracting Authority 
shall be an exact and complete description of th e subject matter for the procurements, making it 
possible to comply with all requirements and crite ria established by the Contracting Authority. 
 (2) The characteristics of the subject matter for the procurements must correspond to the 
Contracting Authority's requirements regarding the quality, efficiency, testing, security, dimensions, 
symbols, terminology, packaging, transportati on, marking, labeling, production processes and 
techniques as well as conformity assessment procedures, as specified in the tender documents.   GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 37 
 
 
  (3) Upon adjustments to the technical characteris tics, projects, technical designs, drawings and 
descriptions requested by the Contracting Authority:  
(a) physical description of the requested  goods, works and services shall be provided on 
the basis of the objective and relevant technical specifications and quality 
characteristics; 
 (b) the characteristics shall be provided in terms of the operational performance of the 
goods and the efficiency of works and serv ices in cases where physical description is 
impossible or where the efficiency or performance is of primary significance; 
 
(c) the standardized characteristics, requireme nts, symbols and terms or the international 
and national standards accepted interna tionally and approved by the national 
standardization body shall be used for the purposes of describing the requested goods, 
works and services. [Art. 27 par. (3), let. c) amended by the PL 109 of 04.06.10, MO 131-134/30.07.10 art. 443] 
 
(4) The technical characteristics shall make no reference to a certain trade mark, brand or 
company, patent, drawing or type of the goods, works and services;  no specific place of origin, manufacturer or supplier shall be indicated.  S hould it be impossible to detail the procurement 
requirements with sufficient exactness without such  references, the wordin g of the characteristics 
shall include the words "or their equivalent".  (5) Technical specifications shall be based on th e international or national standards, national 
technical regulations or construction codes, if applicable. 
 
Article 28. The language of the standardized documentation 
 
(1) The short-listing or tender documents and other public procurement documents shall be 
produced and published in the state language.  
(2) The documents covered by Paragraph (1) may be produced furthermore in one of the 
internationally used languages where:  
(a) the nature of the requested goods, work s and services implies the involvement of 
foreign suppliers, resources or technologi es, provision of foreign professional 
services or involvement of foreign competitors; 
 (b) the estimated price of the requested goods, works and service is in excess of the 
threshold levels specified in  Article 2 Paragraph (3). 
 (3) The bids shall be submitted in the state la nguage.  Any supplier may make reference to the 
tender documents and formulate request s in the language of the bid. 
 
Article 29. The rejection of all bids 
 
(1) Contracting Authority may reject all bids at any time prior to their receipt.  Such action may 
be justified by the absence of effective competition, the impossibility of funding or non-compliance of 
the bids with the requirements sp ecified in the tender documents. 
 GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 38  
 
  (2) The notice regarding the rejection of all bids sh all be given to all bidders within no more than 
three calendar days.  The Contracting Authority shall communicate the grounds for the rejection upon inquiry of any bidder.  
Article 30. Acts of corruption on the part of suppliers 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority shall reject the bid in the case the supplier submitting it offers or 
agrees to offer, directly or indirectly, a favor in any form or to extend an employment offer, or to provide any other service to any of the Contracting Authority's former or current officers or employees as remuneration for certain actions, decisi ons or use of certain procurement procedures to 
his advantage. 
 (2) The rejection of the bid and the grounds for the rejection shall be indicated in the report on the procurement procedure and communicated  promptly to the relevant suppliers. 
 
(3) The Agency shall report promptly each case of  corruption or attempted corruption acts on the 
part of the supplier or a representative of the C ontracting Authority to the competent authorities. 
 (4) The public procurement contracts awarded as result of the corruptive acts confirmed by the 
definitive court decision shall be considered null and void. 
 Article 31. The conditions regarding taxes,  environmental issues and labor safety 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority may indicate in th e terms of reference (TOR) an authority or 
authorities where the bidders can obtain pertinent information regarding the obligations connected 
with taxes, environment protection, labor safety and labor legislation in Moldova, which would be 
applied to the works performed on site or the ser vices provided during the execution of the contract. 
 (2) The Contracting Authority which provides the information as per Paragraph (1) shall request 
the bidders to mention that they took into account during the preparation of the bid the obligations 
ensuing from the applicable labor safety norms and la bor regulations effective in the location of the 
works or services. 
 
Article 32. The public procurements file 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority must produce th e public procurements file and ensure its 
safekeeping for five years after the initiation of the procurement procedure. 
 
(2) The documents which should be included in the public procurements file as well as those 
which should be transmitted to the Agency are specified in the Regulations approved by the 
Government.  
CHAPTER VI 
THE PUBLIC PROCUREM ENT PROCEDURES 
 
SECTION 1.  THE TYPES OF THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES 
 
Article 33. The public procurement procedures 
 
(1) The award of the public procurements c ontract may be performed using the following 
procedures:  
(a) open (public) tender;  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 39 
 
 
   
(b) closed tender;  (c) framework contract;  
(d) competitive dialogue; 
 (e) negotiations;  (f) procurement from a single source; 
 
(g) request for price quotations;  (h) dynamic procurement system;  
(i) electronic auction/tender; 
 (j) procurements for the social housing construction schemes; 
[Art. 33 par. (1), let. k) repealed by PL 124 of 18.06.10, MO 121-123/16.07.10 art. 
380] 
 (2) The open tender shall be the basic procedure fo r the awards of public procurement contracts.  
Other procurement procedures may be used solely on conditions expressly provided for in this law. 
 
SECTION 2.  THE OPEN TENDER 
 
Article 34. The initiation of an open tender 
 
(1) The open tender procedure involves the recepti on of bids from all suppliers who are willing to 
participate in the tender.  (2) The Contracting Authority shall publish acco rding to the provisions of Article 26 a prior 
invitation to participate in the open tender in orde r to notify the potential participants and to enable 
them to prepare their bids.  
Article 35. The invitation to participate in the open tender 
 
The invitation to participate in the open tender shall indicate: 
 
(a) the Contracting Authority's name and address;  (b) the goods, their quantities and the address fo r their delivery;  the works and their 
location;  the services and the location for their provision; 
 
(c) the term for the supply of the goods or co mpletion of the works, the time schedule for 
the provision of the services; 
 (d) the suppliers' qualification criteria and assessment procedures; 
 
(e) the provision which cannot be amended at a later stage, stating that:  either the 
suppliers may participate in the procurement procedure irrespective of their country of residence, or the circle of particip ants is limited according to Article 15 
Paragraph (1); GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 40  
 
   
(f) the procedure and address for obtaining the tender documents; 
 (g) the fee payable for the tender documents, if applicable;  
(h) the currency and procedures to pay the fee for the tender documents; 
 (i) the language(s) of the tender documents;  (j) the address and deadline for the submission of bids. 
 
Article 36. The conditions regarding  the offer of tender documents 
 
The Contracting Authority shall offer the tende r documents to the suppliers on the terms and 
conditions specified in the invitation to participate in the tender (RFP).  The fee which the Contracting 
Authority might choose to request for the tender documents may include only the costs of their 
multiplication and delivery to the suppliers.  The tende r documents shall be offered free of charge to 
the Association of the Blind, the Association of the Handicapped, the Association of the Deaf, the 
production facility of the National Psychiatric Hospital,  the penitentiary system institutions and other 
disadvantaged parties.  Article 37. The tender documents 
 
The structure and contents of the tender documen ts shall be established in the standardized 
documents approved by the Government.  Article 38. The explanations regarding th e tender documents and their modifications 
 
(1) Any supplier may request explanations rega rding the tender documents from the Contracting 
Authority.  The Contracting Authority shall provide  an answer to any such request/inquiry, which is 
received prior to the deadline for the submission of the bids, within the term which gives the supplier 
the possibility to submit his bid on time.  Without indicating the source of the inquiry, the Contracting 
Authority shall provide the respective explanations  to all suppliers who have obtained the tender 
documents.  (2) The Contracting Authority may modify the tender documents prior to the deadline for the 
submission of the bids at its sole discretion or as the reaction to the inquiry to provide explanations 
received from a supplier.  The information on any such modifications shall be communicated without 
delay to all suppliers who have b een offered the tender documents by  the Contracting Authority, thus 
enabling them to take it into account during the preparation of the bids, and the Agency.  (3) In the case a meeting of the suppliers is c onvened, the Contracting Authority shall produce 
the meeting minutes, including the inquiries and requests expressed at the meeting to provide 
explanations in connection with the tender documents and the answ ers to such requests, without 
indication of the source.  The Contracting Author ity shall distribute the meeting minutes without 
delay to all suppliers who have obtained the tender documents, thus enabling them to take the 
document into account during the preparation of th e bids, and notify the Agency accordingly.  The 
meeting minutes shall form an integral part of the tender documents and due reference shall be made 
to their respective provisions where the Contracti ng Authority intends to introduce modifications or 
amendments.   GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 41 
 
 
  Article 39. The bid submission terms and conditions 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority shall specify the ve nue and the deadline for the submission of bids, 
indicating the exact day and time.  This deadline sh all be established in conf ormity with Article 26. 
 
(2) Where the Contracting Authority provides e xplanations or introduces amendments to the 
tender documents or where it conven es a meeting of the suppliers, th e deadline for the submission of 
the bids may be postponed, if necessary, to give th e suppliers sufficient time to take into account the 
relevant explanation, amendment or  provisions of the meeting minutes. 
 
(3) The Contracting Authority may extend the period for the preparation of the bids at its sole 
discretion prior to the deadline for the submission of the bids. 
 (4) The Contracting Authority shall give the notice regarding the extension of the preparation period without delay to all supp liers who have obtained the tender documents and the Agency. 
 
(5) The bids shall be submitted in writing, st amped, in a sealed envelope.  The Contracting 
Authority must issue the supplier a receipt indicatin g the day and time of receiving the respective bid. 
 (6) The bids received by the Contracting Authorit y after the deadline for the submission of the 
bids shall be returned to the respective suppliers unopened. 
 
Article 40. The bid validity term , amendments and withdrawal 
 
(1) The bid shall be valid for the term  specified in the tender documents. 
 
(2) Prior to the expiry of the bid the Contracting Authority may request the bidder to extend its 
validity term.  The Bidder may:  
(a) refuse to comply with the request, reta ining the right to withdraw the guarantee 
deposited for his bid; 
 
(b) accept the request, either extending the va lidity term of the guarantee deposited to 
secure the bid or providing a new bid gua rantee to cover the extended bid validity 
term.  The bidder which does not extend th e validity term of the guarantee deposited 
to secure the bid or provide a new bid guarantee shall be deemed to reject the request to extend the bid validity term. 
 
(3) Unless the tender documents provide otherwi se, the bidder may amend or withdraw the bid 
prior to the deadline for the submission of bids, w ithout losing the right to withdraw the guarantee 
deposited for his bid.  Such amendment or a notice re garding the withdrawal of the bid shall be valid 
provided it is received by the Contracting Authority prior to the deadline for the submission of bids. 
 Article 41. Alternative bids 
 
(1) The bidder may submit additionally other bids termed as "alternative bids" – solely provided 
the bid assessment criterion is " the most advantageous bid in technical and economic terms" .  Only 
alternative bids may deviate to a certain extent from the requirements specified in the documentation 
regarding the development and submission of bids. 
 (2) The Contracting Authority must specify the minimum obligatory requirements in the tender 
documents, with which the alternativ e bids should comply in order to be considered.  Therefore where GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 42  
 
  the Contracting Authority does not intend to permit th e submission of alternative bids, it must state 
that ban expressly in the RFP/invitation to tender. 
 (3) The Contracting Authority may not reject an alternative bid solely on grounds that:  
(a) it is prepared using technical specifications differing from those given in the TOR – 
provided the bidder is able to show that the proposed solution ensures the adequate 
fulfillment of all technical requirements put forward by the Contracting Authority; 
 (b) in the case where it can be declared a winning bid: 
 
- the public procurements contract fo r the goods, which should be awarded in 
the tender, is transformed in the public procurements contract for the services;  or 
 
- the public procurements contract fo r the services, which should be awarded 
in the tender, is  transformed in the public procurements contract for the 
goods. 
 
Article 42. The guarantee to secure the bid and the execution of the contract 
 (1) In case of the procurements of goods or works,  the supplier shall submit the bid together with 
the guarantee securing the bid.  (2) The tender documents may specify the requirements of the Contracting Authority regarding the admissibility of the party issuing the guarantee to secure the bid or, if applicable, the party backing 
the guarantee;  the form, terms and conditions of the guarantee to secure the bid.  The Contracting 
Authority may not reject the bid on the grounds that  the guarantee is issued  by a foreign resident, 
where it is not contrary to the legislation, provid ed the bid guarantee and th e guarantor comply with 
the requirements specified in the tender documents.  (3) Prior to the submission of the bid, the supplier may request the Contracting Authority to 
confirm the admissibility of the guarantor issuing the bid guarantee or the party backing it.  The 
Contracting Authority shall respond to such request promptly.  Such confirmation may not prevent the 
Contracting Authority from the rejection of the bid gu arantee, if the guarantor or the party backing the 
guarantee becomes insolvable  or loses its credibility. 
 
(4) The Contracting Authority shall specify the requirements in the tender documents regarding 
the guarantor, format, amount and other basic re quirements of the guarantee securing the bid as well 
as the requirements to the supplier submitting th e bid guarantee for the following situations: 
 
(a) the supplier withdraws or amends the bid after the deadline for the submission of the 
bids; 
 
(b) the winning bidder refuses to sign the procurement contract;  (c) the bidder does not agree to correct mistakes in calculations;  
(d) the winning bidder refuses to secure the execution of the contract upon acceptance of 
his bid or does not fulfill any of the prerequisites for signing of the procurement contract, which are specified in the tender documents. 
  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 43 
 
 
  (5) The Contracting Authority may refrain from the request to the supplier to provide a bid 
guarantee in the case of the procurements of goods with the total estimated value below MDL 200,000 
and works with the total estimated value below MD L 1,000,000.  Where the Contracting Authority 
requests such guarantee, the supplier shall comp ly with the provisions of this Article. 
 
(6) The amount of the bid guarantee should not  exceed three per cent of the value of the 
submitted bid.  (7) The Contracting Authority may not claim paym ent on the bid guarantee and it shall return the 
bid guarantee without delay upon occurren ce of any of the below circumstances: 
 
(a) expiry of the bid guarantee validity term;  (b) signing of the procurement contract a nd provision of the guarantee securing its 
execution, where such guarantee is required by the tender documents; 
 
(c) suspension of the tender procedures wit hout awards of the procurement contract; 
 (d) withdrawal of the bid prior to th e bid submission deadline - unless the tender 
documents prohibit expressly such withdrawal. 
 
(8) In the procurement of goods and works, the C ontracting Authority shall request the bidder to 
provide the security for the contract execution at the time of its signing.  (9) Contracting Authority shall specify the requi rements in the tender documents regarding the 
guarantor, format, amount and other basic terms a nd conditions of the requi red guarantee securing the 
execution of the contract. 
 (10) Prior to the provision of the guarantee securing the execution of the contract, the supplier may request the Contracting Authority to confirm the ad missibility of the proposed guarantor issuing the 
guarantee or the party backing it.  The Contracti ng Authority shall respond to such request without 
delay. 
 
(11) In the procurements of goods to the est imated value below MDL 200,000 and works to the 
estimated value below MDL 1,000,000 the Contracti ng Authority may refrain from the request to the 
bidders to provide a guarantee securing the execution of the contract.  If the Contracting Authority chooses to request such guarantee, it shall comp ly with the provisions of this Article. 
 
(12) The amount of the guarantee securing the ex ecution of the contract may not exceed 15 per 
cent of the nominal value of the procurement contract.  
Article 43. Opening of the bids 
 (1) Opening of the bids and their subsequent examination, evaluation and comparison shall fall 
within the powers and responsibility of the Contracting Authority.  (2) The bids shall be opened on the day and at the time specified in the tender documents as the 
deadline for the submission of the bids or on the da y and at the time specified as the new deadline in 
case of an extension, in the venue and accordi ng to the procedures established in the tender 
documents.  The bidders or their representatives may participate in the opening of the bids. 
 (3) The name and contact details for each bidder whose bid is opened and the bid price shall be 
notified to the parties present at the bid opening pr ocedure and, upon their request, to those who were GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 44  
 
  absent or had no representative at the opening proce dure;  and the respective information shall be 
entered in the report on the procurement procedure.  
Article 44. Examination, evaluation and comparison of the bids 
 (1) The examination, evaluation and comparison of the bids shall be performed in the absence of 
the bidders or their representatives.  To facilitate  the examination, evaluation and comparison of the 
bids, the Contracting Authority may request the bi dder to provide additional explanations in writing 
regarding the bid.  No amendments, including pric e amendments, shall be allowed for the purpose to 
bring the bid in compliance with the requirements with which it did not comply initially.  The 
Contracting Authority shall correct only arithmetic errors found in the bid during its examination, 
notifying the bidder accord ingly without delay. 
 (2) The Contracting Authority may consider th e bid as complying if it contains immaterial 
deviations from the provisions of the tender documen ts, errors or omissions which can be corrected 
without affecting the essence of the bid.  Any de viation of that kind sh all be given quantitative 
assessment – to the extent possible – and taken in consideration during the evaluation and comparison 
of the bids.  (3) The Contracting Authority sh all not accept the bid where: 
 
(a) the bidder does not comply with the qualification requirements; 
 (b) the bidder does not agree to correct an arithmetic error;  (c) the bid does not comply with the requireme nts specified in the tender documentation; 
 
(d) the corruptive acts are shown to take place. 
 (4) The Contracting Authority shall evaluate a nd compare the submitted bids to determine the 
winning bid, using the procedures and criteria describ ed in the tender documents.  It may not use any 
criteria not mentioned in the tender documents. 
 
(5) The winning bid shall be the bid found to be the most advantageous economically according 
to Article 45. 
[Art. 44 par. (6) repealed by PL 267 of 23.12.11,  MO 13-14/13.01.12 art. 32, in force 13.01.12] 
 
(7) Where the bid prices are expressed in two or more currencies, the prices of all bids shall be 
recalculated in a single currency acco rding to the exchange rate speci fied in the tender documents in 
order to facilitate the evaluation and comparison of the bids.  (8) If the bidder does not fulfill the requirement of the Contracting Authority to re-confirm the 
qualification data for the conclusion of the contract, the bid shall be rejected and the second best bid 
shall be selected as winner from among the remaining va lid bids.  However, the Contracting Authority 
may reject all other bids.  (9) The information regarding the examination, ev aluation and comparison of the bids may not be 
disclosed to the bidders or other persons not i nvolved formally in tho se procedures or in the 
determination of the winning bid. 
  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 45 
 
 
  Article 45. The bid most advantageous in the economic terms 
 
The bid most advantageous in the economic terms shall be the bid identified as the winning 
bid based on the following criteria:  
(a) in the case of public procurement cont racts for the goods: price, delivery terms, 
payment terms, profitability, quality, aest hetic and functional characteristics, 
technical characteristics, availability and costs of service maintenance, technical 
assistance; 
 
(b) in the case of public procurement contracts for the works: the proposed quality, price 
per unit of bidder's products upon completion of  the works, total price, the bidder's 
experience, etc.  The significance of the price in the total bid evaluation shall be no less than 80 per cent; 
 
(c) in the case of public procurement contracts for the services:  the proposed quality, 
price per unit of bidder's products, total price, the bidder's experience, etc.  The significance of the price in the total bid evaluation shall be no less than 40 per cent; 
 
Article 46. A bid with an abnormally low price 
 (1) A bid with an abnormally low price shall mean a bid to sell the goods, perform works or 
provide the services at a price which is significantly lower in comparison with the bids of other bidders, where:  
(a) the Contracting Authority finds errors during the check and recalculation of price 
components, which are the reason for indication of an abnormally low bid price; 
 (b) the bidder is unable to demonstrate an y special access or technology or more 
advantageous market conditions, which enab le him to offer an abnormally low bid 
price; 
 
(c) the bidder does not comply with the tec hnical requirements specified in the TOR. 
 (2) The Contracting Authority must provide the supplier the possibility to justify the abnormally 
low bid price.  Article 47. Bid acceptance, awards and conclusion of the procurement contract 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority shall give the bidder a written notice on bid acceptance within three calendar days from the day of acceptance.  (2) The tender documents may contain a requireme nt to the bidder submitting the winning bid to 
sign the procurement contract within 20 calendar days  after the contract is forwarded to the winner for 
signing.  The Agency may suspend the conclusion of  the contract in the cases specified in Article 74 . 
 (3) The contract shall be considered concluded on  the day it is signed by the parties and it shall 
become effective upon its registration in due course as provided for in this law.  The time necessary 
for such registration should be indicated in the tend er documents.  If the contract is not registered 
within that time, the validity of the bid or bid gua rantee.  A guarantee might be requested in that case 
unless the Contracting Authority and th e bidder agree otherwise in writing. 
 GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 46  
 
  (4) If, upon expiry of the term provided for in Pa ragraph (2), the bidder who has received the bid 
acceptance notice does not sign the procurement contr act or present the requested security for the 
execution of the contract, the Contracting Authority may reject the bid and select another winning bid from among the remaining valid bids.  However, the Contracting Authority may reject all other bids 
according to the provisions of Article 29 of this law. 
 
(5) The Contracting Authority shall notify the othe r bidders participating in the tender about the 
conclusion of the procurements contract within 10 calendar days upon its conclusion, indicating the 
name and contact data of the supplier to whom th e contract was awarded and the contract price. 
 
SECTION 3.  THE CLOSED TENDER 
 
Article 48. The conditions for holding a closed tender 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority may hold a clo sed tender where the goods, works and services are 
of complex nature or available to a large number of suppliers operating at the market. 
 (2) The closed tender shall be held according to  the rules similar to those for an open tender, 
subject to the application of pre-selection (short-lis ting) procedures preceded by the publication of a 
request for proposals (invitation to the participation in pre-selection).  
(3) The invitation to the participati on in the short-listing shall indicate: 
 
(a) the procedures and venue for the acquisition of pre-selection documents; 
 (b) if applicable, the fee payable for the pre-selection documents; 
 
(c) the currency and procedures for paying the fee for the pre-selection documents; 
 (d) the language(s) for the production of pre-selection documents;  (e) venue and deadline for the submissi on of applications for pre-selection. 
 
Article 49. Pre selection (short-listing) procedure 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority shall perform pre- selection (short-listing) of the candidates to 
identify qualified suppliers prior to the submissi on of the bids according to the provisions of 
Article 16. 
 (2) In case of applying the above procedures the Contracting Authority shall offer a package of 
the pre-selection documents to each supplier applying  for them based on the invitation to participate 
in the pre-selection and paying the requested fee fo r such documents.  The fee may include only the 
costs of producing the documents and their delivery to  the suppliers.  Such doc uments shall be offered 
free of charge to the Association of the Blind, th e Association of the Handicapped, the Association of 
the Deaf, the production facility of the National Ps ychiatric Hospital, the penitentiary system 
institutions and other disadvantaged parties.  (3) The pre-selection documents shall comprise: 
 
(a) the instructions regarding the preparati on and submission of the applications for pre-
selection; 
  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 47 
 
 
  (b) summary description of the principal terms and conditions of the procurement 
contract which would be concluded based on the results of the procurement procedures; 
 (c) the detailed list of the documents to be presented by the supplier to confirm his 
qualifications; 
 (d) the information on the procedures, venue and deadline (exact day and time) for the 
submission of applications for pre-selection; 
 
(e) any other requirements regarding the prep aration and presentation of applications for 
the pre-selection and pre-selection procedures, which the Contracting Authority establishes in conformity with this la w, other laws and regulations and the 
standardized documents; 
 
(f) the information specified in Article 35 Paragr aph (1) letters (a), (e) and (h), and, if 
known, the information specified in letter (j) of the above Article. 
 (4) The Contracting Authority must respond to all inquiries of the suppliers regarding the 
obtained pre-selection documents no later than 10 calendar days prior to the deadline for the submission of applications for the pre-selection.  The Contracting Authority must respond within a 
reasonable term so that the supplier has the po ssibility to submit his application on time.  The 
response to each inquiry, which might be of interest for the other suppliers, should be distributed to all 
suppliers obtaining the pre-selection documents from the Contracting Authority, without indicating 
the source of the inquiry.  
(5) The pre-selection criteria shall be specified  in the pre-selection documents.  Only those 
criteria may be applied for the evaluation of the qua lifications demonstrated by each supplier applying 
for pre-selection.  (6) When the pre-selection results are registered , the Contracting Authority shall communicate 
them promptly to each supplier applying for the pr e-selection and present the list of all short-listed 
(pre-selected) suppliers upon request of any publ ic applicant.  Only short-listed suppliers may 
participate in the subsequent procurement procedure.  (7) The Contracting Authority might notify each  supplier who was not pre-selected, upon the 
latter's request, about the grounds for such decision;   however, the Contracting Authority shall have 
no obligation to substantiate its decisions. 
 
SECTION 4.  OTHER PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES 
 
Article 50. The framework agreement 
 (1) The framework agreement shall mean an agreement concluding between one or more 
Contracting Authorities on the one part and one or  more suppliers on the other part;  the subject 
matter of such agreement is to establish the term s and conditions for the contracts which would be 
awarded during a certain period, in particular pr ices and, if applicable, the estimated quantities. 
 
(2) Concluding a framework agreement, the Contr acting Authorities shall observe at all stages the 
requirements provided for herein till the awards of the contracts based on the respective framework agreement.  The parties to the framework agreemen t shall be selected via application of the awarding 
criteria as per Article 45.  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 48  
 
  (3) The contracts based on the framework agreemen t shall be awarded in compliance with this 
law and the Regulations approved by the Government.  
Article 51. The competitive dialogue 
 (1) The competitive dialogue is an open tender procedure held in two stages, which should be 
applied in the case of extremely complex procurement contracts;  any supplier may apply to participate and the Contracting Authority conducts a dialogue with the candidates admitted to such 
tender with the aim to produce one or more altern ative solutions satisfying the requirements;  the 
selected candidates are invited to submit their bids based on the results of the dialogue. 
 
(2) A public procurement contract is considered to be " particularly complex " where the 
Contracting Authority is not able to define due to objective reasons: 
 
(a) the technical means which could satis fy its needs and objectives;  and/or 
 
(b) the legal and/or financial nature of the project. 
 (3) In the first stage of the procedure, the tend er documents should request  the suppliers to submit 
bids without price quotations and to provide the in formation regarding the technical characteristics, 
quality and other specifics of the goods, works a nd services, the contract terms and conditions, the 
supplier's professional and technical sk ills and qualifications, if necessary. 
 (4) At this stage of the procedure the Contracting Authority may start negotiations with any supplier whose bid is not rejected.  
(5) In the second stage of the procedure, the supp liers participating in the first stage whose bids 
are not rejected should submit their final bids, quoting prices.  The Contracting Authority may 
exclude or amend any initial provision of the tende r documents or add new characteristics or criteria 
according to this law.  The information about su ch exclusion, amendment or modification to the 
tender documents shall be communicated to the supplie rs in the invitation (RFP) to present their final 
bids.  The suppliers not willing to submit final bids  may withdraw from the tender procedure at this 
stage without losing the right to withdraw their bid guarantees.  The final bids shall be evaluated and 
compared to determine the winning bid.  
Article 52. The negotiation procedures 
 (1) Contracting Authority may award public procurement contracts using the negotiation 
procedure, upon publication of  the invitation to participation, in the following cases: 
 
(a) in the case incorrect or unacceptable bids are submitted in the open/closed tender or a 
competitive dialogue, provided the initial term s and conditions of the contract are not 
modified substantially.  The Contracting Authority may choose not to publish an 
invitation to participation where the nego tiation process includes all bidders or only 
the bidders which comply with the qua lity criteria required for the selection and 
which have submitted bids complying with the formal requirements of the contract 
awarding procedure at an earlier stage in the open/closed tender or a competitive dialogue; 
 
(b) in the exceptional cases, which involve th e goods, works or services whose nature or 
the involved risks do not permit to estimate the total price in advance; 
  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 49 
 
 
  (c) in the sphere of the services, including in tellectual services, such as the development 
of the works design - to the extent the c ontract specifications cannot be established 
with sufficient exactness due to the nature of the services to be provided in order to 
make possible the contract awards via se lection of the most advantageous bid 
according to the regulations for th e open/closed tender procedure; 
 
(d) in the case of the public procurement cont racts for the works - where such works are 
performed solely for the purposes of R&D or tr ials rather than to generate profits or 
cover the R&D costs. 
 
(2) In the cases provided for in Paragraph (1) the Contracting Authority shall negotiate with the 
bidders based on the bids submitted by them in order to adapt them to the requirements specified in 
the invitation to participation, TOR and the even tual supplementary documents and to identify the 
most advantageous bid.  Article 53. Procurements from a single source 
 
(1) In the case of the public procurement contract s for works, goods and services, the Contracting 
Authority may procure from a single source where:  
(a) no adequate bids or candidates are identifie d during the open tender or negotiations 
unless the initial contract terms and c onditions are amended substantially; 
 (b) to the extent strictly necessary - where th e terms for an open tender or negotiations 
with the RFP publication cannot be observed for reasons of the utmost urgency as 
result of the events, which could not be  foreseen reasonably by the relevant 
Contracting Authority.  The situations re ferred to in order to justify the utmost 
urgency may in no case be imputable to the Contracting Authorities; 
 (c) for technical or creative reasons, for reasons connected with the protection of 
exclusivity rights or any other objective reasons the required goods, works and services are available only from a single supplier, or a single supplier holds the 
priority rights to them and there exists no a lternative, or the supplier is established by 
the law. 
 (2) In the case of the public procurement contracts for goods, the Contracting Authority may procure from a single source where: 
 
(a) the respective goods are produced solely fo r the purposes of the R&D or trials.  This 
provision shall not apply to large-scale i ndustrial production perfo rmed to determine 
the product's commercial viability or to amortize the R&D costs; 
 (b) the public procurements contract involv es supplementary deliveries performed by the 
initial supplier with the aim either to re place partially the goods or installations 
currently in use, or to extend the existent  goods or installations, if the change of a 
supplier would require the Contracting Author ity to acquire technical material with 
different characteristics, resulting in the in compatibility or disproportionate technical 
problems in operation and maintenance; as a general rule, the duration of such 
contracts or renewed contracts may not exceed three years; 
 (c) the goods to be procured are subject to quotas and acquired at the raw materials 
exchange; 
 GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 50  
 
  (d) the public procurements contract involv es the acquisition of the goods on particularly 
advantageous terms and conditions – e ither from a supplier who winds up his 
business, or from the curators or liquidators  of a bankrupt business, or in any other 
process of similar nature in accordance with  the national legisla tion or regulations. 
 
(3) In the case of the public procurement cont racts for services, the Contracting Authority may 
procure from a single source where the respective contract results from competition and must be awarded according to the applicable rules to the winn er or one of the winners in such competition. In 
the latter case all winners in the competition should  be invited to participate in the negotiations. 
 
(4) In the case of the public procurements c ontracts for works and services, the Contracting 
Authority may procure from a single source:  
(a) supplementary works or services which are not covered by the initial cost estimate or 
the initial contract and which have become  necessary as result of an unexpected 
situation to make possible the provision of the above works or services covered 
thereby, provided the contract is awar ded to the supplier executing the respective 
works or services, where: 
 
- the respective supplementary works or services cannot be segregated for 
technical or economic reasons from th e initial contract without creating a 
major inconvenience for the Contracting Authority;  or 
 - the respective works or services, notw ithstanding the possibility of their 
segregation from the initial contract, are absolutely necessary to complete the 
contract.  The aggregate value of the contracts awarded for supplementary 
works or services may not exceed 30 per cen t of the total value of the initial 
contract; 
 
(b) new works or services, which consist in  the repetition of similar works or services 
awarded by the same Contracting Authority to the supplier under the initial contract, provided the respective works or services are in conformity with the initial project 
and form part of the subject of the initia l contract awarded in an open or closed 
tender; 
 
(c) if during the procurement procedure the C ontracting Authority receives a singe bid in 
response to the RFP, and it is not feasible to hold a new tender. 
 
(5) The possibility of using the procedure menti oned in Paragraph (2) Le tter (b) and Paragraph 
(4) letters (a) or (b) shall be announced at the time of launching the RFP for the first project, and the 
Contracting Authority shall take into account the total estimated value of continuing the works or 
services.  In the above cases, the procedure described in Paragraphs (1) – (4) may be used only within 
three years upon conclusion of the initial contract. 
 
(6) The procedures for the implementation of procurements from a single source shall be 
established in the Regulations approved by the Government. 
 
Article 54. The request for price quotations 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority may award contracts via requests for price quotations for the procurements of goods, works and services, which should comply with pre-defined specifications, 
provided the estimated value of the procurem ents does not exceed MDL 200,000 for goods and 
services and MDL 1,000,000 for works.  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 51 
 
 
  (2) The Contracting Authority may set other requi rements in addition to the price, which would 
be considered during the assessment of price quotations .  In such cases the request for price quotations 
shall indicate each such requirement and its re lative significance in the ultimate assessment. 
 (3) Each supplier may submit a single price quotati on without the right to change it subsequently. 
The Contracting Authority may not negotiate  any such quotations with the bidder. 
 (4) The winning quotation shall be the quotation, wh ich satisfies all requirements at the lowest 
price.  
(5) The Contracting Authority shall publish a no tice of intended procurement in the Public 
Procurement Bulletin and on the public procurement we b page Prior to the procurements of goods and 
services with the estimated value in excess of MDL 50,0 00 and in the procurements of works with the 
estimated value in excess of MDL 100,000. 
[Art. 54 par. (5) amended by the PL 267 of 23.12.11,  MO 13-14/13.01.12 art. 32, in force 13.01.12] 
 (6) The procedures for the implementation of procur ements via request for price quotations shall 
be established in the Regulations  approved by the Government. 
 
Article 55. The dynamic procurements system 
 (1) The dynamic procurements system shall mean  a totally electronic procurements process to 
procure the current consumption goods generally ava ilable at the market, whose characteristics satisfy 
the requirements of the Contracting Authority.  The dynamic system is limited in time and open 
throughout the process to any supplier, which satisfi es the selection criteria and submits a preliminary 
bid in line with the requested requirements. 
 
(2) To implement a dynamic procurements system, the Contracting Authorities shall respect the requirements regarding the open tender at all stages thereof till the award of the contracts within the 
respective system.  All bidders should be invited and admitted in the system who satisfy the selection criteria and have submitted a preliminary bid complying with the TOR and the eventual 
supplementary documents. Prelimin ary bids may be improved at any moment, provided they remain 
in compliance with the TOR. 
 (3) To apply the dynamic procurements system, the Contracting Authorities shall:  
(a) publish a RFP specifying that the contract would be awarded within a dynamic 
procurements system; 
 (b) specify in the TOR, among other things, the nature of the scheduled procurements 
which form subject of the respective system and other necessary information on the procurement system, the electronic equipment used as well as the connection arrangements and technical specifications; 
 
(c) offer free, direct and total access via electronic communication channels to the TOR 
and all supplementary documents for the period from publication of the RFP to the 
expiry of the system's application term  and the RFP should specify the Internet 
address where the respective documents can be accessed. 
 
(4) The Contracting Authorities may apply the dy namic procurements system to award public 
procurement contracts on terms and conditions provided for by this law and according to the 
procedures established in the Regula tions approved by the Government. GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 52  
 
  Article 56. An electronic auction 
 
(1) An electronic auction shall mean a repeating process which involves the use of electronic equipment to present in the descending order new pr ices and/or new values of certain bid elements, 
which are used upon the first complete evaluati on of the bids, permitting their classification with 
automated evaluation methods.  Certain contracts for services and works, whose subject matter is 
intellectual activities, such as work designs, may not form the subject matter of the electronic auction. 
 (2) The Contracting Authorities may use electronic auctions to award public procurement contracts on terms and conditions provided for by this  law and according to the procedures established 
in the Regulations approved by the Government. 
 (3) The Contracting Authorities holding an electr onic auction shall mention that fact in the 
invitation for participation and in the standardized documents.  
(4) Prior to the launch of an electronic auction,  the Contracting Authoritymust perform an initial 
integrated assessment of the bids in conformity w ith the specified criteria for the contract awards. 
 (5) Contracting Authority must invite all bidders  which have submitted complying bids to submit 
new price quotations and/or, as the case may be, new values for the bid components.  The invitation is 
communicated electronically to all such bidders simultaneously. 
 
(6) The invitation must indicate the starting day and time of the electronic auction as well as any information necessary to perform individual connect ion to the electronic equipment used in it. 
 (7) The Contracting Authority may not start the electronic auction earlier that in two working 
days from the day on which the invitations are communicated. 
 (8) The electronic auction is he ld in several successive rounds. 
 (9) During each round of the electronic auction the Contracting Authority must communicate simultaneously to all bidders at least the informa tion required by them to determine at any moment 
their respective positions in the rating. 
 (10) The electronic auction comes to an end in any of the following situations or combination 
thereof:  
(a) At the exact moment in time specified in  advance and communicated to the bidders in 
the invitation for participation in the auction; 
 (b) After a certain number of the auction rounds held according to the exact schedule 
specified in advance and communicated to the bidders in the invitation for 
participation in the auction; 
 
(c) When no more new price quotations a nd/or values are submitted satisfying the 
requirements regarding the minimum auction step (difference in bid prices);  in that case the invitation to participate in the au ction must specify the deadline for the 
completion of the electronic auction after the submission of the last bid. 
 
(11) The Contracting Authority must award the p ublic procurements contract on the terms of 
Article 65 based on the results achieved on completion of the electronic auction. 
  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 53 
 
 
  Article 57. Procurements in the case of the social housing construction schemes 
 
(1) A special contract awards procedure may be used in the case of the public procurement 
contracts connected with the design and construc tion of social housing ensembles where the scope, 
complexity and the estimated duration of the work s require that planning be based from the very 
beginning on very close collaboration in the wo rkgroup comprised of the persons representing the 
Contracting Authorities, experts and contractor s performing the works and responsible for the 
execution of the works; such procedure should ensure  the selection of the contractor to perform the 
works, who is best able to integrate in the workgroup.  
(2) The Contracting Authorities must include the most detailed description of the works in the 
RFP - so that interested contractors could assess realistically the project to be implemented - and the qualitative and organizational selection criteria as well as economic, social, legal, financial, technical 
and personal requirements which all bidders should satisfy. 
[Art. 58 repealed by PL 124 of 18.06.10, MO 121-123/16.07.10 art. 380] 
 
Article 59. Cancellation of the results of procurement procedures 
 
(1) The Contracting Authority may cancel - on its own initiative or upon the Agency's request 
based on the results of performed checks - the pro cedures to award the public procurements contract, 
provided such decision is made prior to the day of notifying the results of applying the public 
procurements procedure and in any case prior to the conclusion of the contract where: 
 
(a) it was impossible to ensure a satisfactory competition level, i.e. the number of bidders 
is lower than the minimum required number of bidders set by the law for each procedure; 
 
(b) none of the bidders satisfies the qualif ication requirements provided for in the 
documentation on the production and submission of the bids; 
 (c) in the case of the public procurements of wo rks, the bid price is more than 20 per cent 
higher than the estimated value of the work s calculated by the Contracting Authority 
according to the established procedures; 
 (d) only non-complying bids were submitted, i.e. the bids: 
 
- submitted after the deadline for the submission of bids; 
 
- produced and presented not in compliance with the requirements of the 
documentation regarding the produc tion and submission of bids; 
 - quoting prices in the financial proposal, which are evidently not the result of 
free competition and which cannot be reasonably justified; 
 
- containing such proposals regarding th e contract terms and conditions, which 
are obviously disadvantageous for the Contracting Authority; 
 - with such price quotations included in the financial proposal, where every 
quoted price exceeds the amount allocated for the implementation of the 
respective public procurements contract; 
 
(e) exceptional circumstances affect the procedure of awarding the public procurements 
contract or make the conclusion of such contract impossible; GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 54  
 
  (f) a corruptive act is shown and confir med by the definitive court ruling. 
 (2) The procurement procedures may be declared null and void solely by the Agency after the 
communication of the results of applying the public procurements procedure and after the conclusion 
of the contract in the cases provided for in Paragraph (1). 
 
(3) The decision to cancel the results of the pub lic procurements procedure shall not create any 
liability on the part of the Contracting Authority or the Agency to the pa rticipants in the public 
procurement procedure, excepting the return of the guarantee securing the bid and the execution of the 
contract. 
 
(4) The Contracting Authority must notify all par ticipants in the public procurements procedure 
in writing within two days after the cancellation about the termination of the obligations created for the both parties on the force of submitting the bid as well as the grounds for the cancellation.  
CHAPTER VII 
THE SPECIFICS OF THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENTS FOR ADVISORY SERVICES 
 
Article 60. The attraction of bids for advisory services 
 
(1) In the case of any doubts as to whether the subject matter of the procurements should be 
categorized as goods or as services, the procurements  shall be deemed to be the procurements of 
goods.  (2) The Contracting Authority shall attract the bi ds for services or applications for pre-selection 
via announcement in the Public Procurements Bull etin and in the international circulation mass 
media.  The announcements shall specify the Contracting Authority's name and address, provide a 
brief description of the requested services, the pr ocedures for obtaining of the RFP documents for the 
services or pre-selection documents and the fee payable for such documents, if applicable.  (3) The Contracting Authority shall not appl y the provisions of Paragraph (2) where: 
 
(a) the requested services are available to a limited number of suppliers, provided a RFP 
is given to all such suppliers; 
 (b) the costs of examination and eval uation of a large number of bids are 
disproportionably high as compared to the price of the requested services, provided 
the bids are attracted from a sufficient number of suppliers to ensure efficient 
competition; 
 (c) a direct request is the sole method to ensure confidentiality or is required by the 
national interests, upon conditions provided for in Letter (b). 
 
(4) Skilled consultants may be invited fo r the procurement of advisory services. 
 (5) The Contracting Authority shall offer the s uppliers RFP documents for the services or pre-
selection documents – either according to the procedure and requirements specified in the 
announcement or directly to the suppliers in the cases  covered by Paragraph (3).  The fee, which the 
Contracting Authority may collect for the RFP or pre-selection documents, may include only the costs 
of their production and delivery to the suppliers .  If pre-selection proced ures are initiated, the 
Contracting Authority shall deliver the RFP to each pre-selected (short-listed) supplier, who has paid 
the application fee.   GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 55 
 
 
  Article 61. The RFP for the advisory services 
 
The RFP structure and contents in the case of advisory services shall be established in the 
standardized documents approved by the Government.  Article 62. The evaluation criteria for the bids for advisory services 
 
The Contracting Authority shall approve the ev aluation criteria in respect of the bids for 
advisory services as well as the relative significance of each criterion and the procedures for its application.  Such criteria shall be communicated to  the suppliers in the RFP and they shall refer to: 
 
(a) the qualification data, experience, reputa tion, reliability, professional and managerial 
skills of the supplier in general and specifica lly of his staff involved in the provision 
of the services; 
 
(b) bid efficiency; 
 (c) bid price, including the auxiliary or related expense;  (d) the national defense and security needs. 
 Article 63. The procedure for the selection of the advisory service bids 
 
(1) If the Contracting Authority decides to use th e procedure of selecting the bids for advisory 
services without negotiations, it shall establish certain requirements regarding the quality and 
technical characteristics of the bids according to the criteria other than price specified in the RFP, and 
evaluate each bid for compliance w ith those criteria, using the proce dure described in the RFP.  The 
winning bid shall be the bid with the optimum combined value (the highest number of awarded points) according to the criteria mentioned in Article 62.  (2) Where it is decided to apply the adviso ry services selection procedure via consecutive 
negotiations with the bidders, the Contracting Authority shall: 
 
(a) establish the level of requirements according to Paragraph (1);  (b) invite the bidder with the highest number of awarded points to the negotiations 
regarding the bid price according to Paragraph (1); 
 
(c) notify the bidder about the termination of negotiations, should it be found impossible 
to achieve an acceptable price; 
 (d) invite the bidder with the second highest number of awarded points to the 
negotiations; if the contract is not concl uded with that bidder either, the remaining 
bidders shall be invited to the negotiati ons in the descending order of the points 
awarded to them till the contract is c oncluded or till all bids are rejected. 
 
Article 64. Confidentiality 
 (1) The Contracting Authority shall ensure th e confidentiality of the bid examination. 
 (2) The negotiations held shall be confidential.   None of the parties participating in the 
negotiations may disclose any information regardin g the issues discussed durin g the negotiations to a 
third party without consent of the counterparty. GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 56  
 
  CHAPTER VIII 
THE PUBLIC PROCUR EMENT CONTRACT 
PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE REPORT 
 
Article 65. The principles of awarding  a public procurements contract 
 
The awards of the public procurement contract  shall be based on the following principles: 
 
(a) observance of the law, order, public morale and professional ethics during the 
assessment and award of the contract; 
 
(b) selection of the bid most advantage ous in technical and economic terms; 
 
(c) ensuring the environment protection and support of social programs in the process of 
executing the contract. 
 
Article 66. Preferences in the awards of public procurement contracts 
 
For the purposes of awarding public procurement contracts preference shall be given to the 
suppliers who have a direct or indirect objectiv e to encourage professional training on the job, 
creation of jobs for the unemployed, young people and persons with integr ation problems, reduction 
of the unemployment rates, professional training for the unemployed and the young people, 
environment protection, improvement of labor c onditions and labor safety, rural development and 
professional training in agriculture, protection and support of small and medium-sized enterprises 
(SME businesses), including during the contract execution period and their involvement as sub-contractors.  Such available preferences must be specified in the invitation for participation (RFP). 
 
Article 67. The public procurements contract 
 
(1) The public procurements contract must be concluded according to the procurement 
procedures provided for in this law, for the total amou nt allocated for the procurements for the year in 
line with the procurements plan. 
 
(2) During the procurement procedures via tender the winner's notification and the conclusion of 
the procurement contract shall be performed according to Article 47. 
 (3) In the case of using any other procurement me thod, the bidders shall be informed about the 
terms and conditions of conc luding the procurements contract at the time of giving them a request for 
their proposals.  (4) It shall not be allowed to introduce any amendm ents in the details of the winning bid, to set 
new requirements to the winning bidder or to invol ve any bidder other than the one who has submitted 
the bid most advantageous in economic terms at the time of concluding the procurement contract. 
 
(5) The term(s) for the execution of the c ontract established reasonably according to the 
Contracting Authority's needs shall be determined with account of the complexity of the scheduled 
procurements, the anticipated scope of sub-contract s and the time required realistically to produce, 
stock and transport the goods from the supp lier's facilities or to provide the services. 
 
(6) The terms and conditions for the execution of  the contract shall not include any clauses 
directly or indirectly discriminatory in their nature.   GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 57 
 
 
  (7) Upon conclusion, the procurement contract sh all be submitted to the Agency for examination 
and registration within five days, accompanied with  the documents confirming the implementation of 
the respective procurements procedure.  (8) The public procurements contract registered w ith the Agency shall be registered subsequently 
with one of the State Treasury offices.  The contr acts not registered in due manner shall have no legal 
effect. 
[Art. 67 par. (8) amended by PL 108-XVIII of 17.12. 09, MO 193-196/29.12.09 art. 609, in force 
01.01.10]  
Article 68. Sub-contracts  
In the terms of reference the Contracting Aut hority may request the bidder to indicate in his 
bid the parts of the contract scope which he intends  to sub-contract to a third party and the proposed 
sub-contractors, including SME businesses and other cubc ontractors, if applicable.  Such details shall 
not result in any exemptions from the principal bidder's responsibility. 
 
Article 69. The ban on the procu rements fragmentation or increase 
 
(1) Where the procurements are not fragmente d initially, the Contracting Authority may not 
fragment the procurement by concluding separate co ntracts enabling it to apply a procedure different 
from the procurements procedure, which must be used  in conformity with this law.  The exception is 
the seasonal procurements of goods and services, wh ich involve the conclusion of separate contracts 
for different periods of time.  In the case of the procurements of goods, works and services with the 
implementation period above one year, the contract  may be concluded for the total procurements, 
although its implementation should be  ensured within the limits of annual allocations scheduled for 
the purpose and specified annually in the contract. 
 (2) The Contracting Authority may not increase the amount of the goods, works and services specified in the concluded contracts to avoid a new procurement, excepting the cases provided for in 
this law.  
(3) It shall not be allowed the assignment of de bt as well as to amend any part of the concluded 
contract or to introduce new term s and conditions, where such actions  result in deviations from the 
terms and conditions of the bid, which are the reas on for its selection, or to increase the contract 
value. 
[Art. 69 par. (3) as stipulated in  PL 267 of 23.12.11, MO  13-14/13.01.12 art.32, in force 13.01.12] 
 
(4) In the case of the public procurement cont racts providing for the continuous execution and 
concluded for a long term exceeding one year, it sha ll be allowed to adjust the value of the public 
procurement contract from time to time according to  the procedure established by the Government in 
order to take into account the changes in prices fo r the cost items of the goods, works or services 
forming the subject matter of the contract. 
 
(5) The supplier must observe unconditionally the provisions of the concluded contract, 
complying with the quality requirements and the esta blished price.  A breach or improper fulfillment 
of the contractual obligations shall result in the s upplier's liability in conformity with the legislation 
and the provisions of the contract. 
 GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 58  
 
  (6) The competent controlling authorities shall apply financial sanctions prescribed by the law to 
any supplier, irrespective of the latter's legal stat us, who amends unilaterally  the terms and conditions 
of the procurements contract, or performs works, or provides the services not included in the contract, 
or increases the contract prices without adequate substantiation. 
[Art. 69 par. (6) as stipulated in the PL 108-XVIII of 17.12.09, MO 193-196/29.12.09 art. 609, in 
force 01.01.10]  
Article 70. The report on th e procurements procedure 
 
(1) The report on the procurements procedure sha ll be prepared by the Contracting Authority and 
submitted to the Agency within five days after the day of concluding the contract.  The report shall 
include:  
(a) summary description of the goods, wo rks and services for which the Contracting 
Authority has requested proposals; 
 
(b) the date and the registration number of i nvitations send directly to the bidders, the 
names and contacts of the invited suppliers as well as the name and contacts of the bidder which is awarded the procurements  contract and the contract price; 
[Art. 70 par. (1) let. b) amended by PL 77 of 12.04.12, MO 103/29.05.12 art. 347] 
 
(c) the bidders' qualifications; 
 (d) the bid price or the basis for its calcu lation, a summary description of the other 
essential terms and conditions of each bi d and the procurements contract; 
 
(e) summary conclusions regarding the eval uation and comparison of the bids with 
account of using the preferential margin; 
 (f) the respective decision with valid arguments substantiating the rejection of all bids, if 
applicable; 
 
(g) the grounds for choosing the respective pr ocurement method - in the case of using a 
procurements procedure different from an open tender; 
 (h) the decision and its grounds in the case of  using a procurements procedure different 
from an open tender, where such procedure fails to achieve the conclusion of the 
procurements contract; 
 (i) the reasons for the rejection in the case of bid rejection according to the provisions of 
Article 30; 
 (j) the grounds for choosing the selection pro cedure in the case of the procurement of 
services; 
 (k) explanation of the reasons for the appli cation of the respective method in the case of 
using the procurement procedures requesting direct submission of bids for the services; 
 
(l) explanation of the reasons for the r estrictions in the case of the procurement 
procedures where the Contracting Authority restricts the participation of suppliers; 
  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 59 
 
 
  (m) summary of the received inquiries and requ ests to provide explanations regarding the 
pre-selection documents or tender documents, the respective responses and summary explanations for each amendment introduced in the above documents. 
 (2) The information specified in Paragraph (1) Le tters (a) and (b) shall be provided upon request 
of any party upon acceptance of the bid or completi on of the procurements procedure which did not 
result in the conclusion of a procurements contract.  (3) The information specified in Paragraph (1) Le tters (c) to (h) and (m) shall be provided on the 
request of the suppliers who have submitted thei r bids or applications  for pre-selection and upon 
acceptance of the bid or completion of the procurement procedure which did not result in the 
conclusion of a procurements contract.  Excepti ng the cases where the request comes from the court, 
the Contracting Authority shall not disclose the info rmation specified in Paragraph (1) Letters (c) to 
(e) and (m), if the disclosure of such information is contrary to the law and state interests, or if it 
might prejudice the lawful commercial interests of the parties or be harmful for fair competition. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY 
 
SECTION 1. SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES 
 
Article 71. The right of appeal  
(1) Any supplier who believes that the Contracti ng Authority has injured the supplier's lawful 
rights during the procurements procedure because of the decision made or the procurements procedure 
applied with infringements of the law and resulti ng in the actual o threatening damage for the 
supplier, may challenge in due c ourse provided for in this law the relevant decision made or the 
procedure applied by the Contracting Authority.  (2) The subject of the appeal may not be:  
(a) the choice of the procedure for the sel ection of the bids for advisory services; 
 
(b) the restrictions on the participation in the procurements procedure provided for in 
Article 15 Paragraph (1); 
 (c) the decision to reject all bids; 
 
(d) the lack of a reference to this law or  other laws and regulations regarding the 
procurements procedure, or the lack of a note regarding the right of appeal. 
 (3) Appeals regarding the RFP, invitations to  tender and tender documents may be submitted 
prior to the opening of the bid envelopes by the Contracting Authority. 
 
Article 72. Submission and examination of appeals 
 
(1) The Supplier may submit a substantiated cl aim to the Agency regarding the Contracting 
Authority's actions, decisions or applied procedures within 10 calendar days after it becomes aware of 
the circumstances which are the grounds for the appeal. 
 (2) The Agency shall not examine claims subm itted upon expiry of the term provided for in 
Paragraph (1) hereof.  GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 60  
 
  (3) The claim must be submitted in writing and it must specify: 
 (a) the supplier's complete name and the name  and first name of its representative, the 
document (in copy) confirming the representativ e's authority, the registered office and 
contact details; 
 
(b) the Contracting Authority's name, registered office and contact details;  (c) the essence of the claim and its grounds with  indication of the claimant's lawful rights 
and interests injured during the procurement procedures; 
 
(d) he list of the documents attached to the claim. 
 (4) Based on the examination of the claim, the Agency may:  
(a) initiate, if applicable, the procedure fo r settlement of the dispute in negotiation; 
 (b) accept the claim in its integrity or in part;  (c) reject the claim in its integrity or in part;  
(d) request re-evaluation of the bids; 
 (e) take other measures to settle the dispute according to the law. 
 (5) The dispute underlying the claim may be settle d amicably, on the suggestion of the Agency 
and/or the supplier participating in the procuremen t procedures, with the invitation of all suppliers 
involved in the procedure of challenge.  The amicab le settlement of the dispute shall be formalized 
and confirmed via drawing of the respective pr otocol, which is signed by all participants. 
 (6) Where the dispute is not settled amicably with in 10 calendar days after registration of the 
claim according to the provisions of Paragraph (5) hereof, within 20 calendar days after submission of 
the claim the Agency shall issue a substantiated d ecision specifying the measures which must be taken 
to redress the situation in the case the claim is found valid in its integrity or in part. 
 (7) The Contracting Authority shall be obliged to  repair the damage incurred to the supplier due 
to the illegal actions confirmed by the definitive deci sion of the competent courts, illegal decisions or 
application of illegal procedures; however, the lia bility shall not include lost profits or missed 
opportunities to obtain benefits.  
Article 73. Claim examination procedures 
 
(1) The Agency shall notify the Contracting Auth ority and all suppliers participating in the 
procurements procedure about the essence of the claim promptly upon its receipt. 
 (2) The Agency may request from the Contracting Authority to submit within five working days 
all documents necessary for the examination of the r espective claim and, if necessary, explanations in 
writing with comments to the submitted claim. 
 
(3) The supplier or the public authority whose inte rests are or might be injured by the claim may 
participate in the procedure.  The supplier which has not particip ated in the claim examination 
procedure may not submit claims regarding similar issues at a later stage.   GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
 Page 61 
 
 
  (4) The Agency shall leave the cl aim without examination and issue the respective decision in its 
respect where:  
(a) the claim is submitted upon e xpiry of the established term; 
 
(b) the claim does not comply with the requi rements specified in Article 72 Paragraph 
(3). 
 (5) Where the claim does not comply with the requirements of Article 72 Paragraph (3), the 
Agency shall return the claim to  the claimant and give him two working days to rectify the 
non-compliances.  If the identified non-compliances are not rectified within the established term, the 
Agency shall leave the claim without examination and the claimant shall lose the right to submit a 
new claim.  (6) The Agency shall examine the claim and issu e a decision regarding it within 20 working days 
after its submission, based on the submitted documents  or their examination in an open meeting, with 
invitations given in writing to and the presence of at least the Agency 's representative, the claimant, 
the Contracting Authority and, if applicable, the winning bidder.  During the examination of the claim the Agency may invite experts in the relevant area to  give their opinions in wr iting and/or orally at the 
meeting convened to examine the claim.  
(7) Should any or the both parties to the dispute fail to appear at the announced meeting, the 
Agency may examine the claim and issue the r espective decision based on the submitted documents. 
 (8) The Agency's decision shall be  communicated within three working days after it is made to 
the claimant supplier and to any other supplier or public authority participating in the claim 
examination procedure.  The claim and the decision shall be notified immediately to all the involved 
parties on condition of non-disclosure if such disclos ure is contrary to the legislation or public 
interests or if it might injure the lawful commerc ial interests of the parties or fair competition. 
 (9) The examination of the claim shall terminat e with the production of the respective protocol, 
where: 
 
(a) the claim is left without examination in the cases provided for in Paragraph (4); 
 (b) the claim is withdrawn by the claimant;  
(c) the Contracting Authority accepts the claim as substantiated; 
 (d) the Agency decides to ac cept or reject the claim; 
 (e) the dispute underlying the claim is settle d amicably as per Paragraph (5) Article 72. 
 
(10) If the Agency fails to issue a decision with in the established term or if the supplier is not 
satisfied with the decision, the latter may appeal  to the competent administrative court, and the 
Agency’s competence to settle the dis pute shall be terminated thereupon. 
 
Article 74. Suspension of th e procurements procedure 
 
(1) Upon receipt of the claim within the establishe d term the Agency may order, acting upon on 
the request of the claimant supplier or on its own initiative, to suspend the conclusion/execution of the 
public procurements contract, if su ch claim is substantial and contai ns statements which are shown to 
confirm that: GPA/ACC/MDA/5 
Page 62  
 
  (a) the supplier would suffer damage without such suspension; 
 
(b) there exists a probability to satisfy the claim; 
 
(c) the suspension would cause no damage to the parties involved in the procurements 
procedure. 
 
(2) The Agency shall order the suspension as per Paragraph (1) till the examination of the claim 
is terminated for any of the reasons specified in  Article 73 Paragraph (9).  Upon expiry of the 
suspension term specified herein the Contracting Authority must conclude the public procurements 
contract according to the requirements specified in Article 47. 
 
(3) The suspension shall not apply where the Agency considers that urgent public interests, such 
as:  national defense and security, operation of public  institutions, provision of public services, require 
the continuation of the procurements.  
SECTION 2.  RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE INFRINGEMENT OF THE PUBLIC 
PROCUREMENT LAW 
 
Article 75. The forms of responsibility 
 
The infringements of the public procurements legislation may result in the disciplinary 
(including the financial), civil, administrative and penal responsibility according to the legislation in 
force. 
[Art. 75 amended by the PL 77 of 12.04.12, MO 103/29.05.12 art. 347] 
 
CHAPTER X 
CONCLUDING AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 76. Coming into effect. Term inations. The Government's obligations 
 
(1) This law shall come into effect upon expi ry of three months after its publication. 
 
(2) As soon as this law comes into effect the Law on the procurement of goods, works and 
services for the state needs No. 1166-XIII of 30 April 1997 shall cease to be effective. 
 
(3) The Government shall within six months after the publication of this law: 
 
Submit suggestions to the Parliament regard ing the actions needed to bring the other 
legislation in compliance with this law; 
 
Bring its regulations in compliance with this law; 
 
Ensure the development and approval of th e regulations provided for in this law. 
 
THE CHAIRMAN OF THE PARLIAMENT    Marian LUPU 
 
Chisinau, 13 April 2007 
 
No. 96-XVI. 
__________  
The Laws of the Republic of Moldova 
96/13.04.2007 Law on public procurements //Monitorul Oficial 107-111/470, 27.07.2007  
__________