State Procurement Agency

The State Procurement Agency (SPA) was established under Decree No.583 by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic dated May 16, 1997 to carry out state policy in the field of procurement of goods (works and services) purchased by state funds and its duties were determined by the Charter approved by Decree No.855 by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic dated February 20, 2003 according to the requirements of article 4 of the Law “On public procurements”. According to the Charter, SPA is charged with the following duties: establishment and improvement of the normative-legal base regulating public procurement in the Republic of Azerbaijan; ensuring control over the legality of procurement of goods (works and services) purchased by state funds on the basis of tender and implementation of agreements; carrying out measurements as provided by the legislation to improve the qualification level of specialists of procurement organizations in the field of public procurement; creation of a public procurement data base; as well as the implementation of other duties as determined by the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.  The first normative document – Charter “On procurement of goods (works and services) by budgetary organizations” regulating public procurement in the Republic of Azerbaijan was approved by Decree No.524 by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated December 19, 1996;on February 11, 1997 the Law of  Azerbaijan Republic “On tender” was passed; and on April 7, 1997, the Decree by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic on the application of the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic “On tender”was signed.  During the application period of the above mentioned documents, by gaining the knowledge and experience in this field and taking into consideration the current documents of several European Union countries on public procurement,   the World Bank’s recommendations, and clauses of agreement required by the World Trade Organization on public procurements,  SPA prepared a new Bill“On Public Procurements”; this Bill was passed by Milli Mejlis on December 27,2001 and came into force under Decree No.668 by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic dated 29 January, 2002 on application of the Law “On public procurement”.  According to this Decree, all public procurement in the amount of 250 (two hundred and fifty) million AZN and more must be carried out through open tender.  If the assumed price of goods (works and services) is less than the amount of 250 (two hundred and fifty) million AZN, the procurement organization is free to use any possible procurement method.