Preferential amendment and cases of its application

The Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Public Procurement of Goods (Works, Services)" provides legal entities with the opportunity to apply a preferential amendment.

A preferential amendment is the granting of preference to goods (works, services) offered by participants (para. 14, art. 1 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus of July 13, 2012 No. 419-Z "On Public Procurement of Goods (Works, Services)").

A preferential amendment is applied only in open and closed tenders, electronic auctions, and price quotation procedures (part 1, subpara. 1.5, para. 1 of the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of June 15, 2019 No. 395). When conducting a single-source procurement procedure, as well as exchange trading, a preferential amendment is not applied.

During inspections by the prosecutor's office, the correctness of determining the size of the preferential amendment is also assessed.

Thus, a preferential amendment is granted in the amount of:

15% - in cases of offering:

  • goods produced by the participant, originating from Belarus and/or countries that are granted national treatment in the sphere of public procurement in Belarus in accordance with international treaties of the Republic of Belarus (national treatment in the sphere of public procurement is granted only to the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Russian Federation);
  • works, services of own production by organizations of Belarus, in which the number of disabled people is at least 50% of the nominal staff, provided that the share of labor remuneration of disabled people in the total wage fund of such organizations for the three calendar months preceding the date of offer submission is at least 20%;
  • works, services of own production by institutions and enterprises of the penal system, therapeutic labor facilities, and medical production workshops;
25% - in the case of the participant offering goods of own production by organizations of Belarus, in which the number of disabled people is at least 50% of the nominal staff, provided that the share of labor remuneration of disabled people in the total

of the labor cost of such organizations for the three calendar months preceding the date of submission of the proposal, is at least 20%.

The conditions for applying the preferential margin are not always reflected in the tender documents.

In this regard, it is advisable to indicate in the tender, auction documents, documents provided to a legal entity or individual, including an individual entrepreneur, for the preparation of a proposal for participation in the price quotation request procedure, the size of the preferential margin, the cases in which it applies, and the list of documents confirming the right to apply the preferential margin.

The application of the preferential margin to the price of the proposed goods (works, services) is the right of the participant, which they may not exercise. In the absence of a statement of the right to apply the preferential margin in the established form, the participant will be considered as not having declared such a right, and, consequently, the preferential margin will not be applied to the price of the proposal of such participant, even if supporting documents are submitted.

For reference: The Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade has provided clarifications on the application of the preferential margin in public procurement in letter No. 14-01-08/3530 K.

Deputy Vitebsk Transport Prosecutor E.A. Kazakova