Opening procurement both ways

Public procurement is one of the largest markets in any economy and it is normally closed to foreign suppliers unless an agreement opens it. Ukraine has such agreements in both directions and remarkably few companies use them.

What access exists

Accession to the international agreement on government procurement, which opens covered contracts in the member countries to Ukrainian suppliers on non-discriminatory terms.

And the procurement provisions of the association agreement, which progressively open European public contracts to Ukrainian bidders as the national system aligns.

The reciprocal side is that European suppliers can bid here, which they do.

Why few Ukrainian firms bid abroad

Not because access is denied. Because bidding for a foreign public contract requires document sets certified to that country's requirements, financial statements in a recognised format, references from comparable contracts, and frequently a local presence or partner.

Each of those is achievable and none is achievable in the three weeks before a tender closes.

What a company should do

Prepare the document pack in advance and keep it current: audited accounts, certifications, insurance, references, tax and social security clearances. Most disqualifications are documentary.

Start with contracts near the border and in a language you can work in, and with subcontracting to an established bidder rather than leading a bid.

The reason to bother

Reconstruction will be procured under these rules, with international bidders participating. A Ukrainian company that has learned to bid in the European system will be competing on familiar ground while its domestic competitors are learning the procedure.

What reciprocity really means is that a Ukrainian firm can bid abroad too — and very few do, for reasons of habit rather than capability: preparing a foreign tender file is a skill that has to be learned. I learned it over time myself. It is worth the trouble because once learned, the same file works in every country.