Planning Procurements Without a Clear Need

Planning for the procurement of unnecessary goods/services often involves the acquisition of atypical items, works, or services for a specific category of buyers. For instance, a school may procure database creation services.

A real-world example would be the “Shymkent City Specialized Children and Youth Sports School of Olympic Reserve No. 4 named after Lyazzat Tazhiyeva,” which procured 11 recreational boats for 35 million tenge in 2022. This is an atypical procurement for a school but one that could potentially be justified.

To identify this type of risk, organizations should:

• Examine procurement plans to compile a list of plans for the category of buyers being studied.
• Conduct an expert evaluation of potential discrepancies/atypical procurements.
• Access external information sources to confirm or refute the instances of misuse.

For detecting such violations, one can use the public module “Data Analysis of Kazakhstan’s Public  Procurements”:

1. Identifying the Target Category of Buyers for Study: For effective procurement analysis, it is advisable to focus on a specific category of contracting entities or line items within procurement plans. Possible directions for categorization include:
   • Geographic Cohort: You may be monitoring procurements within your local jurisdiction.
   • Functional Cohort: You may specialize in analyzing procurements by schools, hospitals, or local government offices.
   • Methodology-Based Cohort: You may be interested in line items that employ non-competitive procurement methods.
2. Compilation of Procurement Plans for the Target Group of Buyers: Utilize a “Line Item Table” to assemble a sample set from the group of contracting entities you are studying. For example, apply a filter on the term “school” to select all entities mentioning schools in their name. This will result in a compiled list of all line items in procurement plans for this category of contracting entities for further analysis.
3. Atypical Procurements of Interest: Pay attention to procurements that stand out within the category of contracting entities due to large sums and a low number of similar line items among other organizations in the same category.
4. Availability of Line Item References: Having access to references linked to specific line items in the procurement plans will allow for an assessment of the volume of goods or services being procured, thus facilitating the demand evaluation process.
5. Need for External Data Sources: External sources of information on the organization’s activities are essential for confirming or refuting the identified procurement needs.

For a more detailed understanding of how to use the public business analytics module for procurement oversight, you can refer to the webinar materials on “Public Monitoring of Government Procurements in the Republic of Kazakhstan” (instructional segment from 1:52:02 to 2:16:00).