eProcurement for domestic and cross-border trade: experience of GPA Parties from transition economies

Event Details

Please access the 25 March 2025 EBRD GPA seminar recording below (please click on the image)

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in collaboration with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat, is organizing a hybrid capacity-building seminar on the occasion of the plenary meeting of the WTO Committee on Government Procurement (CGP) scheduled for 26 March 2025. The seminar, "eProcurement for domestic and cross-border trade: experience of GPA Parties from transition economies" will take place on 25 March 2025 and will bring together representatives of the GPA Parties and Members with commitments to start negotiations to accede to the Agreement. The seminar is aimed at enhancing the understanding of GPA provisions related to use of electronic procurement tools with the view of achieving efficiency in domestic and cross-border procurement procedures.

The WTO's Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) 2012 provides a framework for reciprocal market access while setting policy and governance standards for public procurement markets. For transition economies, engagement with the GPA 2012 —either as observers or through accession negotiations—creates opportunities to modernize national public procurement systems, enhance transparency, and integrate domestic procurement markets into global trade networks.

In 2012, the EBRD initiated a collaborative technical cooperation program with the WTO Secretariat, the EBRD GPA Technical Cooperation Facility, to enhance private sector competitiveness and facilitate cross-border trade in transition economies. Recognizing the benefits of the GPA 2012 membership for transition economies —such as improved governance, enhanced trade opportunities, and stronger economic integration—the EBRD GPA Technical Cooperation Facility is actively supporting governments with interest or commitment to open negotiations.

Through targeted technical assistance provided by the EBRD, five transition economies successfully acceded to the GPA 2012: Armenia, Montenegro, Moldova, Ukraine, and most recently, in 2023 North Macedonia. Albania is currently advancing its GPA 2012 negotiations with EBRD support. Other EBRD countries of operations, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Türkiye, have benefited from capacity building initiatives. With the EBRD expanding its banking operations in Africa, in 2024 the EBRD GPA TC Facility became open to interested Members from Sub-Saharan economies.

Russian interpretation will be available.

Agenda

March 25, 2025

Main Schedule

09:00 - 09:20

Registration

09:30 - 09:35

Welcome remarks

Eliza Niewiadomska

Reto Malacrida

09:35 - 09:50

Keynote presentation 'Amazon.gov: Benefits and Risks of E-Marketplaces in Public Procurement'

Desiree Klingler

09:50 - 10:00

Q&A

10:00 - 10:20

E-procurement and open data under the GPA 2012

Presentation by the WTO Secretariat

Astghik Solomonyan

10:20 - 10:40

Ukraine: Leveraging eProcurement to Drive Transparency and Economic Growth, and Post-War Recovery in Ukraine

Mykola Tkachenko

10:40 - 11:00

Montenegro: E-procurement as a tool for reforming public spending

Jelena Jovetic

11:00 - 11:20

Moldova: eProcurement in the cross-border trade challenges

Ana Luca

11:20 - 11:40

E-Procurement in North Macedonia in the context of the GPA accession

Biljana Dodevska

Katerina Popovska

11:40 - 11:55

Q&A

11:55 - 12:00

Closing remarks

Eliza Niewiadomska

Speakers

Eliza Niewiadomska

Senior Counsel, Legal Transition Programme at EBRD

Reto Malacrida

Counsellor and Head of the Government Procurement and Competition Policy Group at WTO

Astghik Solomonyan

Legal Affairs Officer at WTO Secretariat

Desiree Klingler

Assistant Professor of Public Law at University of St.Gallen

Ana Luca

Deputy Secretary General at Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Moldova

Mykola Tkachenko

CEO of SoE Prozorro

Jelena Jovetic

Directorate General of Directorate for Public Procurement Policy at Ministry of finance

Biljana Dodevska

State Counsellor for International Trade Cooperation at Ministry of Economy

Katerina Popovska

Head of Unit for European Affairs and International Relations at Public Procurement Bureau of the North Macedonia

Reto Malacrida is a distinguished legal professional with over two decades of experience in international trade and competition law. Currently serving as Counsellor at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland, Reto leads the Government Procurement and Competition Policy Group. His role involves providing strategic counsel on complex legal matters, contributing significantly to the organization's mission of fostering fair and open trade relations among member nations.
Prior to this, Reto spent twenty years at the WTO as a Senior Dispute Settlement Lawyer, where he played a key role in resolving trade disputes and upholding the principles of the multilateral trading system. Alongside his work at the WTO, Reto is also dedicated to academia, serving as a part-time University Lecturer at prestigious institutions such as Universität St.Gallen (HSG), Université catholique de Lyon, and the University of Zurich, where he imparts his expertise on international trade and business law. With his profound understanding of legal intricacies and commitment to education, Reto Malacrida continues to make significant contributions to both the legal profession and academic discourse in the field of international trade.

Assistant Professor of Public Law, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland; International & Interdisciplinary Editor

Désirée Klingler is conducting research at the intersection of law & economics with a focus on public economic law (including public procurement and competition law), climate law and international trade law. In her research and teaching, she takes a comparative law approach, comparing legal developments in the United States, the European Union and Switzerland. Désirée Klingler is editor of the EPPPL Section “International & Interdisciplinary” since 2022 and was part of the core drafting team of the Guide on “Sustainable Development Goals for Public Private Partnerships” of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). For her paper (co-authored with Steven Schooner) on using behavioral economics to promote sustainable procurement, she was awarded the TED Ambassador Award by the European Commission.

Before her professorship, Désirée Klingler was a practicing lawyer in New York, advising clients on project finance of renewable energy projects and climate disclosures. She received her LL.M. from Yale Law School and was a visiting researcher at U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business and Copenhagen Business School. Previously, Désirée Klingler was teaching in the European Master in Law and Economics (EMLE) at the University of Hamburg, Germany, worked as senior public sector consultant and at the Swiss Federal Administrative Court.

On 5th July 2023, by decision of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, Ms Luca Ana was appointed Deputy General Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.

Ms Luca pursued her higher education at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, earning a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of General Economics and Law between 2007 and 2011. She later completed two master’s programmes: one in Financial and Fiscal Law at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (2011–2013) and another in Management at the Academy of Public Administration (2012–2014).

Her professional career began as a lawyer at S.E. Moldagroteh in 2011–2012. She then joined the Customs Service, where she held various positions over the years. From 2012 to 2015, she served as the Main Auditor of the Internal Audit Directorate, followed by a promotion to Acting Head of the Internal Audit Directorate in 2015–2016. She subsequently became Head of the Internal Audit Directorate, a position she held from 2016 until her appointment as Deputy General Secretary of the Ministry of Finance in 2023.

Jelena Jovetic is the Director General of the Directorate for Public Procurement Policy in Montenegro. With extensive experience in public administration and procurement, she has been a leading figure in modernizing and reforming Montenegro's public procurement framework. Jelena's work focuses on enhancing transparency, efficiency, and compliance within procurement processes, ensuring alignment with international standards and best practices. Her leadership has been pivotal in promoting fair competition and fostering sustainable procurement initiatives. Jelena Jovetic's dedication to improving public procurement systems has significantly contributed to Montenegro's economic development and integration into global trade networks.

Ms. Dodevska holds bachelor’s degree in economics from the Faculty of Economics in Skopje. She works in the Ministry of Economy for 24 years, and her professional background as civil servant is mostly devoted to international trade. Her career has continuously advanced, starting as Adviser for bilateral trade cooperation in 1999, then Assistant Head of Department for Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation in 2001, Head of Department for Internal Market in 2006, reaching to the position of State Counselor for International Trade Cooperation in 2008. Ever since, she is a full
power coordinator of trade topics and Working groups in WTO, including the trade policy review of the Republic of North Macedonia to the accession in WTO.
She is a head of Chapter 30 External relations-in the EU accession negotiations, and represents the common commercial policy-WTO and other horizontal trade aspects of the Republic of North Macedonia at the meetings of the EU Subcommittee for Trade, Industry, Customs and Taxation with the EC for Chapter 30, coordinates IPA-related activities, UNCTAD assistance, USAID pre-assessment missions on trade facilitation, as well participates in the negotiating processes of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements. Since 2017 she is part of the successful negotiation team for the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to the WTO Agreement on
Public Procurement (GPA).

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

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Event Details

Please access the 25 March 2025 EBRD GPA seminar recording below (please click on the image)