Some 70 representatives of the Federal and Regional Business Ombudsmen offices from 23 regions of the Russian Federation, representatives of municipal authorities of the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as representatives of business and lawyers’ associations participated in the workshop on “Corruption risks in the provision of public services and in the procurement process” held on 18 May 2018 in Kazan.

The objective of the workshop was two-fold: 1) to present main findings and recommendations of the studies on “Corruption risks in the area of public services provided to business entities" and “Corruption practices affecting the procurement process at the municipal level in the Russian Federation” prepared by the Council of Europe international and national experts with the input of the respective Expert Working Groups consisting of representatives of beneficiary institutions and covering six project pilot regions during the first year of project implementation; and 2) discuss the methodology and questionnaires used to prepare the studies in order to further adjust them on the basis of lessons learned and feedback received from the participants for the next phase of the project that entails expanding the studies to cover nine new pilot regions.

Opening speeches were delivered by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, Head of Office of the Federal Ombudsman for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs of the Russian Federation, Deputy Head of the Department for Anti-Corruption Policies of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Business Ombudsman at the President of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in the Russian Federation.

The participants took active part in the workshop and provided valuable input in discussions on corruption risks and factors in provision of public services to business entities and procurement processes at the municipal level as well as the methodology and questionnaires to be used in the new nine pilot regions with the aim to expand and finalise the current Technical Papers.