Within the framework of the PRECOP II project the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Office of the Business Ombudsperson of the Smolensk region held a training on “Good governance practices and measures to prevent corruption in procurement process at municipal level in the Russian Federation”. The two day training took place on 20-21 May 2019 in Smolensk, Russian Federation. This was the fourth and final activity in a series of trainings aimed at enhancing capacities of regional and municipal authorities and other relevant stakeholders to prevent corruption in procurement process in line with applicable international standards and good practices.

Over 30 representatives of the Federal and Regional Business Ombudspersons’ offices from 6 project pilot regions, regional and municipal authorities as well as representatives of business were trained by the Council of Europe experts to identify typical corruption schemes and red flags in the procurement process and to implement efficient preventive measures based on good international and Russian practices. The participants also analysed cases of typical corrupt practices as identified through the earlier study conducted by the project in the pilot regions, shared experience and discussed various aspects of implementation of Russian legislation on procurement and relevant international good practices.

The training was conducted on the basis of the training Handbook “Good governance practices and measures to prevent corruption in procurement process at municipal level in the Russian Federation”, specifically developed by Council of Europe experts within the framework of the PRECOP II project. The Handbook can be used to consolidate participants’ knowledge acquired through trainings and to train their peers (multiplier effect). It can also serve as a reference for entrepreneurs, lawyers and relevant specialists in the field of public procurement.