Marina Trepova, partner Siegel HR, business coach, member of the NGO "Transparent Procurement", the coordinator of the State Enterprise "Nova Kraina" (the experience of procurement management for more than ten years):
In Ukraine there is a situation, where the profession "procurement specialist" exists, but to learn it nowhere. The vast majority of people who rely on the money available to the firm, company or state, do not have to do any special education or knowledge.
When I discuss this issue with the representatives of national Universities, Business Schools, they answer, that such education is no demand.
Therefore, there are no corresponding Programs. Indeed, in a period of growth, a few people think about spending, all busy collecting revenues.
But, according to the laws of the economy, the decline begins the rise, and then the companies are starting to consider what and how much money is spent. Here and there is a demand for professional buyers.
Now for buyers on the Ukrainian market are only some Trainings available. But in this case, the offer for 90% of the training devoted to the technique of hard negotiation and communication skills.
Even if we analyze the offers for buyers training, we will not find in them of such important knowledge as category management, the selection of contractors for the criterion-scale assessments, preparation of the tender, the creation of specifications, risk assessment, to determine the effectiveness of contractors.
We do not find a comprehensive Training Programs. Our market is not needed of such knowledge. More important, unfortunately, "squeeze", "put the squeeze" and get a "kickbacks". Many do not understand that the buyer - it is the same profession, like many others, with their tools, secrets, approaches.
For such professional are important: skills to go into details and analyze, knowledge of the market of goods and services, business understanding and, of course, good communication skills.
And about learning to buyers, working in the public sector, no one even thinks. In Ukraine, in public procurement involving about 100 thousand people, the volume of purchases is about 250 billion USD.
These people not only do not have special education, many of them even the most basic courses are not passed. The majority of government officials simply do not know how to competently carry out this work.
On professionalism in the field of public procurement are very much spoken foreign partners from different EU Institutions. They suggest that due to a lack of knowledge in this area it may be a lot of errors and, as a result, lost a huge portion of the budget.
In the discussion of the EU consultants in the field of public procurement reforms, pay attention to the need for the professionalization of the profession in the public sector, education buyers.
It is good that as one of the priorities for 2016, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade has provided "the professionalization of buyers." It is important that such projects have already started to implement this year.
To exit from this situation should begin to implement the training Program of Public Buyers. Higher Education Institutions and Business Schools need to create such a program. For this purpose, with high probability it will be possible to attract grants from foreign partners.
It is important that business managers and personnel departments need to understand buyers instruction. You want to know how effective is it? Just calculate how much will save 10-15% of the budget for company. Such purchaser to achieve results very easily, as practice shows.
I dream of the day when the question of who I work with, I can say with pride: "Purchaser", and not wait for the replica: "So that work there, get "kickbacks" - and it’s all". For this I work.
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