Frequent problems of those who won the Gostender
So, you decided to make money on the state contract. You register on the State Service website, then - in the Unified Information System in the field of procurement , accredit yourself on electronic platforms, open a special account in a bank and already anticipate a victory in tendering on an electronic platform, large contracts and huge profits.
This is all true, but there are a couple of pitfalls. The procurement world is cruel to those who read TK poorly, and small businesses and start-ups often do this very often.
In general, at the place where you are ready to submit an application for participation in the tender, it is worthwhile to slow down a little and carefully look around. It may turn out that your closest competitors are still calculating losses after the government procurement rake that they stepped on inexperience before you.
I will try to describe the most common problems and how to work with them.
The state contract is often not only big budgets, but also big responsibilities. Before vigorously diving headlong into this very specific type of business, study the rules that govern bidding. Since laws and various regulations change quite often, and it is often not very clear how to interpret which norm, it is worth first of all asking for help at the trading platform . At a minimum, you will be sure that the information is up to date.
In bidding, this is critical.
Do not try to immediately win the tender for many millions of rubles. More often than not, if a particular purchase seems to you to be very “tasty” and completely free from competition, then re-read the conditions especially carefully. Almost certainly there will be some very specific items that can then hurt your budget. Always check who was the supplier before you. It will be very unpleasant if, after winning the tender, you see that before you, a larger contractor failed this task and got into the “black list”.
Principle number 1: use the search on zakupki.gov.ru and be sure to study the canceled and completed tenders of your customer. This will help to decide whether to take this task at all.
First, decide how much money you may need to start working on the project. Unlike commercial tenders, where you most often immediately begin work on a project after signing a contract, in the field of public procurement the contractor's duties may include depositing funds to ensure the execution of the contract and securing applications. Moreover, the amounts can be very inhumane. The amount of security cannot exceed 30% of the contract price and is usually approximately 10%. That is, you can very well see a tender with a maximum price of 90 million rubles and collateral of 20 million. You just have to take and transfer a large amount of money to the customer's account before the completion of the contract. For many companies it will be practically impossible to withdraw such funds from circulation. To solve this problem, special financial instruments have been created, such as bank guarantees, for example.
Do not forget about the often encountered post-payment at all stages of the execution of the contract. Suppliers are constantly confronted with this problem. It will be a little easier for small businesses - according to the law they must be paid within 15 days after the execution of the contract. Everyone else will have to wait up to 30 days.
Do not forget to include in the labor costs for the preparation of documents on the tender the conduct of analytics and other stages of preparation.
Principle number 2: compare what else could be done for the amount of security, and how much it’s “painful” for you to receive money 30 days after the contract is completed. Perhaps this will mean that a strong “fall” in price will not work.
There is another very important nuance. You must promptly deliver the certificate of completion to the customer, who may have offices in the most remote corners of Russia. Immediately I advise you to carry out all these operations through electronic document management.
If for some reason you have chosen the paper version, then immediately lay the required amount for courier delivery. Urgently sending documents from Rostov somewhere to Ulan-Ude is very expensive. Due to delays in signing securities, you may receive unexpected additional costs, for example, with bank guarantees that are given for a certain period.
Be especially careful in the procedure for registration of acts of acceptance and acceptance of work. Otherwise, such unpleasant situations are possible:
Principle No. 3: we have a large country, but documents are still often needed “on paper”.
Almost nothing. Forget it.
This is a key feature of government contracts. They always have a very tight budget and requirements. You can’t change the essential terms of the contract, with a few minor exceptions, so it’s very important to study all the details of the terms of reference and the draft contract before bidding.
Principle No. 4: be careful, especially with TK and the task!
SP is personally responsible
Two Tyumen enterprises - LLC First Integrator and IP Orlov - were convicted of cartel conspiracy . They managed to apply from one IP. It is interesting that in this situation, an accessory turned out to be extreme - IP Orlov, and LLC First Integrator did not suffer punishment, since their representatives in the process admitted to conspiracy. The amount of sanctions for legal entities is from 10 to 50% of the maximum initial contract price, for officials - from 20 to 50 thousand rubles.
Check for typos
Not the most competent, and sometimes just dishonest customers make a lot of typos in the wording of the statement of work. For example, you supply printer cartridges. Or repair them. Do not forget that often you can meet " cartridges ". Here you can still sadly recall the quality of teaching the Russian language in some schools. Cartridge is also sometimes found. But the replacement of part of the letters with the Latin alphabet as a kind of obfuscation from the search engines will no longer pass. How do you like the spelling of “Captage”? The built-in search engine has already learned to ignore such letter replacements without any problems.
Whether to pay VAT
With VAT, too, not everything is clear. Some bidders use the simplified tax system or other modes that do not imply payment of VAT. However, in a resolution of October 15, 2018 in case No. 33-1406 / 2018, the AC of the East Siberian District obliged to pay the VAT of the contractor to the STS. The motivation was as follows:
Problem housing and communal services
Collusion of suppliers is definitely bad. And if they also sit from the same IP, then usually you don’t have to wait a long time to pay.
Violators face fines of up to half the amount of contracts. Spouses have won 16 auctions.
Key points that await you if you decide to work in this area:
This is all true, but there are a couple of pitfalls. The procurement world is cruel to those who read TK poorly, and small businesses and start-ups often do this very often.
In general, at the place where you are ready to submit an application for participation in the tender, it is worthwhile to slow down a little and carefully look around. It may turn out that your closest competitors are still calculating losses after the government procurement rake that they stepped on inexperience before you.
I will try to describe the most common problems and how to work with them.
State contract is a big responsibility
The state contract is often not only big budgets, but also big responsibilities. Before vigorously diving headlong into this very specific type of business, study the rules that govern bidding. Since laws and various regulations change quite often, and it is often not very clear how to interpret which norm, it is worth first of all asking for help at the trading platform . At a minimum, you will be sure that the information is up to date.
In bidding, this is critical.
Do not try to immediately win the tender for many millions of rubles. More often than not, if a particular purchase seems to you to be very “tasty” and completely free from competition, then re-read the conditions especially carefully. Almost certainly there will be some very specific items that can then hurt your budget. Always check who was the supplier before you. It will be very unpleasant if, after winning the tender, you see that before you, a larger contractor failed this task and got into the “black list”.
Principle number 1: use the search on zakupki.gov.ru and be sure to study the canceled and completed tenders of your customer. This will help to decide whether to take this task at all.
Count the money correctly
First, decide how much money you may need to start working on the project. Unlike commercial tenders, where you most often immediately begin work on a project after signing a contract, in the field of public procurement the contractor's duties may include depositing funds to ensure the execution of the contract and securing applications. Moreover, the amounts can be very inhumane. The amount of security cannot exceed 30% of the contract price and is usually approximately 10%. That is, you can very well see a tender with a maximum price of 90 million rubles and collateral of 20 million. You just have to take and transfer a large amount of money to the customer's account before the completion of the contract. For many companies it will be practically impossible to withdraw such funds from circulation. To solve this problem, special financial instruments have been created, such as bank guarantees, for example.
Do not forget about the often encountered post-payment at all stages of the execution of the contract. Suppliers are constantly confronted with this problem. It will be a little easier for small businesses - according to the law they must be paid within 15 days after the execution of the contract. Everyone else will have to wait up to 30 days.
Do not forget to include in the labor costs for the preparation of documents on the tender the conduct of analytics and other stages of preparation.
Principle number 2: compare what else could be done for the amount of security, and how much it’s “painful” for you to receive money 30 days after the contract is completed. Perhaps this will mean that a strong “fall” in price will not work.
Mail is important
There is another very important nuance. You must promptly deliver the certificate of completion to the customer, who may have offices in the most remote corners of Russia. Immediately I advise you to carry out all these operations through electronic document management.
If for some reason you have chosen the paper version, then immediately lay the required amount for courier delivery. Urgently sending documents from Rostov somewhere to Ulan-Ude is very expensive. Due to delays in signing securities, you may receive unexpected additional costs, for example, with bank guarantees that are given for a certain period.
Be especially careful in the procedure for registration of acts of acceptance and acceptance of work. Otherwise, such unpleasant situations are possible:
The acceptance certificate of the work performed did not bear the signature of the customer. There was no mark that he refused to sign this act. In the document, only a record was made about the absence of the customer representative for acceptance. In addition, the act was not sent to the customer. Did the contractor manage to collect payment for the work?
The appeal agreed with the appeal: the customer should not pay for the work. The contractor violated the work acceptance procedure. The presented act does not give grounds to recover money, because the customer did not even have the opportunity to send a reasoned refusal to sign it. The record of the client’s representative’s absence for acceptance also does not change the essence of the matter: the contract did not contain a condition that such a failure to release the contractor from the obligation to send the act.
Principle No. 3: we have a large country, but documents are still often needed “on paper”.
How to change the terms of the contract
Almost nothing. Forget it.
This is a key feature of government contracts. They always have a very tight budget and requirements. You can’t change the essential terms of the contract, with a few minor exceptions, so it’s very important to study all the details of the terms of reference and the draft contract before bidding.
Principle No. 4: be careful, especially with TK and the task!
Success stories
SP is personally responsible
Two Tyumen enterprises - LLC First Integrator and IP Orlov - were convicted of cartel conspiracy . They managed to apply from one IP. It is interesting that in this situation, an accessory turned out to be extreme - IP Orlov, and LLC First Integrator did not suffer punishment, since their representatives in the process admitted to conspiracy. The amount of sanctions for legal entities is from 10 to 50% of the maximum initial contract price, for officials - from 20 to 50 thousand rubles.
Check for typos
Not the most competent, and sometimes just dishonest customers make a lot of typos in the wording of the statement of work. For example, you supply printer cartridges. Or repair them. Do not forget that often you can meet " cartridges ". Here you can still sadly recall the quality of teaching the Russian language in some schools. Cartridge is also sometimes found. But the replacement of part of the letters with the Latin alphabet as a kind of obfuscation from the search engines will no longer pass. How do you like the spelling of “Captage”? The built-in search engine has already learned to ignore such letter replacements without any problems.
Whether to pay VAT
With VAT, too, not everything is clear. Some bidders use the simplified tax system or other modes that do not imply payment of VAT. However, in a resolution of October 15, 2018 in case No. 33-1406 / 2018, the AC of the East Siberian District obliged to pay the VAT of the contractor to the STS. The motivation was as follows:
The contract following the results of the bidding should be concluded on the announced conditions. The draft procurement documentation contract indicated that the contract price included 18% VAT, which is payable regardless of the tax system used by the seller.
Problem housing and communal services
Collusion of suppliers is definitely bad. And if they also sit from the same IP, then usually you don’t have to wait a long time to pay.
Violators face fines of up to half the amount of contracts. Spouses have won 16 auctions.
The customers were the district branches of the State Public Institution “Directorate of the Customer of Housing and Public Utilities and Improvement” State Public Institution, the Automobile Roads State Public Institution (engaged in road cleaning) and the Zhilishchnik State Public Institution (cleaning yards and sidewalks). The procurement materials include the supply of utility equipment and rental cars, but their lion's share is devoted to cleaning, transporting and removing snow in the North-Western Administrative District, as well as the maintenance of SND 900 Minipro snow melting installations.
So, the decision of the department says that the founder of "Avenue", "Komiva" and "Atlas" was Vitaly Pereslegin, he was the creator of the IP, and his wife Tatyana Pereslegin became another entrepreneur and bidder. In addition, upon request from electronic trading platforms, it became clear that all six procurement participants used the same IP addresses and computer accounts in turn when submitting applications and signing contracts.
Summary
Key points that await you if you decide to work in this area:
- Business processes may need to be rebuilt. The business processes of public procurement and procurement in the field of conventional commerce are very different.
- Practice procurement for small amounts. You will get used to the process and earn some reputation, which will then allow you to go further.
- Do not forget about bank guarantees. Without them, large funds will have to be withdrawn from circulation, and a reserve will be needed. Collateral is required and there will always be postpay.
- Take care of operational communication and workflow.
- Read the procurement documentation and each clause of the contract very carefully. There may be surprises.
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