How cities can become procurement champions: Guidance inspired by Mariupol, Ukraine

Public services provided at the municipal level are often more tangible to citizens than procurement at the state or national level: the quality of schools, parks, and roads relates directly to residents’ quality of life. Ukraine offers a unique procurement case study at the national and local level.

This guide is based on a comprehensive data analysis of Mariupol’s public procurement reforms, and qualitative interviews with procurement officers and other professionals who have been integral to the reform process. The goal of this guide is to illustrate how transparency can be combined with efficiency in procurement to benefit all major stakeholders of municipal procurement — citizens, businesses, and local governments. The guide offers an overview of Mariupol’s reform process from developing a roadmap to implementation, focusing on key challenges and insights at each stage of this process. At the end of each section, we offer insights and actionable recommendations for other municipal procurement reformers.