Preparation of new public procurement law planned in 2017 – Full harmonization with EU directives necessary

The director of the Public Procurement Office of Serbia, Predrag Jovanovic, has stated that, in 2017, a new law on public procurement procedures will start being prepared in order to fully harmonize the procedures with the new EU directives in this area.

– We will also work on improving the public procurement practice. It is necessary to utilize the criterion of “economically most favorable offer” to a greater extent, as its use amounts to only 14% here, whereas, in the EU, it reaches 80% – Jovanovic said for Beta on the occasion of the announcement of the opening of Chapter 5 in Serbia's accession negotiations with the EU, which pertains to public procurement.

As he explained, the criterion enables the purchase of better and more enduring products, which, as a rule, tend to pay off more than the cheapest ones, which require higher exploitation, repair and replacement expenses.

– For example, electricity savings in energy efficient light sources can be several times bigger than the difference in the purchase price compared to conventional light sources – Jovanovic said.

He reminded that the EU report on Serbia's progress assessed that the legal framework for the public procurement area, especially the Public Procurement Law, was largely in line with the EU directives.

– European officials have also noted that significant reforms have been carried out in the past period and that progress has been made in the area of public procurement and that this is the reason to reach the decision on opening Chapter 5 – Jovanovic said.

He announced that the Public Procurement Office would pay special attention to encouraging a more encompassing implementation of framework agreements increasing the cost-effectiveness of public procurement procedures.

– Framework agreements enable a single procedure based on which several contracts are signed to be carried out in place of several procedures. This increases the cost-effectiveness considerably – Jovanovic pointed out.

According to him, the Office will prepare the models and carry out training programs, thereby helping procuring entities to carry out procedures more quickly.

– The average duration of open procedures has been reduced from 77 days in 2015 to 61 days in 2016. Further reduction of the duration of procedures will increase the efficiency of state authorities – Jovanovic said.

As he added, the plan for the next year is to also determine what the obstacles are that cause the number of bidders per tender to be below three.

Jovanovic pointed out that they would strive to facilitate the process of detecting and examining irregularities through a more efficient exchange of data and estimated that one of the key factors in suppressing law violations in public procurement procedures were effective penal measures by the judicial system.

The Public Procurement Office currently has 28 employees, and expert analyses have shown that the optimal number is 36. One of the recommendations made by the European Union pertains to improving the public procurement system in Serbia by strengthening institutional capacities, especially the Public Procurement Office.

Public procurement procedures in Serbia amount to a total of RSD 300 billion. In the first half of 2016, RSD 154.4 billion was spent on public procurement procedures, which amounts to 8% of the GDP.

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Predrag Jovanovic

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Public Procurement Law

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accession negotiations between Serbia and the EU

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