Podgorica; At the initiative of the Public Procurement Administration and the Ministry of European Affairs, a sectorial meeting between the representatives of the PPA and the NGOs, who are representatives of the Working Group for Chapter V, was held on 19 January 2018.  The meeting was attended by the Director of the PPA – Ph D Mersad Mujević, the Assistant Director of the PPA – Ms Mara Bogavac, Adviser at the PPA – Ms Nerma Kalač, the Secretary of the Ministry of European Affairs – Ms Marina Vujačić, Ms Milena Uskoković from the Directorate for Accession to the EU – Ministry of European Affairs, Ms Ana Banović from the Ministry of Finance, Ms Ana Đurnić from the Institute Alternativa, Mr Milenko Vojičić from the AYDM (Association of Youth with Disabilities) and Ms Bojana Kalezić from Montenegro Business Alliance.

In his opening statement, Mr Mersad Mujević expressed his gratitude to the NGO sector for a good cooperation through initiatives, comments and suggestions that various NGOs have been submitting to the PPA, which represent an indicator of a successful cooperation. In his analysis of the activities related to the EU Accession Program of Montenegro, Mr Mujević highlighted that the country adopted the Strategy for Development of the Public Procurement System for the period 2016-2020, and stated that the PPA implemented or partially implemented the most of the activities foreseen by the Strategy.

The Coordination Body for monitoring the implementation of the Strategy holds its sessions regularly and monitors, collects and analyzes information related to the measures taken in the field of public procurement, monitors the implementation of measures from the Strategy and its Action Plan.
The six-month and annual reports on the work of the Coordination Body are submitted to the Government of Montenegro for consideration and adoption, and the same is available on the website of the Government and the Public Procurement Administration.

Director Mujević informed the attendees that the narrow expert working group prepared the Draft Public Procurement Law which has been published at the website of the Public Procurement Administration, and that the wider working group is currently submitting their proposals and suggestions which will be included in the final version of the Draft Law, so that it can undergo an extensive public debate until the end of January 2018.

Accordingly, a set of implementing acts will be prepared. The Head of the Working Group also informed the attendees on the progress of the Project related to introduction of e-procurement. He stated that the Project is currently in a bid-opening phase. He announced that it will be necessary to work with the relevant institutions on accelerating the process of adoption of two important laws: The Law on Concessions and the Law on Public-private Partnerships. In the follow-up, Director Mujević informed the participants about the administrative capacities of all three institutions and stated that the necessary capacities had been clearly defined but that they have to be further enhanced and supported by the budget.

PR Service of the PPA