Podgorica 5 April 2016 – In the premises of the Public Procurement Administration a meeting was held with representatives of the OSCE department for the coordination of economic policies and activities to preserve the environment (OCEEA) and the department of the OSCE Office for democratic institutions and Human rights. Meeting was chaired by Director of Public Procurement Administration PhD Mersad Mujević. The theme of the meeting was related to regional research defined by the title “Money and Politics”, which essentially relies on the legal framework for the prevention of corruption, conflict of interest, administrative and financial resources and so on.
The PPA Director PhD Mersad Mujević, introduced the guests to the present position of public procurement policy in our country, especially referring to the following aspects:
- that public procurement is an important component of any modern economy, and that over the years the sound management of public procurement has become a key determinant of good governance and progress of the country,
- that Chapter 5 Public Procurement was opened on 18 December 2013 and that for its closing, the themes that were open at that day’s meeting were exactly the obligations pertaining to of the future legislative development of the Montenegrin public procurement policy,
- the current situation in Montenegro, regarding the anti-corruption policy and conflicts of interest,
- institutional framework,
- project activities (e-public procurement, management of PMF and monitoring of the system with WB),
- legal protection and other issues.
Mr Mujević emphasized the reference to the anti-corruption policy and the policy of conflict of interest, stressing that corruption and organized crime is one of the greatest threats to the rule of law and the development of modern democratic society. He also added that public procurement system in Montenegro, as is the case with all other countries, has been recognized as an area of particular risk of corruption, which is noted in the number of documents made by the Government of Montenegro (Strategy for the Fight against Corruption and Organized Crime and Risk Assessment of Corruption in Areas of Particular Risk). Bearing in mind that through this system between a quarter and a fifth of the annual budget are spent, it is necessary to further strengthen and improve the existing legal and institutional framework and practice, in order to reduce corruption in public procurement to a minimum.
The law stipulates a special chapter which includes measures concerning the prevention i.e. anti-corruption policy and policy of conflicts of interest in public procurement on both sides, of contracting authorities and the bidders. The Law also provides for the suppression of irregularities in procurement which should be conducted through a variety of measures that permeate all stages of the procurement process: planning, implementation of the public procurement procedures and execution of contracts. That is why the question of combating irregularities and the fight against corruption cannot be considered as the sole issue of the implementation of some specific anti-corruption measures, but as a goal to be achieved through various aspects of the reform of the public procurement system, such as increasing transparency.
The part concerning “green” public procurement in Montenegro was emphasized, and it had been defined by the criterion most economically advantageous tender where the specified criteria can be based, inter alia, on the following sub-criteria: program and the level of environmental protection, or energy efficiency, the running costs of maintenance and cost effectiveness.
On behalf of the PPA, the meeting was attended by the Assistant Director of the PPA Mrs Mara Bogavac, who emphasized the importance of transparency of the public procurement Portal, which, among other things, contains also very important pieces of secondary legislation, emphasizing the content of tender documents that clearly define conflict of interest and the obligation on the bidders and contracting authorities (statement of integrity) as well as the penalties provided for non-compliance of these norms.
Apart from Mrs Bogavac, the meeting was also attended by the PPA officer Ms Nerma Kalac.
In addition to the mentioned delegation, the meeting was attended, with active participation, by Mr Mato Meyer, Mr Adrian Muntean (from OSCE Secretariat in Vienna), Ms Emily Patterson, Mr Miloš Uljarević and Mr Srđan Ćetković (from the OSCE Mission in Montenegro).
The conclusions of the meeting-visit:
- to present the results of the PPA through a functional questionnaire that OSCE and ODIHR will provide us with, which will be elaborated by the PPA by the end of the following week;
- Continuation of cooperation through the modalities of conferences, round tables, exchange of literature and others
From the meeting
PR Service of the PPA
