Montenegrin officials from the public procurement system are not worried about the evaluations of the European Commission in this area, they even claim that visible progress has been achieved.
In the new EC report for Montenegro, it was indicated that in the field of public procurement, "additional efforts are needed to prevent corruption during the procurement cycle".
The EC also states that Montenegro is moderately prepared in this area. It was pointed out that EU rules ensure that public procurement of goods, services and works in any member state are transparent and open to all companies from the EU, that they are carried out on the basis of non-discrimination and equal treatment".
Director of the Public Procurement Administration, Mersad Mujević, points out that he considers the EC Report on Public Procurement for 2016 to be very positive and guiding, as evidenced by, he claims, "the assessment of permanent progress in meeting the criteria from Chapter 5, which were approved in the same".
Mujević claims that the procurement procedure is generally transparent
"With the beginning of the implementation of the new Public Procurement Strategy for the period 2016-2020. progress has been made. During the reporting period, certain regulations on standard forms and sub-criteria for selecting the best offer were revised. The capacity of contracting authorities to manage public procurement processes has been improved. Planning, preparation and implementation of public procurement is generally in accordance with the principles of transparency and efficiency", says Mujević. He adds that the Administration's capacity to promote and implement regulations on public procurement and monitoring of the public procurement market has continued to improve.
He pointed out that the certification and training program in public procurement are updated every calendar year.
"The regulatory and institutional framework related to mechanisms of integrity and conflicts of interest in public procurement has been established. The Rulebook on risk analysis methodology in the exercise of control in public procurement procedures was adopted, which represents a very positive development in the public procurement policy in Montenegro," Mujević claims.
He says that he perceives the EC Report as a useful guide in which direction to continue work on reforms in this very demanding area.
He adds that it was noted that Montenegro should persevere in reforms and, in accordance with the Action Plan from the Strategy, in the coming period, make additional efforts to strengthen the capacity for implementation, enforcement and prevention of corruption during the procurement cycle.
"One cycle essentially consists of activities that start with procurement planning and end with management, i.e. contract implementation. Montenegro has developed capacities through the institution of the Public Procurement Inspectorate at the Directorate for Inspection Affairs, where relevant statistics indicate good work related to all phases of the public procurement cycle. In addition to the institution, we also have guidelines on how and in what way this is done and implemented in practice," said Mujević.
The total contracted value of public procurement in Montenegro for 2015 was 428.890.701 euros, a third more than in 2014.
The share of the total contracted value of public procurement in GDP for the period from 2011 to 2015 ranges from 8,3 percent in 2013 to 11,89 percent in 2015.
Živković: At the Commission, everything is public and transparent
The President of the State Commission for Control of the Public Procurement Procedure, Zoran Živković, says that they are not the address to comment on and monitor EU reports, but the Directorate for Public Procurement.
"We are the controlling body for legal protection in public procurement procedures. With us, everything is public and transparent, and every decision can be seen on the website", stated Živković.
He noted that the drafting of the new Law on Public Procurement is underway, which they expect will eliminate some current bad solutions in the regulation.
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