The adoption of the Law on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is important for the state because it will contribute to attracting new investments, but also to budgetary stability, it was assessed at the conference entitled Better Business Environment for Faster Growth and Development of the Economy. Domagoj Dodig from the Croatian Agency for Investments and Competitiveness believes that a stable regulatory framework is very important, because this law will not last as long as a political option, but much longer. "PPP is defined as a procurement model for infrastructure projects, and in the public it is often defined as Public-Private Robbery", said Dodig at the conference organized by the Montenegro Business Alliance and the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (IPER). He said that 16 PPP projects are in the operational phase in Croatia, with a total value of 338 million euros. Dragutin Nenezić, a consultant from Serbia, says that there is no successful PPP for roads in Serbia, so you should be careful. "The public is very important and you should take advantage of that," said Nenezić. He believes that it is commendable that the institution of a self-initiative project is recognized in the law, because this avoids problems in the procurement of consulting services, because the investor prepares everything, and the public sector approves, but on the other hand, the neutrality of the entire procedure is called into question.
"Those provisions need to be elaborated a bit, in order to preserve the integrity of the procedure so that you don't get into the problem of having an investor who wants to invest, and the public sector is afraid to comply," said Nenezić. Jelena Jovetić from the Ministry of Finance said that they have been working on the law for six years and that they cannot make it more flexible for the economy because certain EU procedures and directives must be followed. At the conference, it was also assessed that the amendments to the Law on Concessions represent a response to the needs of the economy and the regulated area, which should better define the contractual relations between the state and concessionaires. The Director General of the Directorate for Mining and Geological Research in the Ministry of Economy, Biljana Jestrović, announced that legal solutions are being adapted to practice through amendments, in order to improve the business environment in the best way and define clear contractual relations between the state and concessionaires. She added that natural wealth is used for the purpose of carrying out concession activities, which is why it is a very sensitive topic. "It is a very sensitive topic from the aspect of protection, because we are witnessing the partial devastation of certain areas and attempts to regulate their revitalization more precisely through this legal solution, in terms of all the obligations in this matter," said Jestrović.
She said that no contractual relationship is based only on trust, but must have adequate means of security.
The representative of IPER, Ivan Bošković, announced that the amendments to the Law on Concessions resulted from practice, as a result of harmonization with the new set of laws, but also to respond to the needs of the economy and the area being regulated. "It is precisely for this reason that the act can be seen as a recognition of certain practical needs", stated Bošković and added that the relationship between the grantor and the concessionaire is alive. He believes that the fact that the state tries to protect natural resources as much as possible, but also to define rules that are attractive enough for investing in that area, should be taken into account. Anja Čvorović from MBA believes that it is necessary to provide adequate support to investors when implementing complex investment projects. "It is not easy from the point of view of the state, i.e. the legislator, to satisfy the issue of protection of natural resources and goods in general use, i.e. to protect oneself completely from frivolous bidders, but also to pass a regulation that will enable the realization of investments," said Čvorović. She added that even frequent changes in regulations are not good, neither for the state, nor for concessionaires, but that experts should be hired for their drafting.
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