The total value of purchases in Montenegro last year was 332 million euros, which is twice less than in 2020. Of that, 219 million was related to public procurement, and the rest to electricity and coal procurement, according to data from the report on public procurement for the previous year, which was adopted by the Government at the last session.
"For reasons related to the failure to adopt the budget within the legal deadline, the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in an interruption in the implementation of capital projects and procurement of other items of public procurement. "Also, changes in the institutional framework of those obliged to apply the Law on Public Procurement are important for the reduced volume of realized public procurements in the past year," the report states.
Procurement accounted for 6,76 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Montenegro, which is significantly less than two years ago, when the share was 15,32 percent.
There was also a decrease in the number of contracts above the thresholds of the European Union in 2021 compared to 2020, so the exceeded number of contracts was 40 with a value of 45,76 million euros, and there are 661 obligees in accordance with the law on the list of contracting parties.
Among the five most valuable procurements for last year are four contracts concluded between the client - the public pharmacy institution "Montefarm" and the provider "Glosarij", which trades in pharmaceutical products. The value of the largest concluded contract among them is eight million, excluding VAT.
From the previous Government Zdravka Krivokapića, the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media had the highest expenditure on public procurement at EUR 2,7 million, followed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs at EUR 2,05 million.
As for municipalities, Budva spent the most on public procurement - 4,4 million, while the municipalities of Cetinje, Bar, Nikšić, Pljevlja, Podgorica spent between two and three million.
The largest number of procedures was carried out through an open procedure in the amount of 73,26 percent, which is considered the most transparent because it achieves the highest level of competition, while the number of procedures carried out through a negotiated procedure without prior publication of a call for tenders amounted to 11,14 percent, significantly more than two years ago when the share was 2,73 percent.
According to the subject of public procurement, 105 million of the contracted value was related to goods, 31 million to services, and 45 million to works. The public procurement system is dominated by domestic bidders with 94 percent of the total number of bidders.
In 2021, 899 decisions were made on suspension and cancellation of public procurement procedures, 256 more than in 2020. The average number of offers was 3,27, which is exactly one more offer than the year before.
The average duration of the open procedure from the moment of publication of the tender documentation to the publication of the contract is 69,5 days, while this time in the case of a limited procedure is longer and amounts to 153 days. For simple purchases, the average duration is shorter and amounts to 23 days.
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