The agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) relates more to the public interest than to the public procurement procedure itself, and through amendments to the law, all recommendations of the European Commission (EC) will be included, while the results will be publicly available.
This was stated today at a working breakfast with journalists on the occasion of the European Commission (EC) report by Finance Minister Novica Vuković.
Responding to a question from "Vijesti" about the EC's recommendations regarding the temporarily closed Chapter 5 (public procurement), and the EC's message that it will monitor the implementation of agreements with the UAE and other countries, Vuković said that everything the EC orders will be incorporated into the system.
The EC document also reminds that the Agreement between the governments of Montenegro and the UAE on cooperation in the field of tourism and real estate development, concluded in March, states that all contracts, programs and agreements with investors from the UAE are exempt from the public procurement legislation of both countries.
"Montenegro must ensure that the implementation of this and other similar agreements does not violate or circumvent the EU acquis on public procurement. The way in which the agreement will be interpreted, applied and enforced will have to be carefully managed and the EU will monitor it closely," it said.
The agreement stipulates that the UAE government proposes and guarantees for private investors to cooperate with the Montenegrin government on the implementation of two tourism projects in the north and south of the country, with the written consent of the executive authorities in Podgorica.
Vuković stated that in the coming period, Montenegro should further improve the system through amendments to the Public Procurement Law and the Law on the Prevention of Corruption.
"A system of so-called 'red flags' and a centralized electronic public procurement system will be introduced, which will identify risks and define a set of measures envisaged by the anti-corruption policy. This will enable the electronic public procurement system to automatically detect and flag suspicious situations," he said.
"Therefore, the system of electronic, centralized public procurement will provide citizens with insight into all procedures, and everything that the European Commission orders will be built into the system, thereby increasing transparency and security in the public procurement process," he added.
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