On November 15 (Tuesday) Institute alternative organised a meeting within the project Public procurement under spotlight – Making Watchdogs Work!, with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Serbia and Montenegro within the MATRA Rule of Law program.
The aim of this meeting was an exchange of ideas about the best cooperation models between all relevant institutional and non-institutional, civic actors important for the public procurement oversight, and to increase their interaction, exchange of information and know how on potential corruption cases and irregularities in public procurement, and to jointly find solutions for further action.
Almost 30 representatives took part in the meeting, coming from Directorate for Public Procurement Policy and the Budget Inspection of the Ministry of Finance, the Inspection for Public Procurement, the Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures, the State Audit Institution, the Special Police Department, the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, the media and non-governmental organizations.
They expressed their support for the project and affirmed the need to network and organise meetings within this structure, which for the first time includes representatives from institutions in charge of repressive part of fight against corruption in public procurement and enounced active participation in further activities.
Participants jointly ascertained that some of the most common irregularities and potentially corruptive activities in public procurement procedures are preparing too specific technical specifications which suit only one bidder, so-called false offers that simulate competitiveness of procedures, while in fact, they are a product of arrangement between the bidders; dividing procurement subjects to avoid open and implement less transparent and competitive procedures. The need for the active monitoring of the public procurement contract implementation, as well as sanctioning bidders for poor implementation of the contract, was particularly emphasized.
Project Public procurements under spotlight – Making Watchdogs Work! aims to to empower and motivate watchdogs to combat corruption and undue influence in public procurement. The project specifically aims to enhance dialogue on corruption in public procurement and to encourage institutional response to corruption, as well as to influence debate on public procurement policy and legislation.
