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Local Self-Governments and Public-Private partnership

The analysis „Local Self-Governments and Public-Private partnership” has been produced within the project “Corruption at the local level- zero tolerance!”, with the aim to draw attention to the importance of transparent implementation of the public-private partnership and concessions as instruments for improvement of the quality of services and facilitation of the development of the infrastructure facilities of public importance at the local level. At the same time, this analysis represents a continuation of the research activities of the Institute Alternative in these areas which resulted in production of several publications.

Based on the presentation of principles and importance of implementation of the model of public-private partnership, criteria for adequate implementation at the local level are presented at the beginning of the analysis. This section is followed by an overview of problems Montenegrin local self-governments are faced with in transparent implementation of public-private partnerships and concessions, with a special focus on 14 municipalities encompassed by the project. The analysis also presents good practices in implementation of public-private partnerships at the local level in the neighboring countries and countries of the European Union. Based on the identified problems and challenges, recommendations have been formulated for improvement of this field in Montenegro.

Research on public-private partnership and concessions at the local level in Montenegro has been conducted during 2013, on the basis of the analysis of the: legislative framework in this field; reports of competent institutions and concluded partnerships contracts between public and private sector at the local level in Montenegro. During the work on this analysis information obtained on the basis of the requests for free access to information have been used, as well as opinions of representatives from 14 Montenegrin municipalities collected during consultation trainings conducted by the Project team in July 2013.

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Press Release: Responsible for the State of Concessions to be Called for Hearing

Institute alternative launched an initiative to the Parliamentary Committee for Economy, Finance and Budget to conduct a consultative hearing regarding the problems in the implementation of the concession policy. The aim of the hearing will be to find the best solutions and practices to improve the existing situation and indicate the need for urgent changes to the legal framework for the area of concessions, that are in procedure for more than three years already.

Implementation of the concession policy in Montenegro has, for a number of years, been burdened with numerous problems. Inadequate system of concessions, non-harmonized legal framework with the relevant EU directives, incomplete content of the register of concessions, as well as weak inspection of awarded contracts, are just some of the problems that are accompanied by numerous unsettled obligations of the concessionaires. This kind of policy is making enormous financial damage, to noth the central and the municipal budgets.

The latest findings of the State Audit Institution concerning the budget revenues on the basis of concessions for the exploitation of natural resources, are particularly worrisome. SAI, inter alia, indicates that the concessions are continuously awareded to those companies and persons who time and time again disrespect their contractual obligations.

This situation requires systemic changes to the legislative and institutional framework in the area of concessions. We believe this to be a substantial motive for the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget, as a standing committee for budgetary issues, to conduct a consultative hearing on this topic.

Jovana MAROVIĆ

Research Coordinator

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On freedom of expression and the media at the 4th EU-Montenegro Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee

Jovana Marović will speak at the 4th EU-Montenegro Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee, which will be held on Tuesday June 24, 2014. The topic of her presentation will be the freedom of expression and the media in the context of negotiations under the Chapter 23. Jovana will present the current state of affairs in this area, using the findings from the last report of Freedom House, “Nations in Transition”, which she co-authored with her colleague Jelena Džankić. Besides Jovana, Mr. Olivier Basille, representative of Reporters Without Borders of the European Union, will participate in the debate, as well.

The JCC was constituted in October 2012 and its aim is to enable civil society organisations from the two sides to monitor the accession negotiations of Montenegro to the European Union.

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Celebrating the Public Service Day

Institut Alternative, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, Human Resources Management Authority, Union of Municipalities of Montenegro and Regional School of Public Administration – ReSPA is today participating in celebrating the UN Public Service Day.

On 23 June, every year around the world, the UN Public Service Day is celebrated, honouring the values that public service brings to society and the community. By celebrating this Day, we also emphasise the contribution of public service to the development process, recognizing and acknowledging the work of employees and encouraging young people to develop a career in the public sector.

You can download the agenda of the Public Service Day here (in Montenegrin only)

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Public Private Partnerships to be in line with the Value for Money Principle

Montenegro still does not met the criteria for a successful implementation of public-private partnerships, said Jovana Marović, research coordinator at the Institute Alternative, at the panel held in the framework of the Public Service Day in the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA).

Jovana spoke at a workshop entitled “Benchmarking approach to the public investment – Assessing the consumer paid services (outsourcing)”. She presented the criteria that need to be met in order for public-private partnerships (PPPs) to be implemented in accordance with the “value for money” principle. A special part of her presentation were the Institute Alternative’s findings about the application of PPPs in Montenegro until now.

Jovana stressed the fact that the legal and institutional frameworks for the implementation of PPPS in Montenegro remains incomplete. The main objective of using the PPPs in the first place, is to overcome the gap between the need for improving public services and infrastructure and the lack of funds for capital investment.

Montenegro still does not have an electronic register of all PPP contracts. Additionally, the coordination of institutions that manage various concessions, as a special form of exploiting the natural resources, is extremely weak.

Besides Jovana, participants at the panel spoke, and Ljerka Golubić Bregant, from the Croatian Agency for PPPs and Dalia Budriene, senior expert in PPP from Lithuania.

The panel was organized in the framework of the UN Public Service Day, which is celebrated in Montenegro for the first time this year. The events marking this date are organized by the Ministry of Interior, in cooperation with Institute Alternative, Human Resource Management Authority, Union of Municipalities, Regional School of Public Administration – ReSPA.

Within the framework of the Public Service Day, an Open Day event will take place in all municipalities, Human Resource Management Authority, Ministry of Interior as well as its regional and local branches.

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Fulfilling the FORM OR SUBSTANCE? – Content Analysis of the Annual Performance Reports of the State Prosecutor’s Office and the Police Administration

Regular performance report is one of the important tools for carrying out oversight of the State Prosecutor’s Office and of the Police Administration and for assessing their work. In order for this mechanism to be operational, reports must be timely, precise, and accurate and their contents must answer the following question: what results have been achieved in the reporting period and what are the problems and obstacles in work.

Adequate reporting on the work of these two bodies is additionally significant in light of the opening of accession negotiations with the European Union in Chapter 23 – Judiciary and fundamental rights – and of the need to monitor progress in achieving the goals. Opening of this chapter meant setting a condition for Montenegro’s progress in the accession process, reflected in the building a track-record in the fight against high-level corruption and organised crime. An especially important role in this task is played precisely by the State Prosecutor’s Office and the Police Administration.

This research report analyses performance reports of the State Prosecutor’s Office (hereafter: SPO) and parts of the report of the Ministry of Interior relating to the work of the Police Administration (hereafter: PA) in the context of international standards on openness and transparency. We analysed types/categories of data, statistical and narrative, available in the reports, with regard to the competences, work and activities of these bodies. We also monitored the extent to which the contents of these reports inform the citizens and the Parliament of Montenegro, which carries out oversight of these bodies, about the achieved results, especially in the fight against corruption and organised crime.

This analysis was made possible by the generous support of the American People through the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) within the U.S. Embassy in Podgorica, under the Criminal Justice Civil Society Program. It is created as part of the project of Institute Alternative dedicated to strengthening inter-institutional cooperation in the criminal justice system of Montenegro.