SKOPJE, 29 April 2015 – Today, the Centre for Civil Communications published the monitoring results for public procurement procedures in Macedonia for the period July-December 2014. Key findings related to monitoring of public procurements include:

• In the first months of its operation, the Council of Public Procurements increased the administrative burden in implementation of tender procedures, but not the competition therein. The number of bidding companies per tender procedure in the second half of 2014 is reduced, even when compared to the first half of the year.
• In the second half of 2014, the Council of Public Procurements was addressed with as many as 5,725 applications for approval concerning implementation of tender procedures. State institutions incurred a cost of around 600,000 EUR for requesting such approvals.

• All tender procedures from the monitoring sample applied the selection criterion defined as “lowest prices”. Low prices, which during some e-auctions result in absurdly low levels, bring under question the quality of public procurements.
• Mandatory approval from the Council of Public Procurements for organization of negotiation procedures without prior announcement of call for bids has reduced the number of these non-transparent procurement procedures. Annual amount of procurement contracts awarded in this manner reached 56 million EUR.

• Contracting authorities joined the appeal process in the field of public procurements. 109 from the total of 612 appeals lodged to the State Commission on Public Procurement Appeals in the course of 2014 were motioned by institutions implementing tender procedures and contest decisions taken by the Council of Public Procurements. With only 503 appeals lodged by companies in the course of 2014, the multiannual trend on reduced number of appeals motioned by companies in front of the State Commission is continuing.

This Report is available here. For more information, please contact the Centre for Civil Communications on tel. (02) 3213-513 or by e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

USAID Civil Society Project is implemented by the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia (FOSM) in partnership with the Centre for Civil Communications, the Youth Educational Forum, Reactor – Research in Action, and Forum – Centre for Strategic Research and Documentation.

NOTE TO THE EDITORS:

The American people, through USAID, have invested over $500 million in Macedonia since 1993. USAID works with the people of Macedonia to create jobs, strengthen democratic institutions and practices, enhance integrated education, and prepare students for the workforce. These initiatives improve the quality of life and support Macedonia’s transition to a stable and prosperous democracy. USAID provides economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries. For more information please visit USAID Macedonia Website and USAID Macedonia Facebook page.

In 2013, the municipalities have spent from 2 EUR to 276 EUR per capita on public procurements

SKOPJE, March 16, 2015 – Today, the Centre for Civil Communications published the results of the research of 2013 public procurement spending by all municipalities in the Republic in Macedonia within the regular monitoring of public procurements implemented by local authorities. Key findings of the research include:

• In 2013, all 80 municipalities in the Republic of Macedonia, except the City of Skopje, have spent a total of 6.2 billion MKD, i.e. 101.3 million EUR on public procurements.
• At the level of individual municipalities, the Municipality of Aerodrom has spent the highest amount of funds on public procurements in 2013 (628 million MKD or 10.2 million EUR), while the Municipality of Centar Zupa has spent the lowest amount of funds on public procurements (1.1 million MKD or 19,000 EUR)
• Compared to the previous year, decline in public procurement spending was observed in 2013 by 38 million EUR, i.e. by 27%.
• In 2013, the municipalities have spent from 2 EUR to 276 EUR per capita on public procurements. In per capita terms, 2013 differences between the municipalities are more modest compared to 2012 when they ranged from 2 EUR to 412 EUR per capita.
• The Municipality of Centar lost last year’s primacy when it was the absolute winner both, in terms of total value of public procurements and per capita value of public procurements.
• Share of public procurements in the municipalities’ 2013 budgets ranges from 1.8% to 77.7%. Differences observed under this parameter are indicative of great discrepancies among the municipalities.
• Exceptionally small per capita value of public procurements and small share of public procurements in municipality’s budget were observed in two big municipalities: Tetovo (8 EUR per capita) and Kumanovo (7 EUR per capita).

This Report is available here. For more information, please contact the Centre for Civil Communications on tel. (02) 3213-513 or by e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

USAID Civil Society Project is implemented by the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia (FOSM) in partnership with the Centre for Civil Communications, the Youth Educational Forum, Reactor – Research in Action, and Forum – Centre for Strategic Research and Documentation.

NOTE TO THE EDITORS:

The American people, through USAID, have invested over $500 million in Macedonia since 1993. USAID works with the people of Macedonia to create jobs, strengthen democratic institutions and practices, enhance integrated education, and prepare students for the workforce. These initiatives improve the quality of life and support Macedonia’s transition to a stable and prosperous democracy. USAID provides economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries. For more information please visit USAID Macedonia Website and USAID Macedonia Facebook page.

Procurement’s Estimated Value – a Hot Potato for the Contracting Authorities

SKOPJE, March 16, 2015 – Today, the Centre for Civil Communications published the results from its regular monitoring of public procurements implemented by local authorities for the period April – September 2014. Key findings include:

• Long-awaited and, for the companies, highly-desired novelty in public procurements defined as mandatory publication of the procurement’s estimated value, seems to be a hot potato for the contracting authorities which, most of them, do not know how to handle. Notably, there are numerous examples of tender procedures that have raised certain problems in terms of their implementation, with reasons thereof stemming from the procurement’s estimated value.
• Series of changes made to the legislation on public procurements, at least in the first months of their application, have not resulted in increased competition in tender procedures on local level. In the monitoring sample, the average competition accounted for 2.7 bidders per procedure, while 38% of monitored tender procedures included one or no bid.
• After a two-year period in which the share of annulled tender procedures has been stabilized at around 15%, annulment of tender procedures on local level is again on the rise and accounts for 20%. Contrary to practices observed in the past when the main ground indicated for tender annulment was absence of bids, nowadays the main reason implies unfavourable prices.
• Average duration of public procurement procedures from the monitoring sample, from announcement of procurement notice to contract signing, accounts for 33 days and implies small improvement compared to the previous period.
• In some public procurement procedures, the subject is specified in such great details that it literally refers to specific product, although such practices are prohibited and limited by the Law, and have been continuously indicated to as poor practices that favour certain bidding companies.

This Report is available here. For more information, please contact the Centre for Civil Communications on tel. (02) 3213-513 or by e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

USAID Civil Society Project is implemented by the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia (FOSM) in partnership with the Centre for Civil Communications, the Youth Educational Forum, Reactor – Research in Action, and Forum – Centre for Strategic Research and Documentation.

NOTE TO THE EDITORS:

The American people, through USAID, have invested over $500 million in Macedonia since 1993. USAID works with the people of Macedonia to create jobs, strengthen democratic institutions and practices, enhance integrated education, and prepare students for the workforce. These initiatives improve the quality of life and support Macedonia’s transition to a stable and prosperous democracy. USAID provides economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries. For more information please visit USAID Macedonia Website and USAID Macedonia Facebookpage.

СКОПЈЕ, 27 ноември 2014 година – Денеска во Скопје се одржа конференција за актуелните состојби во сферата на јавните набавки во Македонија и во земјите од регионот. Повод за дискусија беа резултатите од споредбената анализа на спроведувањето на јавните набавки во четири земји од регионот – Македонија, Србија, Босна и Херцеговина и Црна Гора, чии вкупни набавки на годишно ниво изнесуваат околу 5 милијарди евра.

Преку следење на конкретни, истородни, постапки за јавни набавки, анализата укажува на добрите и лошите страни во системите на јавни набавки на четирите вклучени држави во сите фази на тендерите – од планирањето до нивната реализација.

„Меѓу слабите точки детектирани со анализата се: неадекватното планирање на набавките, малата конкуренција, дискриминаторските услови за учество на тендерите, отсуството на следење на реализацијата на договорите за јавни набавки, како и ниското ниво на свесност кај државните институции за поголема отчетност за трошењето на јавните пари“, истакна Сабина Факиќ од Центарот за граѓански комуникации – Скопје, организација која го спроведе истражувањето за Македонија.

Според директорката на Бирото за јавни набавки, Маре Богева Мицовска „споредено со земјите од регионот, Македонија отскокнува од аспект на високото ниво на поставеност и функционирање на системот за јавни набавки. Во наредениот период треба да се вложи особено внимание во реализацијата на договорите за јавни набавки, а поактивни треба да бидат и самите понудувачи во заштитата на своите права“.

Универзитетскиот професор Никола Тупанчески истакна дека „казните во Законот за јавни набавки се премногу остри и неусогласени со Кривичниот законик“.

Посебен акцент на конференцијата беше ставен на новите правила на ЕУ за јавните набавки и отстапувањето на новите измени во законите за јавни набавки во дел од земјите од Западен Балкан од новите европски директиви. Посочени се значајни разлики во оваа смисла кои треба да се имаат предвид во подобрувањето на законските регулативи.

Конференцијата е дел од регионалниот проект „Кон ефикасни механизми во јавните набавки во државите (потенцијални) кандидати за членство во ЕУ“ што го спроведуваат шест невладини организации од Македонија, Србија, БИХ, Црна Гора и Словачка. Проектот е финансиран од ЕУ, во рамките на ИПА програмата за „Поддршка на граѓанското општество“.