SKOPJE, November 17, 2014 – Today, the Centеr for Civil Communications published monitoring report which includes the results from survey of companies inquiring about their experiences in public procurements and comparative analysis of legal protection in public procurements and related administrative costs - Мacedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Hungary and Czech Republic.

Companies’ survey was conducted in the period June-July 2014 and targeted a total of 267 economic operators based and operating in all bigger towns and regions countrywide. Key conclusions of the survey are:

• Main problems companies face in public procurement procedures include: ample scope of documents required for participation in tender procedures, late collection of receivables for implemented procurement contracts and definition of eligibility criteria for participation in tender procedures that favour particular bidders.
• Companies that have been awarded procurement contracts, in average, wait for six months to collect their receivables related to the contract performance.
• Dominant share of surveyed companies believe that e-auctions result in attainment of unrealistically low prices, whereby quality is disregarded on the account of procurement prices.
• High costs related to and distrust in appeal procedures are main reasons on whose account 93% of surveyed companies rarely or never motion appeals against public procurement procedures.
• On the scale from 1 (negative) to 5 (excellent), companies assess the overall process on public procurements in the country with 2.86, which implies an insignificant improvement compared to 2012 assessment of 2.84.

This report is available here. For more information, please contact the Center 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 .

NOTE TO THE EDITORS:

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.

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.

SKOPJE, 17 October 2014 – Today, the Centre for Civil Communications published the results from its regular monitoring of public procurements implemented by local authorities for the period October 2013 - March 2014. Key findings include:

- Once “lowest price” was introduced as the single criterion on awarding public procurement contracts, and e-auctions are mandated for all tender procedures, there are numerous examples of tender procedures that have attained extremely low prices whereby the quality of the execution of the contact is questioned.

- Transparency remains one of the major problems affecting public procurements in the country. Some state institutions either do not publish tender data or publish them late, while others do not disclose information requested by means of FOI applications.

- Several months (October-December 2013) before legal provisions on mandatory publication of tender documents enter in effect (from January 2014), including legal provisions whereby defining eligibility criteria for tender participation becomes difficult and liable to sanctions (from May 2014), 45% of tender procedures monitored have not published their relevant tender documents, while as high as 60% of them included high eligibility criteria for tender participation.

- Tender annulments continue to create problems in the field of public procurements. In this monitoring period as well, the share of annulled tender procedures ranges around the average of 15% calculated for local level public procurements.

- Deadline on selection decision-taking is complied with, but signing of procurement contracts is postponed.

The 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 .

NOTE TO THE EDITORS:

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.

Since 1993, the American people, through the USAID, have invested over 500 million USD in Macedonia. USAID is working with the people of Macedonia to create jobs, strengthen democratic institutions and practices, enhance integrated education, and prepare students for the labour market. These initiatives improve the quality of life and support Macedonia’s transition into a stable and prosperous democracy. USAID provides economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries worldwide. For more information see: macedonia.usaid.gov or follow USAID Macedonia on Facebook: www.facebook.com/USAIDMacedonia.

СТРУМИЦА, 27 септември 2014 година – Претставници на стотина фирми од 35 општини од источниот, југоисточниот, североисточниот и од вардарскиот регион учествуваат на повеќедневната годишна конференција на микропретпријатија за јавните набавки која се одржува во Струмица. Целта на конференцијата е да се унапредат знаењата на микропретпријатијата за учество во јавните набавки, како и да се остварат неопходните контакти за нивно идно здружување за заеднички и посилен настап на пазарот на јавните набавки.

Конференцијата е можност за размена на искуства од учеството на фирмите на тендерите и за идните предизвици кои им стојат на патот кон поголемо и посоодветно учество на пазарот на јавни набавки.

Конференцијата е дел од Проектот на УСАИД за пристап на микропретпријатијата до јавните набавки кој го спроведува Центарот за граѓански комуникации од Скопје, во партнерство со невладините организации Фокус од Велес и ЕХО од Штип. Проектот го олеснува пристапот на микропретпријатијата до пазарот на јавните набавки, придонесувајќи за нивен одржлив развој и подобро искористување на нивните потенцијали за создавање работни места, раст и иновации.

Воедно на државните институции проектот им овозможува да постигнат пониски цени и повисок квалитет за купените производи, услуги и работи, преку поголема конкуренција во јавните набавки.

Проектот се спроведува во периодот од 2012 до 2015 година и во него се вклучени повеќе од 300 микропретпријатија на кои им се овозможуваат бесплатна обука, секојдневна асистенција и стручни консултации во сите фази од учеството во постапките за јавни набавки што ги спроведуваат договорните органи од вклучените региони. Притоа, секое микропретпријатие вклучено во проектот има можност да дојде во еден од двата центра за поддршка (сместени во Штип и во Велес) каде му се нуди конкретна асистенција при учество во постапка за јавна набавка или, пак, на повик од претпријатието мобилните тимови од асистенти одат во просториите на претпријатието и таму му ја даваат потребната помош.

SKOPJE, 4 September, 2014 – Today, the Centre for Civil Communications published the

Index of Rationality No.11 developed for a new group of products (electricity and tetanus vaccines) and services (street resurfacing, engaging machinery for demolition of illegally constructed buildings and hiring labor force for demolition of illegally constructed buildings).

Greatest differences in price were observed in terms of engaging machinery for demolition of illegally constructed buildings (8-ton crane truck), whereas the smallest differences in price were observed in terms of procurement of services for street resurfacing.

In summary, the Index of Rationality provides the following findings and conclusions:

• electricity was purchased at prices ranging from 3.46 to 6.25 MKD per KWh, where the highest price is by 81% higher than the lowest price;
• health institutions purchased tetanus vaccines in dosage of 0.5 ml at prices ranging from 37.14 to 74.87 MKD, where the highest price is by 102% higher than the lowest price;
• prices paid by municipalities for street resurfacing range from 757 to 1,239 MKD per m², which means that the highest price is by 64% higher than the lowest price;
• prices paid by municipalities for engaging machinery for demolition of illegally constructed buildings (8-ton crane truck) range from 2,588 to 7,678 MKD per hour, which means that the highest price paid for this service is 2 times higher than the lowest price; and
• prices paid by municipalities for hiring labor force for demolition of illegally constructed buildings range from 177 to 512 MKD per hour, which means that the highest price is by 189% higher than the lowest price.

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 .

NOTE TO THE EDITORS:

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.

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