SKOPJE, June 26, 2013 – The Center for Civil Communications has announced today the Index of rationality 8 which compares prices by which different state institutions on central and local level buy the very same products and services. This eighth issue of the index is done for purchasing of work clothes, work shoes, benches, original and compatible toner cartridges, and for disinfection, desinsection and deratization service. The highest difference in the prices has been noted in purchasing of work clothes and the lowest in original toner cartridges:

• for work clothes, as part of the occupational safety and health equipment, the communal enterprises paid prices ranging from 1,263 to 4,956 for a set, where the highest price paid for this product was 292% higher than the lowest price registered;
• work shoes, ankle-high, made of leather, were purchased at a price ranging from 870 to 2,596 denars, where the highest price paid for the shoes was 198% higher than the lowest price;
• benches procured by the municipalities had prices ranging from 4,838 to 12,188 denars, and the highest price paid was 152% higher than the lowest one registered in the Index;
• original toner cartridges were purchased at prices ranging from 3,622 to 4,552 denars, indicating price differences of up to one quarter, while for the compatible toner cartridges the difference is even greater and is as high as 100%, since the price paid per toner cartridge ranges from 998 to 2,006 denars.
• for the disinfection, disinsection, and deratization service the institutions paid from 3,000 to 9,310 denars per 1000 m². The highest price is 210% higher than the lowest one registered in the Index.

The Index of rationality is available here. For more information call (02) 3213 513 or send message to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Center for Civil Communications, together with BIRN Macedonia and the Centre for Investigative journalism, SCOOP Macedonia launched a call for investigative stories on May 17.

The call is part of the ‘Project for Investigative Journalism and Cooperation Between Media and Civil Society’, part of a USAID programme for strengthening independent media in Macedonia.

In the first call that closes on June 7, at least five journalists will be awarded a grant to cover their expenses while doing the investigation and writing the story. More calls for investigative grants will follow, for a total of 40 stories until June 2015.

Journalists will have about three months to dig deeper and research their ideas, but also will have the opportunity to work with experienced editors as their mentors to guide them through the process of writing to BIRN standards.

Topics for investigations include: health; cultural policy; education and youth; human rights; EU integration; good governance; inter-ethnic relations; environment issues; marginalised groups; quality of life. The call only applies to journalists from Macedonia. Click here for more detailed information.

SKOPJE, 14 May 2013 – Today the Center for Civil Communications published findings from their monitoring of public procurement procedures in Macedonia for the period from October to December 2012.  Some of the key findings are:

• Legally prescribed e-auctions were not conducted in 40% of the monitored sample. In addition, in one out of every four e-auctions that were conducted, the opening bid was not reduced from the starting price. Thus, the effect of budget savings was not realized in most of the procurements. This is a direct consequence of limiting tender competition by setting unreasonably burdensome bidding criteria for companies.
• The share of annulled tenders in the last three months of 2012 was very high: 23.4% at the national level. Over the past four years, the percentage of annulments was highest in 2012 at 24.2%, mainly due to the low number of bids received on tenders.
• In the fourth quarter of 2012, a total of 408 contracts were made in negotiated procedures without prior publication of a contract notice, with an approximate value of 22 million Euros. Annually, around 65 million Euros have been spent through this procedure. The main reason for the increasing number of such contracts, which has reached the highest level of the last four years, is the inability to schedule an e-auction due to insufficient competition.
• At the top of the ten largest public procurement contracts in 2012 is that of “ELEM,” the State company for production of electricity, in the amount of 53.3 million Euros for excavating coal and inter-layer spoil.

The monitoring report is available here. For further information please contact the Centre for Civil Communications at (02) 3213-513 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

NOTE TO EDITORS:

The USAID Civil Society Project is a two and a half-year project financed by USAID and implemented by the Foundation Open Society - Macedonia in partnership with: the Center for Civil Communications; Youth Educational Forum; Reactor - Research in Action; and Forum - Center for Strategic Research and Documentation.

The American people, through USAID, have invested over $500 million in Macedonia since 1993. USAID is working 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 http://macedonia.usaid.gov and USAID FB page http://www.facebook.com/USAIDMacedonia.

SKOPJE, March 14, 2013 - A group of Macedonian journalists were acquainted with the practices and experiences of their Bulgarian colleagues and experts on how to inform better the public through the application of the Law on Free Access to Public Information, during a three-day study visit to Bulgaria.

Attorney-at-law in the Access to Information Program in Sofia, Alexander Kashumov, who helps journalists in the exercise of this right, encouraged Macedonian journalists to use more all the opportunities that are available through the Law to gain information from state institutions.

Kashumov stressed that Bulgarian institutions nowadays publish lot of information that earlier journalists have been obtaining by submitting requests for access to public information.

Aleksenija Dimitrova, editor in one of the biggest newspapers "24 Hours", who released exclusive and confidential information on domestic and foreign policy of Bulgaria in the last 15 years through the mechanisms for access to public information, encouraged Macedonian journalists to use this right not only for everyday reporting, but also for in-depth research and reporting.