SKOPJE, 4 September, 2014 – Today, the Centre for Civil Communications published the monitoring results for public procurement procedures in Macedonia for the periodApril-June 2014. Key findings include:

• Multiannual trend of decreasing number of appeals lodged by companies in front of the State Commission on Public Procurement Appeals (SCPPA) is discontinued. In the first semester of 2014, SCPPA was presented with a total of 330 appeals, accounting for an increase by 13.4% compared to the same period last year. Also, for the first time in several years, high share of decisions taken by SCPPA imply approval of appeals.
• Significant share of bids submitted in tender procedures do not reach the bid-evaluation stage. In that, reasons indicated for rejection of bids include administrative shortcomings of bids submitted and failure to fulfil requirements defined in relevant tender documents (eligibility criteria and terms and conditions defined in tender specifications).
• Recently adopted law amendments in effect from January 2014 have yield expected results in reducing the share of contracts signed by means of negotiation procedure without previously announced call for bids, but are still ineffective in terms of reduced number of tender annulments. In the second quarter of 2014, the total values of direct contracts accounts for 10.5 million EUR, and 22.4% of all announced tenders were annulled.
• Competition is still on unsatisfactory level. Only 47% of tender procedures from the monitoring sample were completed with e-auction.

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 Facebookpage.

SKOPJE, 25 July, 2014 – Today, the Centre for Civil Communications published the monitoring results for public procurement procedures in Macedonia for the period January-March 2014. Key findings include:

• In the first quarter of this year, the total value of contracts signed by means of negotiation procedure without previously announced call for bids is marked by major increase, notably in the wake of entry in effect of legal provisions that should reduce the occurrence of this type of procurement contracts. Within a period of only three months, the negotiation procedure without previously announced call for bids was used to sign 228 procurement contracts in total value of 19.3 million EUR.
• Given the subject of most public procurements implemented in the first quarter of this year, such as computer equipment, office supplies, insurance services, air-tickets, hygiene services, etc., the competition in public procurements was on higher level compared to the average competition observed in 2013. Some institutions continued to condition companies’ participation in tender procedures with evidence on their profitability.
• Elements used to evaluate the quality of bids remain the weakest link in the system of public procurements.
• By March 2014, the number of companies that have been prohibited to participate in tender procedures reached 45. One company from the black list has been prohibited to participate in tender procedures for an accumulative period longer than the law-stipulated maximum of five years.

This Report is available here.

In Kumanovo today, the USAID Project for Microenterprise Access to Public Procurement celebrated the expansion of its Veles center services to cover the Northeast region.  Project staff presented the range of services which will now be available to microenterprises in the region, talked about the impact the project has had on microenterprises in the Vardar and Eastern regions, and encouraged those in attendance to enroll in the program.

“Microenterprises are recognized worldwide as important elements of national economies, contributing significantly to employment expansion and poverty alleviation,” said USAID Mission Director James Stein.  “Though public procurement bids are estimated at roughly $1.2 billion annually, microenterprises traditionally do not participate in them.  We want to change that.”

As the USAID project expands services to the Northeast as well as Southeast regions, it will offer training, everyday technical assistance, and information to 300 microenterprises from 35 municipalities.  In addition, for over 300 local contracting authorities, it will offer concrete measures to reduce the current administrative burdens and other barriers faced disproportionately by microenterprises.

NOTES TO THE EDITORS

The American people, through USAID, have invested more than $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.

The USAID Project for Microenterprise Access to Public Procurement, implemented by the Center for Civil Communications in partnership with Focus Foundation and EHO, increases awareness of public procurement market opportunities for microenterprises; provides them with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to participate in government contracting; and streamlines cumbersome public procurement administrative procedures.

SKOPJE, 20 May 2014 – Today, the Centre for Civil Communications published the Monitoring results for public procurement procedures in Macedonia for the period October – December 2013, and the Index of Rationality no. 10.

Key findings related to monitoring of public procurements include:

• In 2013, competition in public procurements remained low. Average number of bids submitted in 2013 tender procedures monitored (total of 160) is 2.6 and more than one third of tender procedures received only one bid.
• Six years have passed from the entry into effect of the Law on Public Procurements (LPP), but some institutions continue to act contrary to the legal provisions contained therein and companies are still unaware of their rights related to legal remedies.
• In the course of 2013, a total of 1,368 procurement contracts were signed by means of negotiation procedures without previously announced calls for bids and they account for around 81 million EUR.
• In 2013, 22.7% of all tender procedures were annulled. Moreover, most frequently annulled are tender procedures in the value up to 20,000 EUR.
• Multiannual trend of decreasing the number of appeals lodged by the companies in front of the State Commission on Public Procurement Appeals continues. SCPPA approved every third motion for appeal and most of its decisions taken in the appeal procedure concern complete annulment of tender procedures.

SKOPJE, 12 May 2014 – Today, the Center for Civil Communications published the results from its regular monitoring of public procurements implemented by local authorities for the period April-September 2013. Key findings include:

• Although mandated by law, e-auctions were not organized in 53% of tender procedures monitored, primarily due to the fact that the contracting authority received only one bid or only one bid was considered adequate.
• Notifications on signed procurements contracts are published late or have never been published in 41% of tender procedures monitored.
• In as many as 53% of public procurements monitored, the contracting authorities, i.e. the state institutions defined eligibility criteria for tender participation that can be considered inadequate and counter-proportional to the procurement’s subject or value.
• Public procurements on local level included in the monitoring sample often used payment deadline as a bid-evaluation element that ultimately determines the bidding company to be awarded the public procurement contract.
• Late payment of contract performance, short deadlines for submission of bids, restrictive terms and conditions and administrative burdens related to tender participation, insufficient and untimely communication with the contracting authorities and primacy of price over quality in public procurements are just few of the problems faced by small and micro companies that participate in tender procedures organized on local level. Representatives of these companies propose extension of deadlines, timely payment of completed procurements, division of procurements into lots, but also increased professionalism on the part of contracting authorities when drafting the tender documents and technical specifications.

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 a 2.5-year project funded by the USAID and implemented by the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia (FOSM) in partnership with the Center for Civil Communications, the Youth Educational Forum, REACTOR – Research in Action, and Forum – Center 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 labor 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.