The new Law on Public Procurement will be adopted next year, Assistant Finance Minister Milena Kovacevic announced, speaking at a seminar organized by the Nordic Business Alliance in Serbia in cooperation with the embassies of Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
At the seminar on where the Nordic countries shared their experiences with public procurement, Kovacevic pointed out that the draft of the new Law on Public Procurement was finalized and that a public debate about the law would be launched in the National Parliament in the upcoming period. She did not want to divulge more details about the provisions of the new law, adding that it has been aligned with EU regulations.
The Finnish Ambassador Pertti Ikonen, who opened the seminar, said that, in Serbia, the lowest offered price was the main criterion for winning the procurement tender.
“In Finland, the main criterion is the most economically advantageous tender, which proves to be more profitable in the long run. When the lowest price criterion is applied in certain segments, such as healthcare, it can prove to be hazardous to people’s health,” Ikonen said.
Ola Anderson, director of the Swedish Development Agency, stressed that there was “zero tolerance” in Sweden for any irregularities in the public procurement process.
“It is crucial that the whole process is transparent, and that there is an effective appeal procedure. It is also important that court decisions on these issues are respected”, Anderson added.
Danijela Drobnjak from the Public Procurement Office of the City of Kragujevac shared her experiences with public procurement in Serbia. She said that Kragujevac was the only town, apart from Belgrade, where public procurement were centralized.
“The positive effects of centralization became apparent very quickly. For instance, one company spent 18 million dinars less than planned on purchasing fuel, when it switched to centralized public procurement”, Drobnjak said.
(Danas, 30.05.2018)
https://www.danas.rs/ekonomija/naredne-godine-novi-zakon-o-javnim-nabavkama/
Photo Credits: kschneider2991
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