Institucionet e Përkohshme Vetëqeverisëse të Kosovës
Privremene Institucije Samoupravljanja Kosova
KOMISIONI RREGULLATIV I PROKURIMIT PUBLIK
REGULATORNA KOMISIJA JAVNE NABAVKE
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REGULATORY COMMISSION /
WORK REPORT
OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
REGULATORY COMMISSION OF KOSOVA
FOR 2006
January 01st – December 31st, 2006
FEBRUARY, 2007
Prishtina
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………… / 31. / SUMMARY……………………………………………………………………………….. / 3
2. / PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REGULATORY COMMISSION ……………………….. / 3
3. / PPRC BOARD ACTIVITIES …………………………………………………………… / 4
4. / COOPEREATION OF PPRC WITH PROCUREMENT INTERNATIONALINSTITUTIONS……………………………………………………..
…….……………………………………………………….. / 4
5. / PPRC ENGAGEMENT IN THE APPLICABILITY OF A CONCESSIONS LAW …… / 5
6. / MEASYRES TAKEN BY THE PPRC DURING 2006………………………………. / 5
7. / SUPPORT TO THE PPRC BY EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR RICONSTRUCTION / 6
8. / LAW AMENDMENT FOR PUBLIC PROCUREMENT………….. / 7
9. / REVIEW OF THE REQUEST TO WAIVE THE SECTION 30.3 OF THE LPP…... / 9
10. / PPRC ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE …………………………………………... / 12
11. / PPRC DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES………………………………………………….. / 13
12. / COMPLAINTS DEPARTMENT……………………………………………………….. / 13
13. / COMPLAINTS DEPARTMENTS ACTIVITIES ……………………………………… / 13
14. / RULES DEPARTMENT……………………………………………………………….. / 20
15. / AUDITING DEPARTMENT…………………………………………………………….. / 24
16. / AUDITING DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES …………………………………………….. / 25
17. / ACCOMPLISHED AUDITS ……………………………………………………………. / 27
18. / ACCOMPLISHED INSPECTIONS…………………………………………………… / 27
19. / TRAINING DEPARTMENT……………………………………………………………. / 28
20. / TRAINING DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES …………………………………………….. / 28
21. / HUMAN AND MATERIAL RESOURCES OF PPRC ……………………………….. / 31
22. / PPRC MEASURES ON WORKING EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMEN IN PPRC…… / 32
23. / THE MEASURES ON IMPROVING THE PROCUREMENT SYSTEM IN KOSOVA………………………………………………………………………………… / 32
24. / FINANCIAL REPORT OF THE PPRC FOR 2006………………………………….. / 33
INTRODUCTION
Based on the Sections 85 (e), 85 (f), 115 and 116 of the Public Procurement Law in Kosova, No.2003/17 (LPP), Public Procurement Regulatory Commission (PPRC) for each calendar year shall prepare and submit to the Government and the Assembly of Kosova an Annual work Report, in which are analyzed Public Procurement Regulatory Commission activities, as well as a complaint review procedures undertaken in the pertinent calendar year. This work report shall be provided to the Government and Assembly of Kosova not later than the end of February of the following calendar year.
Based on the abovementioned sections of LPP, the PPRC has prepared on time the annual report for 2006, the same report shall send to the Government of Kosova and to the Assembly of Kosova.
SUMMARY
This report represents annual work of the Public Procurement Regulatory Commission within the period of January 1st until December 31st of 2006.
In this report are included activities of Public Procurement Regulatory Commission, presenting the activities of each PPRC’s department. Since this is the second year for the preparation of the report, the comparison is made for the report of 2005 and 2006, with special focus in the complaint review by the Review Panel.
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REGULATORY COMMISSION
Public Procurement Regulatory Commission in Kosova has been established based on the Section 81 of Public Procurement Law No.2003/17, which has entered into force on 9th of June 2004.
According to the Public Procurement Law of Kosova, Public Procurement Regulatory Commission:
- Shall be responsible for the overall development of the public procurement system in Kosova, and for the LPP implementation.
- Have the competence to monitor, supervise and control the enforcement of the Public Procurement Law of Kosova.
- Ensures that such system operates in manner that achieves a highly rational, efficient and transparent use of public means, encouraging competition and respecting the equality of participants in the public procurement process.
- Reviews all complaints through Review Pannel received in the PPRC regarding possible violations of the Public Procurement Law, and
- Performs procurement professional training and licence for the procurement officers within Kosova territory.
- Conducts Public Procurement Rules Commission, which compiles and promulgates detailed rules of the public procurement for the LPP implementation.
- Proposes to the Government and the Assembly measures for improvement of public procurement system, and improvement of this Law; and
- Performs other functions according to this Law.
Public Procurement Regulatory Commission is managed by the Board, which is consisted of five members, which are proposed by the Government and appointed by the Assembly of Kosova.
According to section 101 of the Public Procurement Law, within the PPRC shall be established Review Panel, which have the competence to review complaints received by the PPRC from interested parties containing allegations of violations of the LPP.
PPRC BOARD ACTIVITIES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE PPRC DEPARTMENTS
PPRC performs its functions based on the Public Procurement Law No.2003/17, in Work Regulation that is approved on 2nd June 2005, on the PPRC Organisational Structure that is approved on 29 September 2005, and in the procurement Code of Ethics which shall be respected by all persons that conduct or are involved in the procurement activities of the Contracting Authorities, regardless if these individuals are public officials, civil servants or other individuals employed by the Contracting Authorities.
Each member of the PPRC Board is authorised to manage and organise the work management of one of the PPRC Departments.
During the reporting period from 01January until 31December 2006, the PPRC’s Board has held 12 decision taking sessions, where has been taken 33 decisions and has held 41 informal meetings, where there have been reviewed various issues related to the advancement of the Public Procurement System in Kosova, and in increasing the work efficiency of the PPRC.
COOPERATION OF PPRC WITH PROCUREMENT INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
In the aspect of cooperation with the procurement international institutions, PPRC during 2006 has developed a very effectual activity.
A closely cooperation has continued within PPRC and SIGMA institution in Paris, which is engaged by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), to supervise the public procurement system reforming process in the European countries during the transition phase, as well as with the Sector for the public procurement policies within the European Commission with residency in Brussels.
By the invitation of SIGMA-s representatives, two members of the PPRC Board, during March 2006 had business meeting in Paris with the most important leaders of this institution, in that meeting they informed them regarding the achievement on Public Procurement in Kosova, from SIGMA has been requested a help to organise the Procurement conference in Western Balkans countries. The proposal is accepted by the SIGMA-s representatives, and now preparations are going on for the cooperation within PPRC and SIGMA, to organise such conference on procurement with Balkan nature during last quarter of 2007 in Kosova.
In the annual conference (the fourth conference) on Public Procurement Network in Europe, which has been held in March 2006, in Paris, Kosova represented by delegation of two members of the PPRC Board has been admitted as regular member of the Public Procurement Network of Europe.
In April 2006 in Sarajevo, the delegation from Kosova that was consisted of three members of the PPRC Board took part in the conference for the reform of the public procurement system in the Western Balkans countries, and presented the development of the public procurement in Kosova and reforms of the public procurement.
During 2006 for the first time the Kosova delegation consisted of three members of the PPRC Board and a member from the PPA Board took part as an observer in the International Conference on public procurement that was held during September in Rome – Italy.
During their stay in Rome, the delegation of Kosova had meetings with delegations of various countries that participated in this conference, exchanging experiences in the public procurement field.
At the end of the conference, the Kosova delegation has submitted a request to the organisers of the conference that Kosova in future is accepted as a regular member of this conference.
PPRC ENGAGEMENT IN THE APPLICABILITY OF A CONCESSION LAW
Public Procurement Regulatory Commission is authorised to implement Law No.02/L- 44, Law on Procedure for the Award of Concessions, which has entered into force in April 2006. Taking into consideration that among the Public Procurement Law this is the second Law that PPRC is authorised to implement, PPRC needs to have professional staff, additional budget, and additional environment for the offices. For this matter PPRC in the future is expecting a support by the Assembly of Kosova.
Even when this Law has entered into force, additional budget or additional staff members to the PPRC has not been offered for implementation of this Law, the PPRC has been obliged to face all Concession cases, which Contracting Authorities have submitted to the PPRC.
From the moment when this Law has entered into force, the PPRC has made the interpretation in six cases of the dispositions of this Law.
Has reviewed three cases that allow concession award without competition procedure (Section 18 of the respective Law), and has reviewed three complaints of the concession field.
In order to complete and fill out the necessary regulation for implementation of this law, the PPRC in cooperation with the project team of the EAR- consulente company “Fineurope Spa” is preparing the rules and sub-legal acts that are important for implementation of this law.
MEASURES TAKEN BY THE PPRC DURING 2006
The PPRC’s Departments during the accomplishment of its activities, in the cases where LPP violations have been noticed, have proposed to the Board of the PPRC the measures taken depending on the importance of the Law violations.
During this period, the Board of the PPRC with the proposals of Auditing Department and the Department for complaint review has taken the following measures:
- Took decision to submit four cases for penalty submission to the Public Prosecutor in Prishtina in order to take further actions.
Regarding the review of responsibilities of the Procurement Managers, in case they fail the execution of the Public Procurement Law during the accomplishment of the procurement activities during 2006, the Board of PPRC took these decisions:
- The procurement certificates of 4 (four) procurement managers has been cancelled,
according to Section 22.4 of the LPP they will be immediately removed from the
Procurement Department.
- An ultimate warning has been given to 1 (one) procurement manager
- A serious warning has been given to 8 (eight) procurement managers.
Towards the Economic Operators which during their involvement in the Public Procurement activities has been stated LPP law violations, has been taken these measures:
- Three Economic Operators, based on Section 61 of LPP has been forbidden to
participate for one year in all procurement activities that are financed by the Kosovo Consolidated Budget (KCB).
- To two Economic Operators, based on Section 113 of the LPP has been confiscated the security for the complaint warranty.
- To one Economic Operator has been submitted a penalty announcement to the Public Prosecutor in Municipality of Prishtina according to Section 117 of LPP.
SUPPORT TO THE PPRC BY EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR RICONSTRUCTION (EAR)
During 2006 the PPRC has been assisted and supported by the EAR with the project for the Reform to the Public Procurement System in Kosova that was directed by the European Agency for Reconstruction.
The project, that is financed by the EU and managed by the EAR, has started in November 2005 and shall last 18 months.
For implementation of this project has been chosen by the EAR and PPRC, the consulente company “Fineurop SpA “from Milan – Italy
General objective of the project is:
-To promote efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public funds as well as to contribute in reducing the potential fraud, corruption and misappropriation of Kosova public funds.
Whereas specific objectives of project are:
- Create a legal framework for the functioning of the public procurement competitive system, in agreement with EU legislation;
- To establish modern and transparent institutional framework of public procurement, according to the EU legislation;
- To increase access to information regarding public tenders and regarding public procurement in general;
- To increase awareness and knowledge within the contracting authorities, economic operators, public procurement institutions and to the public.
Whereas in the two first objectives considerable results have been achieved, and purposes that are foreseen with the project are being fulfilled, in the two last objectives a stumble has been noticed, according to the opinion of PPRC Board members these stumbles happen because of the lack of the international experts of relevant fields, so and their frequent removals.
It is worth mentioning that with EAR financing, the project team for Reform of the Public Procurement System in Kosova during October 2006 has organised one-week study visit on Public Procurement Institutions in Slovenia. During this visit the group consisted of 10 Kosovo procurement officers had few important meetings with similar Slovenian public procurement bodies, and specific benefit had especially during the meetings with Complaint Review Body in Slovenia.
LAW AMENDMENT FOR PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
Concerning the Law amendments for Public Procurement of Kosova, PPRC gave a valuable contribution in the Working Group appointed by the Prime Ministers Office of Kosova for the preparation of the amendments in this Law. This working group after an intensive work in the last meeting, on 24 March 2006 approved unanimity the final text of the Law amendment, and sent it to the Government of Kosova for further steps.
The proposed amendments in the actual Law of Public Procurement, after the previous review based on the procedures that are required according to the work regulation of the Government of Kosova and Assembly of Kosova, were approved in the finalised manner by the Assembly of Kosova on February 08. 2007.
The reasons for the amendments of the actual Law for Public Procurement
The reasons for which came the need for the Amendment of the Public Procurement Law (LPP), consist in creation of new institutions and approval of other Laws (after LPP-2003/17) by the Assembly of Kosova, which now covers many fields that were covered before with the Actual Law of the Public procurement, as are:
a)The concession field has not been regulated with any other law, therefore the concessions are covered with public procurement law until another law is prepared and announced.
b)Law on Procedures for award of Concessionshas been approved by the Assembly of Kosova on October 03.2005, therefore on the occasion of the LPP amendment, the chapter that has covered the concession field has been removed from the LPP.
c)Procurement Training, for Procurement Officers of Kosova according to the LPP, was
the PPRC’s competence. After the establishment of Kosova Institution for
Public Administration(KIPA), in the amendment has been foreseen that KIPA shall
deliver procurement training for this officers supported by the PPRC.
d)PPRC has been authorised to conduct the auditing of the procurement activities according
the LPP. After the establishment of the Office of General Auditor of Kosova,
with the LPP amendment has been foreseen to remove procurement-auditing activities
from the LPP and to pass the competence to the Office of General Auditor of Kosova.
The purpose for the amendments of the actual Law for Public Procurement
The LPP Amendment intents:
a)To reform public procurement institutional structure in the central level, based on the requirements that come from procurement Directives No. 17/2004, and 18/2004 of the European Commission;
b)To simplify existing dispositions of the LPP for easier understanding;
c)To reduce tendering deadlines in order to accomplish in efficient manner procurement activities; and
d)To remove redundant materials form LPP.
With LPP amendments are achieved these intentions:
Reform of the Institutional Structure of Public Procurement in Kosova.
a) The Rules Committee for Public Procurement in Part VII of the LPP will be obliterated, and
all competences that this commission had will be passed to the PPRC responsibility;
b) A new independent procurement Body will be Constituted, which will directly report to the
Assembly of Kosova, called Procurement Review Body (PRB), who will deal with the
complaints review;
c) Number of the PPRC Board Members will be reduced from five to three members;
d) Number of the PPA Board Members will be reduced from three to one member;
Removal of the materials that are covered with other Laws:
a)By the Assembly of Kosova has been approved the Law for the Procedure of the concessions award, therefore Part IV of the LPP that deals with the contract for Concession works, will be removed; and
b)LPP disposition that treat financial maters will be removed, because that will be covered with the Law on Public Financial Management.
Distribution of the Competences of other established institutions after the approval of LPP.
a)Training and Certification of the Kosovo Procurement Officers, shall be transferred to the Kosova Institution for Public Administration, which shall be supported by the PPRC; and
b)The Auditing of the Procurement Activities remains the responsibility of the Office of General Auditor of Kosova;
During the implementation, and during the appliance in the practice of the current Law for Public Procurement, were evidenced the difficulties for the appliance in the practice of some dispositions, therefore the board of PPRC has analysed and reviewed not only experiences of the Procurement Experts that are recruited in the PPRC but also of the Procurement Officers of the Contracting Authorities and got into conclusion that some disposition should be changed and advanced further for the easiest and efficient implementation of the LPP , and for increasing efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the public funds.
Simplification of some LPP disposition:
a)All tender deadlines will be reduced in order to perform procurement activities in the most efficient way;
b)Number of the procurement procedures reduces from seven to six procedures; and
c)General restricted procedures and special restricted procedures consolidate in one procedure– Restricted Procedure.
Other advancements that were made with the LPP amendment have to deal with these matters.
- Simplifying of the Public Procurement Law, and elimination of some repetitions
- Functions that were provided to the PPA and MEF with the actual Law regarding the drawing of the secondary legislation should be completely to the PPRC;
- Functions on Conducting the Consolidated Central Procurement for the PISG remain to the PPA, based on the requirement of the Government of Kosova;
- Committee Rules established with sections 94 -98 of the current law shall be eliminated and its function shall be carried forward to the PPRC
- A higher independence will be given to the Complaint Review Body, basing on the best international procurement practices, so and directives on the EU procurement;
- To offer a bigger independence to the Contracting Authorities for the solution of the procurement procedures;
- To increase the level of the transparency of whatever audition, inspection, training, Rules compilation and interpretation, and for any taken decision for the submitted complaints, requesting by law to be published in the web page of the public procurement in Kosova.
REVIEW OF THE REQUESTS TO WAIVE THE SECTION 30.3 OF THE LPP