The share of bidders who do not participate in tenders, because they suspect that the procedure will not be fair and transparent, jumped to 42 percent in 2023, according to the latest survey of the attitudes of citizens, bidders and clients, conducted by the agency Ipsos for the needs of NALED.
The lowest price criterion has been used in the largest number of public procurement procedures in Serbia for several years. The fact that procurement based on quality is more risky is most often cited as the reason why the lowest price is given priority.
The executive director of NALED, Violeta Jovanović, stated that the only way to fundamentally improve the system and build trust is to introduce concrete measures that will make it equal for everyone. These are measures that ensure the full implementation of the new law, through training for work on the portal and the application of criteria for the most economically advantageous offer.
"Data from the Office for Public Procurement say that in 96 percent of procurements, the selection of the best offer is decided by the lowest price, and the research shows that the contracting authorities consider the application of other criteria to be risky - they lack tender documentation models to work according to, and therefore it is demanding for them to determine and evaluate quality criteria. "Another confirmation that additional training is needed for improvement and creation of models according to which the criteria could be set and used," said Jovanović.
A demoralizing violation of the law
Economist Milan Kovačević, commenting on the research results and the decreasing participation of bidders in tenders, says for Biznis.rs that breaking the law is one of the reasons for low motivation.
"If someone follows the rules, then they know how to do it, if the rules are not followed, then it is simply called breaking the law. Probably, even this part of the procedures, which is carried out according to the existing regulations, is not done transparently enough. There should be an inspection that would control the processes and if someone was punished it would make people a little more serious. They would believe more in the idea that public procurement rules are respected and then there would be more bidders", Kovačević believes.
In October of last year, the Assembly also adopted a special (lex specialis) Law on special procedures for the construction of necessary facilities for the international exhibition EXPO Belgrade 2027 and the National Stadium, which excludes the application of the Law on Public Procurement.
The law states that the investor of exhibition facilities, guest accommodation and the National Football Stadium is the Republic of Serbia or a company that will be established, which has the rights and obligations of an investor. That special company, as well as a special purpose company, will not apply the provisions of the law governing public procurement.
