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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Bidder protection commission handles 100 complaints

Belgrade, 30 April 2004

The Public Procurement Office’s commission for the protection of bidder rights said it has handled 100 complaints concerning procurements valued at 7.25 billion dinars, or some €103 million.

The commission, which began operating on Jan 14, 2004, aims to provide full legal security for all participants in public procurement tenders. It makes sure that citizens’ tax money is used in a rational and transparent manner and prevents any potential abuse or discrimination in public procurements.

The commission has handled 100 complaints so far, said commission president Aleksandar Lukic. A total of 57 complaints have been accepted, with 35 public procurement tenders scrapped and the remaining 22 partially cancelled, Lukic added.

A total of 32 complaints have been rejected. Four complaints have been dismissed because petitioners failed to file timely claims, said Lukic. Another four cases have been suspended and three complaints returned to petitioners.

The commission has not handled a single case during its eight-month work last year, said Public Procurement Office Director Predrag Jovanovic.

In the meantime, the commission introduced a new concept of member appointment. In 2003, its members included representatives of line ministries, the association of employers and the country’s chambers of commerce. Today, appointed members have no conflict of interest with their position and are capable of performing their duties with impartiality.

The commission’s work was particularly important in the case of Belgrade airport.

According to Jovanovic, the commission spotted irregularities in bid evaluation procedure in a tender for the repair of Belgrade Airport’s terminal 2 and ordered the airport to reassess offers. The airport refused to act on the orders and took the case to the Serbian government, the Serbian Ministry of Finance and the Serbian Ministry of Capital Investment.

The airport finally repeated the procedure three months later after the three institutions reached a common position that laws, regulations and the commission’s decisions must be observed, he said. The commission will examine the bid re-evaluation process as well, Jovanovic added.