EXPO procurement - Half a billion euros without competition
Special rules for EXPO procurement significantly reduced even such a low level of competition in public procurement procedures. TS monitoring of all procurements carried out so far by special "EXPO companies", worth around 550 million euros, showed that the average number of bids in those procurements is 1.64 per procedure, and that the average number of acceptable bids is only 1.16. In other words, in as many as 87% of all procedures carried out so far, there was only one offer that could be taken into consideration. Otherwise, the average number of offers in public procurement in Serbia is 2.5 per procedure.
The special law for EXPO (the Law on special procedures for the implementation of the international specialized exhibition EXPO Belgrade 2027) excluded the application of the Law on Public Procurement for all procurements carried out by special "EXPO companies". The procedure for their procurement is regulated by the Government Decree, which although in certain segments resembles legal rules, contains significant differences. The biggest and at the same time the key difference is reflected in the lack of legal protection - by excluding the application of the Law on Public Procurement, the possibility for a company that notices that a job is set up for their competitors to challenge discriminatory criteria or for the Public Procurement Office to do so, and to prevent the occurrence of damage, has also disappeared.
The consequence of the lack of legal protection is best reflected in the low level of competition, while the contracting authorities ultimately pay more for the purchased goods, services and works. The damage could have been prevented if the Constitutional Court acted on the initiative of the TS to evaluate the constitutionality of Article 14 of the special law for EXPO, which excluded the application of the Law on Public Procurement, submitted two and a half years ago, and for which there is no indication that it was considered at all.
Transparency Serbia calls on the new Assembly to stop the practice of circumventing the provisions of the Law on Public Procurement through the adoption of special laws and on the basis of interstate agreements. When it comes to projects that have already been implemented or are being implemented in this way, TS believes that it is necessary to audit all projects that were contracted non-transparently and without competition.
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EXPO procurement - Half a billion euros without competition
Special rules for EXPO procurement significantly reduced even such a low level of competition in public procurement procedures. TS monitoring of all procurements carried out so far by special "EXPO companies", worth around 550 million euros, showed that the average number of bids in those procurements is 1.64 per procedure…
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