BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT in Pristina, Gjakova/Djakovica, Vushtrri/Vućitrn, Gjilan/Gnjilane and Peja/Peć

IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT In Pristina, Gjakova/Djakovica, Vushtrri/Vućitrn, Gjilan/Gnjilane and Peja/Peć

February 2019

1 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

2 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT In Pristina, Gjakova/Djakovica, Vushtrri/Vućitrn, Gjilan/Gnjilane and Peja/Peć

February 2019

PROJECT TITLE: Exposing Corruption Through Active Monitoring and Comparison of Five Municipalities DATE OF SUBMISSION: February 2019 PREPARED BY: Democracy Plus

The report is prepared by D+ and supported by the USAID Transparent, Effective and Accountable Municipalities. The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or the United States Government 3 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

4 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ CONTENT

ABBREVIATIONS...... 6

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 7

INTRODUCTION ...... 8

METHODOLOGY ...... 9

LIMITATIONS ON DATA GATHERING...... 10

IMPLEMENTATION OF LAW...... 12

GOOD PRACTICES...... 14

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OVERSIGHT INSTITUTIONS...... 18

TRANSPARENCY...... 20

COMPETITION...... 22

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT...... 24

MEASURING PROGRESS...... 30

5 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

ABBREVIATIONS

ACA Anti-Corruption Agency

CA Contracting Authority

CPPA Central Public Procurement Agency

CSOs Civil Society Organizations

D+ Democracy Plus

EO Economic Operator

FOI Freedom of Information

NAO National Audit Office

PPL Public Procurement Law

PPRC Public Procurement Regulatory Commission

PRB Procurement Review Body 6 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Following the first “Benchmarking Public Procurement” re- Regulatory Commission (PPRC), Procurement Review Body port published by Democracy Plus (D+) in May 2018 for five (PRB) and the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA). The findings in targeted municipalities in Kosovo, D+ has since been mea- this report were collected through a qualitative and quantita- suring the performance of municipal procurement officials. tive questionnaire, individual interviews with municipal offi- After considerable review of the indicators, D+ updated the cers, general discussions related to the public procurement second cycle of the ‘’Benchmarking Report’’ to better assess system in Kosovo, and secondary sources from independent the performance of Pristina, Gjakova/Djakovica, Vushtrri/ public institutions including the National Audit Office, Public Vućitrn, Gjilan/Gnjilane and Peja/Peć in public procurement. Procurement Regulatory Commission, Procurement Review Body, Anti-Corruption Agency and private companies. This report covers the period January 2018 - July 2018, high- lighting best practices, irregularities, and violations and fo- THE MUNICIPALITIES WERE COMPARED AND ANALYZED cusing on the main developments in public procurement at BASED ON THE FOLLOWING INDICATORS, FOR WHICH THE the local level. The aim is to assess the extent to which the REASONING/WEIGHT IS FURTHER EXPLAINED IN THE RE- municipalities are operating according to the law, as well PORT: as to encourage officials to share good practices in public procurement. 1 Implementation of law

Indicators and research methods were set according to our 2 Good practices methodology regarding the monitoring process of public procurement. To identify irregularities and municipalities’ best practices in the most accurate of ways, D+ prepared Implementation of the 3 a second and updated questionnaire for procurement of- recommendations from oversight ficials to assess performance in public procurement. The institutions main amendments included additional sub-indicators to the “Competition” and “Good Practices” indicators to get the most accurate results in these fields. Given the final results 4 Transparency of the benchmarking tool, it is evident that “Civic engagement” continues to be problematic for all municipalities. It is vital that the municipalities establish inclusive mechanisms 5 Competition in order to create space for citizens to take active roles in monitoring procurement activities in their cities, schools, 6 Civic engagement hospitals and other important projects.

The aim of the “Benchmarking Report” is twofold. Firstly, it presents comparable data on municipal public procurement practices and performances across five municipalities, and provides insightful information not only for the public, but Për t'a kuptuar më mirë gjendjen e prokurimit publik në Kosovë, for private companies and procurement regulatory bodies such as the National Audit Office (NAO), Public Procurement

7 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

INTRODUCTION

The first edition of the “Benchmarking Public Procurement” The second edition of “Benchmarking Public report provided a holistic approach to the main issues as well Procurement” will seek to address the as good practices in public procurement at the municipal level. following questions: With the publication of procurement contracts commencing Is contract management effective and effectively applied with the Municipality of Gjakova/Djakovica, and with 17 other in public procurement at the local level? municipalities rapidly following this practice, Kosovo made a To what extent are municipalities implementing the rec- step closer to achieving full transparency and fair competition ommendations from the oversight institutions? at the municipal level in 2018. In the pursuit of this goal, D+ will Are there strategies in place to include the public and complete the second edition of this report with more compar- civil society organizations in monitoring procurement ative data and analysis. By focusing on five targeted munici- activities? palities and through identifying irregularities and infringements in procurement, D+ will continue to challenge the status quo By answering the aforementioned questions, D+ believes and provide constructive recommendations for better public that this report will serve as an informative tool to formulate procurement. a holistic approach to the situation in municipal public procurement and contribute to the existing debate on tackling In the last two years, public procurement regulatory institu- corruption in public procurement in Kosovo. tions and contracting authorities have taken serious steps in fighting orruptionc and increasing integrity of the system. The introduction of the e-procurement platform and the publication of the contracts show a good will to improve the system. However, as mentioned in the first edition of the benchmarking report, regulating the basic administrative issues and ensuring an open and transparent public procurement system requires continuous work. Moreover, engaging civil society and private businesses in the whole procurement cycle both at the municipal and central level is crucial in creating an advanced and corruption free system.

Institutional cooperation between regulatory institutions, contracting authorities and civil society continues to be a real challenge in public procurement. The lack of cooperation between the Procurement Review Body (PRB) and the Public Procurement Regulatory Commission (PPRC) impacts contracting authorities, be that through the inconsistency of the PRB’s decisions or the lack of public interpretations from PPRC.

8 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

METHODOLOGY

Through the “Baseline Report” conducted at the beginning of Review Body (PRB)’’, ‘’Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) opinions’’, this project, D+ analyzed the main findings and irregularities ‘’Number of bids’’ and ‘’Origin of bids’’. in the target municipalities. However, the main purpose of the Benchmarking Report is not only exposing irregularities or D+ ensured that the data provided by the municipalities are errors during the procurement activities, but also identifying correct by validating the data with the main stakeholders such best practices managed by these municipalities. Therefore, as private companies and with public independent institutions after consulting a considerable amount of research methods such as the NAO, PRB, PPRC and ACA. D+ also requested official and various interdisciplinary schools of thought, D+ designed information by using its legal rights to access public documents a unique set of benchmarking indicators to assess the perfor- from these municipalities and simultaneously analyzed if the mance of the municipalities, as well as to identify good prac- access to documents was provided within the legal deadline. tices. Other methods include individual interviews with the five pro- As opposed to the previous methods used for the report, which curement officials and five officials from the public informa- were mainly based on the analysis of secondary sources such tion center in each municipality and interviews with private as annual reports and statistical data, the Benchmarking Re- companies to gain a holistic understanding of the procurement port has a rather different approach. D+ prepared a qualitative situation at the local level. A breakdown of the data gathering and quantitative questionnaire for municipalities on aspects process is as follows of procurement activities such as: implementation of the law, good practices, recommendations of the regulatory bodies, fair Benchmark indicators and questionnaire preparation; competition, transparency and civic engagement. Moreover, Analysis of questionnaire answers and data validation; this questionnaire included sub-indicators whereby municipal Data collection from secondary sources available such as officials were able to assess the level of efficiency and trans- annual report from NAO, PRB, ACA, and PPRC for 2017; parency qualitatively from 0-5, where 0 represents the weak- Discussions with PPRC officials to review in more detail est performance to 5 representing the strongest performance. the monitoring of the PPRC; Interview with the President of PRB, Mr. Blerim Dina; Each sub-indicator has a maximum of 5 points and a minimum Discussions with public procurement officials in the five of 0 points. These points then are added together, leading to a target municipalities; ranking of municipal performance. Low municipal scores indi- Analysis of all complaints from the economic operators cate a weak performance in public procurement and vice versa. addressed to contracting authorities and the PRB for 2017; Analysis of ACA’s opinions on the annulment of activities The “Benchmarking Tool” altogether consists of six main in- in municipalities. dicators and 32 sub-indicators. The total number of points is explained in order in this report in accordance with each indicator. For example, the first sub-indicator (Implementation of the Law) consists of 30 points and the best performing Municipality is Peja/Peć scoring 17 points. However, it should be noted that some indicators have a maximum of 3 or 4 points such as the following sub-indicators: ‘’Market research’’, ‘’Opinions of Na- tional Audit Office (NAO)’’, ‘’Orders from Public Procurement

9 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

Limitations on data gathering

Gathering data for public procurement activities is not an It is fair to argue that throughout this research report, public easy task. That is firstly due to the economic importance procurement institutions and the targeted municipalities in it has for both public officials and private companies, and Kosovo should not only be able to provide access to infor- secondly due to the potential illicit activities that take place mation and other public documents, but to actively publish through procurements. The main problem during data gath- digital data, which are machine readable, whether anyone ering and analysis was the municipalities’ response on the has requested it. Increasing access to information for large given questionnaire. Not all municipalities responded in a amounts of government data will open the door for new timely fashion; many responded after the given deadline and tools to be developed by different parties such as the pri- the answers to the questionnaire were rather restrictive. vate sector, independent developers, civil society or public institutions to aid CSOs, private companies and the public at Non-disclosure of public information has been a trend since large in identifying and preventing corruption. the establishment of public procurement in Kosovo. Despite the pressure from civil society, media and the international community to be open and transparent in public procurement, progress has been slow. All five municipalities have limitations when it comes to providing access to public information to other organizations, institutions, and companies. However, these five municipalities, along with 13 others, have started voluntarily publishing contracts online since August, 2018 which represents a breakthrough change in transparency of public procurement.

10 Increasing access to information for large amounts of government data will open the door for new tools to be developed by different parties such as the private sector, independent developers, civil society or public institutions to aid CSOs, private companies and the public at large in identifying and preventing corruption. BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

IMPLEMENTATION OF LAW

he Implementation of Law Vućitrn, scoring 13 points out of 30. The indicator includes other sub- Municipalities of Pristina and Gjilan/ Tindicators such as ‘’Complaints to Gnjilane scored five points each and the Contracting Authority’’, ‘’Complaints the lowest performing municipality for to the PRB’’, ‘’Findings from the National this indicator was the Municipality of Audit Office’’, etc. Based on our analysis, Gjakova/Djakovica scoring three points the Municipality of Peja/Peć scores the out of 30. This low score reflects the highest with 17 points out of 30. This high number of complaints to the PRB is because it regularly respects the and to the contracting authority directly, legal framework during procurement as well as violations of the law idenfied activities. The second highest score was by the NAO. observed at the Municipality of Vushtrri/

12 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

Complaints to the CA 10 2 3 4 5

Days until decision 1 2 3 4 5

Aproved Appeals from CA 1 2 3 4 5

Complaints in PRB 10 2 3 4 5

PRISTINA Aproved Appeals in PRB 10 2 3 4 5

Finding from the auditor's office 1 2 3 4 5

Complaints to the CA 10 2 3 4 5

Days until decision 1 2 3 4 5

Aproved Appeals from CA 1 2 3 4 5

Complaints in PRB 10 2 3 4 5 GJILAN

GNJILANE Aproved Appeals in PRB 10 2 3 4 5

Finding from the auditor's office 1 2 3 4 5

Complaints to the CA 1 2 3 44 5

Days until decision 1 2 3 4 5

Aproved Appeals from CA 10 2 3 4 5

PEĆ Complaints in PRB 1 2 3 4 55 PEJA Aproved Appeals in PRB 1 2 3 4 55

Finding from the auditor's office 11 2 3 4 5

Complaints to the CA 10 2 3 4 5

Days until decision 1 22 3 4 5

Aproved Appeals from CA 1 2 3 4 5

Complaints in PRB 10 2 3 4 5

GJAKOVA Aproved Appeals in PRB 1 2 3 4 5

DJAKOVICA 0

Finding from the auditor's office 10 2 3 4 5

Complaints to the CA 10 2 3 4 5

Days until decision 1 2 3 4 5

Aproved Appeals from CA 1 2 3 4 5

Complaints in PRB 1 2 3 4 5

VUĆITRN Aproved Appeals in PRB 1 2 3 4 5 VUSHTRRIA Finding from the auditor's office 1 2 3 4 5

FIGURE 1. Represents the points for each municipality for "Law Implementation" indicator. 13 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

GOOD PRACTICES

or the 2nd indicator known deadline. Tied for third were the as “Good Practices”, the best Municipality of Gjakova/Djakovica and Fperforming municipality was the Municipality of Gjilan/Gnjilane both Vushtrri/Vućitrn. This Municipality is the scoring 12 points. The Municipality of most efficient in making payments and Peja/Peć scored 10 points out of 43. Low in requiring warranty of works and has scores, as described in the table below, higher standards for market research in result from the lack of consultation comparison to other municipalities. The with the private sector, lack of market second ranked was the Municipality of research and infrequent usage of the Pristina, which is also one of the most most economically advantageous disciplined municipalities regarding tender as a selection criterion for tender executing payments within the legal evaluation.

14 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

Warranty of product / works 1 2 3 4 5

Market research 01 2 3 4 5

Consultation with the private 1 2 3 4 5 sector in planning 0 Handling requests for changes 1 2 3 4 5 to tender specifications 3 Confiscation of execution of 1 2 3 4 5 contracts insurance 2 Implementation of quality PRISTINA 1 2 3 4 5 criteria 2 Efficiency in marketing 1 2 3 4 5 payments 4

Institutional Integrity 1 2 3 4 5

Managing Contracts 1 2 3 44 5

Warranty of product / works 1 2 3 4 5

Market research 1 2 3 4 5

Consultation with the private 1 2 3 4 5 sector in planning 0 Handling requests for changes 1 2 3 4 5 to tender specifications 3 Confiscation of execution of 1 2 3 4 5 contracts insurance 0 Implementation of quality 1 2 3 4 5 criteria 0 Efficiency in marketing GJILAN/GNJILANE 1 2 3 4 5 payments 2

Institutional Integrity 1 2 3 4 5

Managing Contracts 1 2 3 4 5

FIGURE 2. Represents the points for each municipality for ‘Good Practices’’ indicator. 15 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

GOOD PRACTICES

Warranty of product / works 10 2 3 4 5

Market research 11 2 3 4 5

Consultation with the private 1 2 3 4 5 sector in planning 0 Handling requests for changes 1 2 3 4 5 to tender specifications 3 Confiscation of execution of 1 2 3 4 5 contracts insurance 0 Implementation of quality 1 22 3 4 5 PEJA/PEĆ criteria Efficiency in marketing 1 2 3 4 5 payments 2

Institutional Integrity 11 2 3 4 5

Managing Contracts 11 2 3 4 5

Warranty of product / works 1 2 3 4 5

Market research 10 2 3 4 5

Consultation with the private 1 2 3 4 5 sector in planning 0 Handling requests for changes 1 2 3 4 5 to tender specifications 0 Confiscation of execution of 1 2 3 4 5 contracts insurance 0 Implementation of quality 1 2 3 4 5 criteria 0 Efficiency in marketing 1 2 3 4 5 payments 5 GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA

Institutional Integrity 1 2 3 4 5

Managing Contracts 1 2 3 4 5

FIGURE 2. Represents the points for each municipality for "Good Practices" indicator. 16 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

GOOD PRACTICES

Warranty of product / works 1 2 3 4 55

Market research 1 2 3 4 5

Consultation with the private 1 2 3 4 5 sector in planning 0 Handling requests for changes 1 2 3 4 5 to tender specifications 3 Confiscation of execution of 1 2 3 4 5 contracts insurance 5 Implementation of quality 1 2 3 4 5 criteria 0 Efficiency in marketing 1 2 3 4 55 VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN payments

Institutional Integrity 1 22 3 4 5

Managing Contracts 1 2 3 4 5

FIGURE 2. Represents the points for each municipality for "Good Practices" indicator. 17 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OVERSIGHT INSTITUTIONS

he indicator dealing Gjilan/Gnjilane. Whereas the two weakest with implementation of performing municipalities are Pristina and Trecommendations from regulatory Peja/Peć with eight points out of 19. All institutions includes various sub- five municipalities scored zero on the first indicators, such as the NAO1 22017 sub-indicator pertaining to internal audit report, findings from the Internal Audit reports, since none of them publishes Office of the municipalities, theACA2 their internal audit reports. Although, this and direct orders from the PRB3. Within is not a legal requirement, nonetheless D+ this indicator, recommendations and considers to be a best practice. opinions issued by these institutions are better addressed and dealt with in the Municipalities of Gjakova/Djakovica, Vushtrri/Vućitrn and Gjilan/Gnjilane. This indicator shows significant positive improvement for the Municipality of

1 NOA issues five types of opinions for budget organizations starting from the highest opinion “unmodified opinion” to the lowest which is “adverse opinion with the emphasis of matter.” Other opinions include “Unmodified opinion with emphasis of matter,” “Qualified opinion,” and “Adverse opinion with emphasis of matter.” 2 Anti-Corruption Agency, Opinion, available at https://www.akk-ks.org/opinionet/99/2018/99 3 Procurement Review Body, Decisions and Orders issued for contracting authorities, available at https://oshp.rks-gov. net/?cid=1,71 18 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

Number of recommendations 1 2 3 4 5 of the internal auditor 0 Options of the National 1 2 3 4 5 Audit Office 1 Implementation of NAO 1 2 3 4 5 Recommendations 3

PRISTINA Order from PRB 1 2 3 4 5

Aca Opinions 1 2 3 4 5

Number of recommendations 1 2 3 4 5 of the internal auditor 0 Options of the National 1 2 3 4 5 Audit Office 1 Implementation of NAO 1 2 3 4 5 Recommendations 3 GJILAN

GNJILANE Order from PRB 1 2 33 4 5

Aca Opinions 1 2 33 4 5

Number of recommendations 1 2 3 4 5 of the internal auditor 0 Options of the National 1 2 3 4 5 Audit Office 2 Implementation of NAO 1 2 3 4 5 PEĆ 3 PEJA Recommendations Order from PRB 01 2 3 4 5

Aca Opinions 1 2 3 4 5

Number of recommendations 1 2 3 4 5 of the internal auditor 0 Options of the National 1 2 3 4 5 Audit Office 1 Implementation of NAO 1 2 3 4 5 Recommendations 4

GJAKOVA 1 2 4 5 DJAKOVICA Order from PRB 3 4

Aca Opinions 1 2 3 4 5

Number of recommendations 1 2 3 4 5 of the internal auditor 0 Options of the National 1 2 3 4 5 Audit Office 1 Implementation of NAO 1 2 3 4 5 Recommendations 3 VUĆITRN 1 2 4 5 VUSHTRRIA Order from PRB 3 4

Aca Opinions 1 2 3 4 5

Represents the points for each municipality for FIGURE 3. "Implementation of the recommendations of the oversight institution". 19 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

TRANSPARENCY

nother important indicator looks great commitment to transparency at transparency of procurement sub-indicators and was also the first A activities in these municipalities. municipality to publish its contracts. During our data analysis and The third best performing municipality is questionnaire assessments, D+ identified Vushtrri/Vućitrn. The last two performing that the Municipality of Pristina not only municipalities are Peja/Peć and Gjilan/ shares good practices in transparency Gnjilane each scoring nine points out but also has an ‘’Open Data’’ platform of 15. These two municipalities should in place. This initiative indeed helps the continue to improve their score by citizens of Pristina to be better informed, allowing citizens to have better access as well as grant the private sector the to public information through Freedom of confidence to apply for public tenders. Information (FOI) on daily basic requests. The second best performing municipality is Gjakova/Djakovica as it has shown

20 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

Request for access 1 2 3 4 5 to official documents 5 Allowing access 1 2 3 4 5 to official documents 5 Website of the PRISTINA 1 2 3 4 5 municipality 5

Request for access 1 2 3 4 5 to official documents 5 Allowing access 1 2 3 4 5 to official documents 3

GJILAN Website of the GNJILANE 1 2 3 4 5 municipality 3

Request for access 1 2 3 4 5 to official documents 5 Allowing access 1 2 3 4 5

PEĆ to official documents PEJA Website of the 1 2 3 4 5 municipality 3

Request for access 1 2 3 4 5 to official documents 5 Allowing access 1 2 3 4 5 to official documents 4

GJAKOVA Website of the 1 2 3 4 5 DJAKOVICA municipality 5

Request for access 1 2 3 4 5 to official documents 5 Allowing access 1 2 3 4 5 to official documents 4

VUĆITRN Website of the 1 2 3 4 5 VUSHTRRIA municipality 4

FIGURE 4. Represents the points for each municipality for "Transparency" indicator. 21 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

COMPETITION

he fifth indicator looks at the the second place in this indicator. The fairness of competition in public third best performing municipalities are T procurement. The municipalities Vushtrri/Vućitrn and Gjakova/Djakovica of Kosovo should implement all the as they also share sustainable practices necessary procedures to ensure that to ensure that competition is carried out competition is not undermined by effectively and at pace. The Municipality political affiliations, but only directed by of Gjilan/Gnjilane has good practices in meritocracy and fair bidding. Regarding place, but more could be done to improve this, the Municipality of Pristina scored the number of bids and ensure that the most points in comparison with other activities are carried out by a number of municipalities. The Municipality of Peja/ different companies rather than engaging Peć made the biggest improvement in the same companies simultaneously. terms of competition rising from the fifth place in the previous assessment up to

22 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

Number of bids 1 2 3 4 55

Equality in treatment 1 2 3 44 5

Number of responsive 1 2 3 4 5 PRISTINA bidders/offers 3

Number of bids 1 2 3 44 5

Equality in treatment 1 2 3 4 5

GJILAN Number of responsive 1 22 3 4 5 GNJILANE bidders/offers

Number of bids 1 2 3 4 55

Equality in treatment 1 2 3 4 5 PEĆ PEJA Number of responsive 1 2 3 4 5 bidders/offers 4

Number of bids 1 2 3 44 5

Equality in treatment 1 2 3 44 5

Number of responsive

GJAKOVA 1 22 3 4 5

DJAKOVICA bidders/offers

Number of bids 1 22 3 4 5

Equality in treatment 1 2 3 4 55

Number of responsive VUĆITRN 1 2 3 4 5

VUSHTRRIA bidders/offers

FIGURE 5. Represents the points for each municipality for "Competition" indicator. 23 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

he last indicator of this tool relates ensure that citizens are engaged and to civic engagement in the public informed about public works. In this Tprocurement cycle. Municipalities area, these municipalities do not score play an important role in society as a significantly different from one another. social regulator and as a purchaser in the However, as opposed to the previous market. Citizens, CSOs and the media assessment, significant improvements potentially wield great oversight power were noted in Vushtrri/Vućitrn and over the public procurement process, Gjakova/Djakovica. In general, more should and it is within their rights to be informed be done in terms of both engaging and about public activities. In general, these informing the public about procurement municipalities should establish a method activities and projects. to interact more with the public and

24 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

Transparency in 1 2 3 4 5 tender evalution 3 Transparency in bid opening 1 2 3 4 5 Consultations on drafting 1 2 3 4 5 procurement plans 2 Monitoring in phases after PRISTINA 1 2 3 4 5 award of the tender 0 Awareness raising campaing 01 2 3 4 5

Transparency in 1 2 3 4 5 tender evalution 3 Transparency in bid opening 1 22 3 4 5 Consultations on drafting 1 2 3 4 5 procurement plans 2

GJILAN Monitoring in phases after GNJILANE 1 2 3 4 5 award of the tender 0 Awareness raising campaing 01 2 3 4 5

Transparency in 1 2 3 4 5 tender evalution 4 Transparency in bid opening 1 22 3 4 5 Consultations on drafting 1 22 3 4 5

PEĆ procurement plans PEJA Monitoring in phases after 1 2 3 4 5 award of the tender 0 Awareness raising campaing 01 2 3 4 5

Transparency in 1 2 3 4 5 tender evalution 4 Transparency in bid opening 1 2 3 4 5 Consultations on drafting 1 2 3 4 5 procurement plans 0 Monitoring in phases after GJAKOVA 1 22 3 4 5 DJAKOVICA award of the tender Awareness raising campaing 01 2 3 4 5

Transparency in 1 2 3 4 5 tender evalution 3 Transparency in bid opening 1 2 3 4 5 Consultations on drafting 1 2 3 4 5 procurement plans 2

VUĆITRN Monitoring in phases after 1 2 3 4 5 VUSHTRRIA award of the tender 1 Awareness raising campaing 10 2 3 4 5

FIGURE 6. Represents the points for each municipality for "Civil Engagement" indicator. 25 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

THE OVERALL SCORE

In order to comprehend the situation of still has to be done in terms of ensuring public procurement in Kosovo, this report fair competition, transparency and will first offer an overview of the public accountability in procurement activities. procurement system, commenting on the Although considerable effort was given main developments and areas that require to transparency in publishing contracts further assistance. The third and the fourth and ensuring open data visibility, more section will explain the methodological should be done during the post-tendering aspects of this report as, whilst preparing phase or more specifically during contract the research methods, limitations were management. In respect to this, the faced during the data gathering process. municipalities should publish contract The latter is important to be emphasized evaluation reports and such documents in order to help incentivize the public include invoices available for the public. authorities to be more open in sharing Other important documents and reports public information and documents. also include evaluation reports.

Ultimately, the first cycle of the To get a general overview of municipalities’ “Benchmarking Report” provides performance on this table, below is a a baseline overview of the public scorecard that shows the indicators, sub- procurement structure in the indicators and results accordingly. Municipalities of Pristina, Gjakova/ Djakovica, Vushtrri/Vućitrna, Gjilan/ Gnjilane and Peja/Peć. There have been efforts to develop and sustain better public procurement, but a great deal of work

26 Although, considerable effort was given to transparency in publishing contracts and ensuring open data visibility but more should be done during the post-tendering phase or more specifically during contract management. BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

GJILAN/ PEJA/ GJAKOVA/ VUSHTRRI/ PRISTINA GNJILANE PEĆ DJAKOVICA VUĆITRNA Complaints to the CA 0 0 4 0 0 Days until decision 3 3 2 2 3 INDICATOR I Approved Appeals from CA 1 1 0 1 1 Complaints in PRB 0 0 5 0 4 Law Implementation Approved Appeals in PRB 0 0 5 0 3 Findings from the auditor’s office 1 1 1 0 2 Sub-Score 5 5 17 3 13

Warranty of products/works 3 1 0 1 5 Market research 0 1 1 0 1 Consultation with the private INDICATOR II sector in planning 0 0 0 0 0 Good Practices Handling requests for changes to tender 3 3 3 0 3 specifications Confiscation of execution of contracts insurance 2 0 0 0 5 Implementation of quality criteria 2 0 2 0 0 Efficiency in making payments 4 2 2 5 5 Institutional Integrity 2 2 1 3 2 Awareness raising campaign 0 0 0 0 0 Managing Contracts 4 3 1 3 1

Sub-Score 20 12 10 12 22

Number of recommendations of the internal auditor 0 0 0 0 0 Opinions of the National Audit INDICATOR III Office 1 1 2 1 1 Implementation of the Implementation of NAO 3 3 3 4 3 recommendations of Recommendations oversight institutions Orders from PRB 1 3 0 4 4

ACA Opinions 3 3 3 3 3

Sub-Score 8 10 8 12 11

28FIGURE 7. Represents the points of each municipality for all the sub-indicators. IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

GJILAN/ PEJA/ GJAKOVA/ VUSHTRRI/ PRISTINA GNJILANE PEĆ DJAKOVICA VUĆITRNA

Requests for access to official documents 5 5 5 5 5

INDICATOR IV Allowing access to official documents 5 3 3 4 4 Transparency

Website of the municipality 5 3 3 5 4

Sub-Score 15 11 11 14 13

Number of bids 5 4 5 4 2

INDICATOR V Equality in treatment 4 3 3 4 5 Competition

Number of responsive bidders/offers 4 5 4 4 4

Sub-Score 13 12 12 12 11

Transparency in tender evaluation 3 3 4 4 3

INDICATOR VI Transparency in bid opening 3 2 2 3 3 Civic engagement Consultations on drafting procurement plans 2 2 2 0 2

Monitoring in phases after the award of the tender 0 0 0 2 1

Sub-Score 8 7 8 9 9

TOTAL POINTS 69 57 66 62 79

Percentage 4848% +52O 4040% +60O 4646% +54O 4343% +57O 5455% +46O 29 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

MEASURING PROGRESS

he Benchmarking Report and there is a high number of bids for Methodology was designed to procurement activities. However, the level Ttrack the progress of municipalities of implementation of laws was weak due in public procurement practices. to a high number of protests from the Good practices are adopted every economic operators that have been upheld year among contracting authorities by the Procurement Review Body. because of requests from the public This report analyzes data for the first six- for more accountability, transparency months of 2018, thus making it not fully and effectiveness in public finance comparable with the first Benchmarking management. Therefore, D+ considers Report which analyzes data for the entire measuring progress in public procurement year of 2017. Further contributing to this practices as highly important as it provides are the following factors: (1) Usually, us with evidence-based information on the second part of the year has a higher what is improving, and which areas need volume of capital investments and further interventions. therefore, more procurement activities In May 2018, D+ published the first and more potential irregularities can Benchmarking Public Procurement Report be identified; and (2) Some of the sub- which aggregated data collected for 2017. indicators have been slightly modified Data showed that public procurement and a couple of sub-indicators have been in Kosovo is relatively transparent added to the methodology.

30 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

The level of implementation of laws was weak due to a high number of protests from the economic operators that have been upheld by the Procurement Review Body.

Nonetheless, to allow for comparability is publication of procurement plans and trend lines D+ has rescaled the and public contracts and making these results. This allows us to observe trends accessible online through municipal for each municipality and each indicator. websites, showing the will of these five municipalities to make a solid effort Challenges in public procurement have towards transparency. On the other hand, been identified in all five municipalities our data shows a decline of tr also in the first half of 2018. But, significant progress has been made especially in advancing transparency as a preventive measure for corruption risks. The most important step of which

31 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

The comparison of the scores with the previous Benchmarking PRISTINA report shows that Prishtina/Priština has improved. However, some regress has been noticed with implementation of recommendations from the oversight institutions and implementing good practices. In other indicators Prishtina shows similar results with the previous report.

Benchmarking Report 1 Benchmarking Report 2 100% 100% 92.86% 92.31% 57.89% 50% 48.98% 44.44% 42.11% 42.55% 17.86% 16.70%

Implementation Good practices Implementation Transparency Competition Civic of Law of the engagment recommendations from oversight institutions

FIGURE 8. Represents the comparison of the score of Municipality of Prishtina/Priština from the two Benchmarking reports

32 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

Gjakova/Djakovica is the first municipality that decided to open its GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA contracts. This decision was taken as our team was filling out the second questionnaire along with the procurement office of Gjakova/ Djakovica after making sure that publication of contracts does not constitute a breach of trade secret. In three out of six indicators Gjakova/Djakovica shows progress, but the most significant one remains in transparency where Gjakova/Djakovica initiated the snowball effect with the publication of contracts.

Benchmarking Report 1 Benchmarking Report 2 93.33% 85.71% 84.62% 69.23% 63.16% 57.89% 50% 33.33% 30.61% 25.53% 14.29% 10%

Implementation Good practices Implementation Transparency Competition Civic of Law of the engagment recommendations from oversight institutions

FIGURE 9. Represents the comparison of the score of Municipality of Gjakova/Djakovica from the two Benchmarking reports

33 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

The Municipality of Gjilan/Gnjilane throughout 2017 has struggled GJILAN/GNJILANE with the establishment of the procurement office, as most of the staff has been under criminal investigation and as a result suspended. However, despite the symbolic scores from last year, for the first six-months of 2018 data shows progress in all six indicators. This raises hope that Gjilan/Gnjilane is finally on the right path toward an accountable and professional procurement office.

Our data show that Gjilan/Gnjilane has significantly improved in transparency and the level of implementation for the recommendations for oversight institutions, and slightly increased its performance in the area of competition compared to 2017.

Benchmarking Report 1 Benchmarking Report 2 73.33% 78.57% 76.92% 46.15% 52.63% 38.89% 25.53% 27.78% 20.41% 36.84% 16.67% 14.29%

Implementation Good practices Implementation Transparency Competition Civic of Law of the engagment recommendations from oversight institutions

FIGURE 10. Represents the comparison of the score of Municipality of Gjilan/Gnjilane from the two Benchmarking reports

34 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

The Municipality of Peja/Peć, similar to the other four PEJA/PEĆ municipalities, has decided to open its contracts and increase transparency in public procurement. As a result, their transparency indicator has increased from its level in the previous report. However, the two indicators that the municipality had most progress in are competition and the implementation of the law. This municipality has had less complaints from economic operators which was reflected in its improved score for this year. The only indicator with a lower score is in the implementation of the recommendations from oversight institutions.

Benchmarking Report 1 Benchmarking Report 2 92.86% 73.33% 69.23% 69.23% 57.89% 56.67% 44.44% 42.11% 38.89% 32.14% 22.45% 21.28%

Implementation Good practices Implementation Transparency Competition Civic of Law of the engagment recommendations from oversight institutions FIGURE 11. Represents the comparison of the score of Municipality of Peja/Peć from the two Benchmarking reports

35 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

Vushtrri/Vućitrn is the geographically smallest municipality that VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN D+ monitors compared to the other four. This municipality has some well-established practices and performs well. In every evaluation that D+ has conducted, this municipality performed highly and is always on the top of the list. The scores for this municipality in the first half of 2018 are similar to its scores in 2017, with an improvement in civic engagement and transparency, and a slight decrease in the implementation of law and competition indicators. Yet these two indicators have been modified, and this does not necessarily mean that the municipality’s performance has depreciated compared to last year.

Benchmarking Report 1 Benchmarking Report 2 86.67% 84.62% 84.62% 78.57% 57.89% 57.89% 50% 50% 46.94% 46.81% 27.78% 43.33%

Implementation Good practices Implementation Transparency Competition Civic of Law of the engagment recommendations from oversight institutions

FIGURE 12. Represents the comparison of the score of Municipality of Vushtrri/Vućitrn from the two Benchmarking reports

36 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ ANNEX

Questionnaire and scoring sub-indicators

Democracy Plus (D+) developed six (6) indicators and 33 sub-indicators, thus creating the first edition of a com- parative report and analysis for five (5) Kosovo municipalities - Pristina, Gjilan, Gjakova, Peja and Vushtrri.

THIS EDITION SHALL: 1 Independently and strictly evaluate the policy qualifications related to public procurement against best international practices;

2 Provide guidance on the reform and development of public procurement activities;

3 Create a process that enhances the quality of pro-competitive procurement policies;

4 Eliminate conditions or opportunities for corruption in public procurement activities.

Instruction to complete the questionnaire This questionnaire aims to measure the performance of activities in the Public Procurement Department at the municipal level, based on the identification and promotion of good practices. As part of each sub-section, questions of results (Levels 0-5) have been added. The evaluators are asked to accurately respond to all requests and determine a level from 0 to 5 on the evaluation question as well as a brief reasoning as to why this specific level has been set. However, please note that some of the sub-indicators do not reach the 5th level.

PERFORMANCE WILL BE MEASURED IN SIX (6) INDICATORS:

1 Implementation of law

2 Good practices

3 Enforcement by oversight institutions

4 Transparency

5 Competition

6 Civic involvement

37 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

1. LAW ENFORCEMENT

0 1 2 3 4 5

Complaints in the CA Complaints in the CA Complaints in the CA Complaints in the CA Complaints in the CA Complaints in the CA

More than nine More than seven More than four Less than three Only one complaint No complaints in CA complaints in CA complaints in CA complaints in CA complaints in CA in CA

Days until the deci- Days until the deci- Days until the deci- Days until the deci- Days until the deci- Days until the decision is made sion is made sion is made sion is made sion is made sion is made

Municipality doesn’t Municipality takes Municipality reviews Municipality reviews Municipality reviews Complaints are re- take a decision on a decision after the the complaints the complaints the complaints and viewed considerably the complaint legal deadline within the legal within the legal takes decisions ahead of the legal deadline, but they deadline, and they several days before deadline and deci- are not published are published the legal deadline, sions are published and the decisions are published

Complaints ap- Complaints ap- Complaints ap- Complaints Complaints ap- Complaints approved by CA proved by CA proved by CA approved by CA proved by CA proved by CA

No complaint ap- Minimum number Number of com- Number of com- Complaints are Over half of com- proved in CA of complaints ap- plaints approved plaints approved approved 45% plaints approved proved or under under 20% under 30% 10%

Complaints in PRB Complaints in PRB Complaints in PRB Complaints in PRB Complaints in PRB Complaints in PRB

More than 8 com- 7-8 complaints 5-6 complaints 3-4 complaints Minimal number of No complaints in plaints in PRB complaints in PRB PRB 1-2 Complaints ap- Complaints ap- Complaints ap- Complaints ap- Complaints ap- Complaints approved in PRB proved in PRB proved in PRB proved in PRB proved in PRB proved in PRB

Over 60% of com- Over 30% of com- Over 10% of total Municipality does Municipality wins Municipality wins all plaints approved plaints approved complaints ap- not lose more than disputes in the PRB, cases in the PRB proved one or two cases in but some com- the PRB plaints are approved

Findings from the Findings from the Findings from the Findings from the Findings from the Findings from the audit office audit office audit office audit office audit office audit office More than five vi- More than three More than two vio- No high-priority No high or medium No high or medium olations identified violations identified lations identified in findings in the audi- priority findings in priority findings in in the high-priority in the high-priority the auditor’s report tor reports, findings the auditor’s report, the auditor’s report, auditor’s report auditor’s report and and medium level of are medium or low whereas those whereas those and low level of low level of imple- addressing recom- priority from the previous from the previous implementation of mentation of rec- mendations year have been year have been recommendations ommendations addressed to a large addressed to a large (under 40%) extent, over 70% extent, over 80%

38 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

2. GOOD PRACTICES

0 1 2 3 4 5

Product (goods)/ Product (goods)/ Product (goods)/ Product (goods)/ Product (goods)/ Product (goods)/ work guarantee work guarantee work guarantee work guarantee work guarantee work guarantee

Municipality doesn’t Municipality doesn’t Municipality re- Municipality re- Municipality re- Municipality requests request guarantee request guarantee quests a guarantee quests guarantees quests guarantees guarantees for all for products or work for products or work, only for high value for most products in most products products and has although in one or investments but there no data on data that it has used two specific cases it whether they have them in a consider- implemented it ever used them able number of cases

Market research Market research Market research Market research Market research Market research

Municipality makes Municipality states The municipality Municipality makes no market research that it does market does market re- market research for research, but there search, but this re- most tenders and are no written research only includes has written reports ports or evidence prices

Consultation with Consultation with Consultation with Consultation with Consultation with Consultation with the private sector in the private sector in the private sector in the private sector in the private sector in the private sector in planning planning planning planning planning planning

Municipality makes Municipality con- Municipality con- Municipality makes Municipality had an Municipality had an no consultations sults with a limited sults with a limited sufficient consulta- open invitation for open invitation and with the private number of parties, number of parties, tions on planning, consultation and prepared a report sector prior to draft- there is no inclusive there is no inclusive but there are no prepared a report on on the recommen- ing tender specifi- process and there process and there reports on the ex- the parties’ requests dations considered cations are no reports of are data on the tent the requests considered. and the report notes the number of recommendations are considered that a significant recommendations considered number of third considered parties are involved in planning

Review of requests Review of requests Review of requests Review of requests Review of requests Review of requests for changes to ten- for changes to ten- for changes to ten- for changes to ten- for changes to ten- for changes to tender specifications der specifications der specifications der specifications der specifications der specifications

Municipality does Municipality rarely Municipality consid- Municipality con- Municipality con- Municipality con- not consider the re- consider requests ers only a few re- siders about 40% of siders about 50% of siders over 60% of quests for changes for changes of spec- quests for changes recommendations recommendations recommendations of specifications ifications in technical specifi- for changes to spec- for changes to spec- for changes to spec- cations ifications ifications ifications

Confiscation of con- Confiscation of con- Confiscation of con- Confiscation of con- Confiscation of con- Confiscation of contract performance tract performance tract performance tract performance tract performance tract performance insurance insurance insurance insurance insurance insurance

39 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has prob- Municipality has Municipality has no problems with problems with problems with lems with enforce- problems with problems with the enforcement of enforcement of enforcement of ment of contracts enforcement of contract perfor- contracts and full contracts and full contracts and full and full execution contracts and full mance execution of the ob- execution of the execution of the ob- of the obligations, execution of the ligations, but never obligations, but only ligations, and for this and in most cases, it obligations, and for confiscates contract rarely confiscates it initiates the proce- initiates the procedure this reason it always performance insur- contract perfor- dure for confiscation for confiscation of confiscates contract ances mance insurances of contract perfor- contract performance performance insur- mance insurance insurances ances Quality criteria Quality criteria Quality criteria Quality criteria Quality criteria Quality criteria implementation implementation implementation implementation implementation implementation

Municipality does Municipality has Municipality has Municipality uses it Municipality uses it Municipality uses the not apply quality tried to apply this applied this criterion in all cases it deems in all cases it deems most economically criteria in the eval- criterion, but the only for consultancy necessary, and the necessary, and the advantageous crite- uation of tenders PPRC has prevent- services contracts number does not number does not rion for the purposes through the most ed it exceed 5% of the exceed 10% of the of quality assurance, economically ad- total contracts total contracts and carefully applies vantageous price it in all cases it deems necessary (at least 15% of contracts through this criterion)

Efficiency in making Efficiency in making Efficiency in making Efficiency in making Efficiency in making Efficiency in making payments payments payments payments payments payments

There are delays in There are delays in Payments are made Municipality makes Municipality makes Municipality makes making payments making payments within 30 days payments within 20 payments within 15 payments within 7 and they exceed 60 and they exceed the days days days days 45-day deadline

Institutional Integ- Institutional Integ- Institutional Integ- Institutional Integ- Institutional Integ- Institutional Integ- rity rity rity rity rity rity

Municipality has no Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has approved integrity started drafting the completed the drafted an integrity drafted the integrity drafted the integrity plan and it doesn’t integrity plan, but integrity plan, but plan, during which plan, during which plan, has included implement any sys- the plan is yet to it has not included phase the civil soci- phase civil society the civil society tematic measures be completed, and civil society and ety and the citizens and citizens were and citizens and to guarantee institu- the working groups citizens were little involved involved in making has on the level of tional integrity failed to include the in giving their con- their contribution, implementation of civil society and tribution but there are no the plan citizens data on the level of implementation of this plan Contract manage- Contract manage- Contract manage- Contract manage- Contract manage- Contract management ment ment ment ment ment

Municipality has no Municipality does Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has Municipality invests contract manage- not have a contract established a con- outsourced over- outsourced an ex- a considerable ment unit, and as a management unit; tract management sight companies for ternal service or has amount of funds result no successful however, it engages directorate/entity contract enforce- created an entity for in overseeing completion of the its officials ad-hoc ment contract monitoring contracts and has contracts is ensured to go on the field to and this has result- managed to ensure conduct monitoring ed in quality work very good contract enforcement

40 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF OVERSIGHT INSTITUTIONS

0 1 2 3 4 5

Internal Audit Internal Audit Internal Audit Internal Audit Internal Audit Internal Audit

Municipality does Municipality allows Municipality has Municipality has an Municipality allows Municipality has not allow access to access to the audi- an auditor, allows auditor, allows ac- access, and the open audit reports, internal auditor’s tor’s report access to report and cess to report, has report notes many operational commit- report/auditing is has an operational an operational com- findings, with few tee and implements not yet completed, audit committee mittee in which has recommendations internal auditor’s within the legal included a member addressed (under recommendations deadline of the company 50%)

Opinions of the Na- Opinions of the Na- Opinions of the Na- Opinions of the Na- Opinions of the Na- Opinions of the Na- tional Audit Office tional Audit Office tional Audit Office tional Audit Office tional Audit Office tional Audit Office

Municipality did not Municipality has The municipality has receive an audit received an unqual- received an unquali- opinion, received an ified opinion, but fied opinion adverse or qualified with an emphasis opinion on the issue

Implementation of Implementation of Implementation of Implementation of Implementation of Implementation of NAO recommenda- NAO recommenda- NAO recommenda- NAO recommenda- NAO recommenda- NAO recommendations tions tions tions tions tions

Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has implemented under implemented under implemented under implemented over implemented over implemented all 20% of the recom- 30% of the recom- 50% of the recom- 65% of the recom- 80% of the recom- recommendations mendations mendations mendations mendations mendations

PRB orders PRB orders PRB orders PRB orders PRB orders PRB orders

Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has Municipality imple- Municipality imple- been punished remarks for non-im- complaints in sev- ments most deci- ments all decisions for failing to ob- plementation of eral stages for the sions of the PRB of the PRB, within serve decisions recommendations same tender in the the legal deadline of the PRB, or the PRB (within 10 days) withdrawal of the license of the procurement officer has been requested ACA opinions ACA opinions ACA opinions ACA opinions ACA opinions ACA opinions

Municipality has Municipality has not Municipality has Municipality has ob- not observed one observed the opin- observed several served ACA opinions or more opinions ion of ACA because opinions of ACA, but on its procurement of ACA there was a decision violations have been activities of the PRB on the repeated same case

41 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

4. TRANSPARENCY

0 1 2 3 4 5

Requests for access Requests for access Requests for access Requests for access Requests for access Requests for access to official docu- to official docu- to official docu- to official docu- to official docu- to official documents ments ments ments ments ments Municipality does Municipality has a Municipality has a The municipality has The municipality All documents in not provide data, register, but it is not register of requests a designated officer has a designated public interest are there is no register regularly completed and it is updated who will receive re- officer who will published on the of requests for with data according to the quests for access to receive requests website, as well access number of requests documents, but fails for access to as the Information Office, when it has to respond within documents, and all requests, replies the legal deadline replies are returned within the legal within the legal deadline deadline

Allowing access to Allowing access to Allowing access to Allowing access to Allowing access to Allowing access to official documents official documents official documents official documents official documents official documents

Municipality doesn’t Municipality has had Municipality had The Municipality Municipality makes Municipality has an offer data requests, but it has requests, most of has respected the efforts to publish Open Data platform, been noted there them received a re- Law on Access to most procurement which is updated to were refusals and ply within the legal Documents and documents, includ- a great extent no replies to several deadline, but there replied positively in ing procurement requests were also negative all cases plans and other responses documents, on the website

Municipal website Municipal website Municipal website Municipal website Municipal website Municipal website Municipality does Municipality has a Municipality has a Municipality has a Municipality pub- Municipality pub- not have a function- functional website website in which functional website lishes several lishes contracts, al website but there aren’t it publishes some and it publishes contracts, and project plans and many data on pro- public procurement many procurement project plans on the has a website that curement notices documents, includ- website is interactive and ing contract notices, allows citizens to contract award add questions or notices, and other comments data

Deadline for pub- Deadline for pub- Deadline for pub- Deadline for pub- Deadline for pub- Deadline for publication of public lication of public lication of public lication of public lication of public lication of public procurement data procurement data procurement data procurement data procurement data procurement data Municipality does Publication takes Publication takes Publication of notic- Publication of not publish the place after one place after one es takes place two notices is made notices regarding month week days after the end on the same day its procurement of an activity (Immediately after activities the completion of the procurement activity)

42 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

5. COMPETITION

0 1 2 3 4 5

Number of bids Number of bids Number of bids Number of bids Number of bids Number of bids

Average number of Average number of Average number of Average number of Average number of Average number of bids is under 1 bids is 1.0 to 1.99 bids is 2.0 to 2.99 bids is 3.0 to 3.99 bids is 4.0 to 4.99 bids is over 5

Origin of bids Origin of bids Origin of bids Origin of bids Origin of bids Origin of bids

Municipality does In some cases, the Municipality contin- Municipality has Municipality has not have bids from municipality has uously receives bids bids from other over 30% of con- businesses of other bids from busi- from businesses municipalities and tracts with com- municipalities nesses from other from other munici- several them have panies that are not municipalities, but palities also been awarded from the respective their number is very contracts municipality limited

Equality in Equality in Equality in Equality in Equality in Equality in treatment treatment treatment treatment treatment treatment

Municipality engag- Municipality engag- Municipality only Municipality applies Municipality makes For every activity, es public enterprises public as well as awards contracts to the decisions of a detailed analysis the municipality es in every case private enterprises public enterprises the PPRC and PRB before deciding announces open that is possible as needed for addi- that it established regarding this issue which practice it procedures and pub- tional works itself or is a share- and is subject to the will apply, having lic and private en- holder recommendations regard to the mu- terprises are equal of regulatory insti- nicipal interests, in treatment tutions. services to citizens and competitiveness

Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of responsive bids responsive bids responsive bids responsive bids responsive bids responsive bids

43 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

6. CIVIC INVOLVEMENT

0 1 2 3 4 5

Transparency in bid Transparency in bid Transparency in bid Transparency in bid Transparency in bid Transparency in bid evaluation evaluation evaluation evaluation evaluation evaluation

Journalists or civil Municipality de- Municipality al- The municipality Municipality allows Municipality makes society organiza- clares that it allows lows monitoring allows monitoring, monitoring of bid an open bid eval- tions are not al- monitoring, but in but conditions the requires the signing evaluations without uation, where all lowed to participate, practice there have monitors by signing of the statement any conditioning, but parties can monitor or the municipality been no monitoring a statement under under oath, provided only for specialized the process. did not have cases cases of evaluations oath and conditions that the remarks organizations when organizations the monitors not to are first sent to the monitored the bid disclose information municipality and in evaluation on what happened case the recom- in committees, but mendations are not may report to the considered, they municipality can go public

Transparency in bid Transparency in bid Transparency in bid Transparency in bid Transparency in bid Transparency in bid opening opening opening opening opening opening

Journalists or orga- There are no cases Municipality allows Municipality allows Municipality pub- nizations are not al- of monitoring the monitoring of open- the monitoring of lishes all notices lowed to participate, opening of bids, the ing of bids the opening of bids, through the online or the municipality municipality states and announces the platform, allows did not have cases it allows such a day that the civil monitoring of the when such entities thing, but in practice society is allowed opening of bids, monitored the bid it does not happen and all minutes are opening published

Consultations in the Consultations in the Consultations in the Consultations in the Consultations in the Consultations in the drafting of procure- drafting of procure- drafting of procure- drafting of procure- drafting of procure- drafting of procurement plans ment plans ment plans ment plans ment plans ment plans

Municipality has not Municipality has Municipality orga- The municipality has Third party recom- Third party recom- consulted with third conducted several nizes consultations an open process of mendations are mendations are parties on the draft- consultations, but with all the request discussions on the considered in the considered in the ing of procurement there has been no units and the orga- procurement plan in procurement plan, procurement plan, plans, and business- inclusive process, nizations it cooper- which, in addition to thus balancing the thus balancing the es have not been and there is no data ates with organizations, the requests of the pub- requests of the pub- involved on how the recom- business community lic, businesses and lic, businesses and mendations of such may also participate municipal needs, municipal need (the parties have been but the plan is not plan is published received published online)

44 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

Monitoring after the Monitoring after the Monitoring after the Monitoring after the Monitoring after the Monitoring after the award of the tender award of the tender award of the tender award of the tender award of the tender award of the tender

Municipality does Municipality does Municipality is de- Municipality has a Municipality is de- Municipality has not have a method not have a method veloping a method method of involving veloping a method a method of in- of involving citizens of involving citizens of involving citizens citizens in post-ten- of citizen involve- volving citizens in in post-tender in the monitoring in post-tender der award moni- ment in post-tender the post-tender award monitoring phase after the award monitoring toring, but it is not award monitoring monitoring, and award of the tender, implemented and keeps the public it is applied in all but informs the informed of any tenders public of any irregu- irregularities larities

Awareness-raising Awareness-raising Awareness-raising Awareness-raising Awareness-raising Awareness-raising campaign campaign campaign campaign campaign campaign

Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has Municipality has made no efforts begun to discuss the created a public launched a model launched a suc- and has taken no issue of launching awareness raising campaign for raising cessful public steps to raise public a public awareness campaign on public public awareness awareness raising awareness on pro- raising campaign on procurement, which on public procure- campaign on public curement procurement will be tested and ment, and it started procurement, a implemented collecting and ana- campaign that is lyzing data for this being implemented purpose

45 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

Basic description for the level of performance outcomes

LEVEL 0 LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4 LEVEL 5

Information on the evaluator

MUNICIPALITY MR./ MRS. NAME POSITION E-MAIL TEL. NUMBER ADDRESS /DEPARTMENT

DATE OF SUBMISSION OF THE QUES- TIONNAIRE:

46 IN PRISTINA, GJAKOVA/DJAKOVICA, VUSHTRRI/VUĆITRN, GJILAN/GNJILANE AND PEJA/PEĆ

Katalogimi në botim – (CIP) Biblioteka Kombëtare e Kosovës “Pjetër Bogdani”

352(496.51)

Benchmarking Public Procurement : in Prishtina, Gjakova, Vushtrri, Gjilan, and Peja / [Democracy Plus]. - Prishtina : Democracy Plus. – 37 f. : ilustr. ; 21 cm.

ISBN 978-9951-758-11-6

47 BENCHMARKING PUBLIC PROCUREMENT