Everything ready for the opening of a new negotiation chapter relating to public procurement

Jovanovic explained that, back in February, Serbia had received a report of the European Commission which stated that everything was ready for the opening of Chapter 5, without any preconditions.

- For example, Croatia, the latest one to enter the European Union, had one precondition imposed on it and it took two years for the country to fulfill it. The key thing is to have a clear plan and strategy for the reformation of the public procurement system – emphasized Jovanovic.

According to him, many countries are focusing on changing laws while going through the reformation, but he says that this should never be the final step.

- Nothing is achieved without clear effects evident in practice. Very important elements which are listed as key criteria for loans by the World Bank are whether the purchaser is looking to buy something useful, whether they are handling total expenses, the quality and other elements, said Jovanovic.

As he said, the lowest price has been the criterion so far and it was considered that that meant the ending of the procurement.

- What was being overlooked was the cost-effectiveness, which means looking at total expenses – concluded Jovanovic.