Incompetence and lack of knowledge main causes of failures in public procurement procedures

The public procurement procedures financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank are subject to the regulations of those financial institutions, and not to Serbia's Public Procurement Law.

Incompetence and being unfamiliar with those regulations are the main causes of failures in public procurement procedures, for unbuilt schools and roads, says the EBRD expert Veljko Sikirica.

Sikirica says that Serbia has made advances in that field and that three thousand civil servants have passed civil service exams in the area of public procurement, whereas the EBRD has provided scholarships for 16 Serbian students for post-graduate studies in this field in Rome.

– Even though corruption is the first thing on everyone's mind when the subject of public procurement comes up, research has shown that this is not the main problem in the area. Incompetence and lack of knowledge are the main obstacles to increasing the efficiency of public procurement procedures, which is why people have been educated for years now, with the help of the EBRD and the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia – Sikirica says.

When asked what the most common mistakes made by bidders at tenders financed from loans of international financial institutions are, he says that bidders are too verbose, explaining what their previous experience is, instead of meeting the requirements of the tender.

– They must see their bid from the angle of those who will consider it, so that the commission would think right away that this is the right bidder for the job – Sikirica says.

EBRD Evropska banka za obnovu i razvoj Beograd

Svetska Banka-WB Beograd

Privredna komora Srbije

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

World Bank

EBRD

public procurement

Public Procurement Law

Veljko Sikirica

corruption

CCIS