Shadow Report on Public Procurement in North Macedonia 2020
Almost two years into implementation of the new Law on Public Procurements and effects thereof are still missing. Although the new law was adopted with a view to align national legislation with the most recent EU Directive on Public Procurement and under pressure of numerous criticism by all stakeholders indicating that the legal framework is unsustainable, restrictive and, in many cases, allows malpractices, public procurements in North Macedonia, by inertia, continue to be implemented pursuant to main provisions from the old law.
The new law was adopted in January 2019 and had delayed enforcement from 1 April the same year, which was certainly uncommon for such piece of legislation, having in mind the major role of calendar year both in terms of fiscal implications and in terms of planning needs, procurements and budget execution.
Be that as it may, the new law defines public procurements at higher conceptual and more contemporary level, and provides a solid framework for state institutions to procure what they actually need. On the other hand, the law anticipated a multitude of instruments for prevention of abuses and malpractices – from greater transparency and accountability of institutions, through specific anticorruption provisions, to control during contract performance. Finally, the law defined the concept of cost-effectiveness, i.e. obtaining the best value for money spent, as key principle of public procurements.