TI BiH: Such changes to the Law on Public Procurement will not fundamentally advance the fight against corruption, even though it was a priority of the EU

Banja Luka, August 30, 2022 The agreed text of amendments to the Law on Public Procurement of BiH, which was confirmed by the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly in BiH, will not fundamentally improve the fight against corruption in this area, which was a key requirement that the European Union set for Bosnia and Herzegovina through 14 priorities.

Despite certain improvements brought by the Law on Amendments to the Law on Public Procurement, which primarily relate to the segment of conflicts of interest, collusion and transparency, some of the key mechanisms for the prevention and fight against corruption did not find their place in this regulation.

Thus, after five years of work on amendments to this law and international pressures, the mechanisms for sanctioning law breakers, both in the area of misdemeanor and criminal liability, have not been improved, the possibilities of protecting the public interest by the competent bodies were not expanded, political influences on the appointments and work of the members of the Appeals Review Office were not eliminated, and the further development of the e-procurement system and the accompanying transparency were extended for another year by changes in the law.

In addition, capacities and mechanisms of supervision of the public procurement institutions system in BiH have not been strengthened, which is particularly problematic from the point of view of the latest amendments that were adopted in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH and which will allow contracting authorities to increase their value during the duration of the contract, due to unforeseen circumstances for an additional 30% without conducting a new procedure.

Bearing in mind the numerous abuses that occur in practice in the segment of contract implementation, as the most non-transparent phase of the public procurement cycle, Transparency International in BiH warns that these changes, although under the auspices of reforms, could open up additional space for corruption and extraction of public money through privileged companies . Also, with the agreed amendments, the annual threshold for awarding contracts through direct agreements without public bidding increases from BAM 6,000 to BAM 10,000.

In this way, through the long-term procedure of adopting these changes, and especially through the amendments made by the representatives in the Parliament, under the pretext of implementing reforms and fulfilling the priorities of the EU, which states that BiH will strengthen the prevention and fight against corruption in the field of public procurement and strengthen the capacities for public procurement, there were changes to the Law that open up additional space for corruption.

TI BiH reminds that the amendments to the Law on Public Procurement should have been adopted a few years ago, and only as a temporary solution until the adoption of a new, complete Law and accompanying by-laws, which would be harmonized to the maximum extent with EU directives, and significantly improve transparency, prevention and fight against corruption. Therefore, after 5 years of work on reforms in this area, these changes can be considered not only cosmetic, but in certain segments encouraging for potential abuses and corruption. In this way, the representatives of the ruling parties in BiH once again showed that they use the so-called reform processes to introduce harmful provisions, while at the same time presenting them as great progress and fulfillment of EU priorities.

TI BiH once again warns that adoption of any solutions under the excuse of fulfilling EU priorities it must not be allowed, but that it must be ensured that they really go in the direction of preventing corruption and meeting international standards.

Press rls_30.08.22_