Transcript No Slide Title

A programme of public
procurement and budgeting
reforms in Serbian municipalities
2001-2004
Supported by:
NOVIB
LGI/OSI
Presented by:
Danijel Pantić, M. Sc.
Secretary General, European Movement in Serbia
The participating municipalities
• November 2000, pilot project involving three democratic
municipalities: Kikinda, Niš, Čukarica
• Including 14 interested municipalities as observers
• Interest expressed through a Letter of Intent
• Phase two: 29 municipalities divided into 6 groups according to
regions
Municipalities involved:
Group A:
• City of Belgrade
• Čukarica
• Zemun
• New Belgrade
Group B:
• Zvezdara
•Voždovac
•Savski Venac
•Grocka
•Mladenovac
Group C:
• Kikinda
• Zrenjanin
• Vršac
• Pančevo
•Apatin
•Novi Kneževac
•Sombor
Group D:
• Kragujevac
• Kraljevo
• Užice
• Kruševac
•Aleksandrovac
Group E:
• Zaječar
• Majdanpek
• Negotin
• Kovin
Group F:
• Niš
• Leskovac
• Pirot
• Dimitrovgrad
Reasons to begin
Why fight corruption
• Serbia - among the most corrupt countries judging by the
corruption index
Why now
• Change of regime - chance to change the system
Why budgeting and public procurement
• Public expenditures consume more than 50% of the
national product
Why in municipalities
• Citizens can see the changes in the behaviour of the
authorities immediately
OBJECTIVES:
• More transparency in managing municipal budgets
• More transparency in the public procurement
process
• Introducing European standards
• Improving the work of municipal administration
• Better communications between the citizens and
local government
LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES
• More rational use of budget resources
• The citizens and private enterprises more
satisfied with the work of municipal services
• Strengthening the democratic process in local
communities
METHOD
• Final version of project based of findings of pilot projects
• Cooperation with representatives of municipalities and
civil society
• Creating budget management software for municipalities
(INKO)
• Workshops on budgeting and public procurement
• Establishing a branch of TI Serbia within EMInS
• Publishing the Transparency magazine
• Choosing the Best Municipal Employee campaign
• Verification of results through subsequent opinion polls
conducted in municipalities
ACTIVITIES
Phase 1
• Establishing an EMInS international expert team
• Opinion poll on the quality of municipal public services
• The first workshop on budgeting according to European
standards
Phase 2
•
•
•
•
Training municipal employees in public relations
Preparing municipal administration guides
Designing a national anti-corruption logo
The second workshop on budgeting
ACTIVITIES
• Installment of new budget software and personnel training
• Seminar on the role of investigative journalism in fighting
corruption
• Choosing the best municipal employee campaign
Phase 3
• The first workshop on public procurement
• Proposals for a reform of the system of public procurement
in Serbia
• Lecturers: Jeremy Pope, TI, Wayne Witting, ITC,
UNCTAD
• Developing ideas for improving public procurement
EVALUATION
• Opinion poll
• The citizens more satisfied with the work of
municipal employees
• The citizens take a greater interest in the problems
municipalities face
• The citizens believe that the situation will improve
RESULTS
• Successful cooperation with local authorities and civil
society
• Better communications between citizens and the local
authorities
• Experiences of EMInS/TI serve as examples to other
countries
• Drawing the attention of the public to the problem of
corruption
• A solid foundation for project expansion established
PHASE TWO: THE TASPP
PROJECT - 2001-2004
• Assessment of hardware and software capacity in
municipalities
• Training employees to work with new programs
• Seminars held in regional centres
• Installing the software and 2 PCs in each municipality
• A joint municipalities’ website for public procurement
• Internal linking of PCs in municipal services
• Continuation of successful activities from phase one
• Compatibility with the USAID LGI program
BUDGET Software
Training of public
servants
Use of software
PLAINING AND MORE RATIONAL
BUDGET SPENDING
Internet system of public
procurement
Joint municipalities’ website
• Advertising the procurement plan together with a
time schedule
• Information in connection with ongoing tenders
• Decisions, justification, criteria
Public nature of work
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
Municipalities
Interested subjects
Internet base
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
OBJECTIVES
• Getting acquainted with procedures based on EU standards
• Greater transparency and efficiency of public procurement
• Joint advertising of the municipalities involved leads to
more favourable offers
• Personnel trained for IAS presentations to foreign investors
• Computerisation of the financial departments of the
municipalities involved
• Technical assistance - 60 PCs in two phases
• Improving communication between the citizens and local
administration