Open Public Procurement in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN), Center for Social Research Analitika and Public Interest Advocacy Center (CPI) are implementing the project “Open Public Procurement in BiH”.

The project is a part of the European Commission's program ”Implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan,“ funded by the European Union.

The project is focused on advocating for a transparent and efficient public procurement system in BiH, which would result in the prevention of corrupt activities and a better insight into the process of selecting bidders and awarding contracts. Some of the key obstacles to the establishment of open access to public procurement are reflected in the obsolete legal and institutional framework that is in many segments not harmonized with international standards, and generally limited public access to information on key stages of the procurement proceedings, including the outcome of such procedures. The project “Open Public Procurement in BiH” seeks to identify and overcome existing barriers to the participation of stakeholders in public procurement.

Project activities are targeted on specific objectives:

- Identifying key obstacles facing the private sector in public procurement procedures;
- Strengthening the capacities of civil society organisations (CSOs) to monitor, report and promote transparency in public procurement procedures;
- Advocating the cooperation and coordination among different stakeholders in the public procurement system in BiH: government, private sector and civil society;
- Promoting transparency of public procurement processes through a transparent declaration of legal persons participating in those processes and enabling public access to crucial information pertaining to public procurement.

As part of the project, Analitika will focus on the following activities:

- A survey of a representative sample of private enterprises in BiH in order to identify main obstacles faced by enterprises in different sectors of the economy in public procurement processes in BiH;

- Drafting of policy proposals for improving different aspects of the existing public procurement system in BiH;

- Advocacy and promotion of recommendations for improvement of public procurement procedures in BiH.

The project duration is 30 months (December 2013 – May 2016).