PRB Board must review 279 complaints filed since August 2013
FOL Movement calls the Board of PRB not to pass on its responsibility to procurement officials, but try and find the possibility to review the filed complaints even with an expedited procedure and decide as it is mandated by law.
Prishtina, March 26, 2014 – Public Procurement Review Body, after a nearly eight-month period is re-functionalized with the appointment of new Board members by Kosovo Assembly at its session held on March 20, 2014. During the period from 1 August 2013 to 20 March 2014, the PRB has not performed its function of reviewing the complaints of public procurement procedures, in this institution are filed a total of 279 complaints about various procedures.
On the other hand, according to recent information that emerged in public, even from the employees of this institution, the PRB board will review only 24 complaints which were filed after 14 February 2014, whereas will not consider the rest of 255 additional complaints justifying that they have expired legal deadlines for review. These procurement procedures will remain to be decided by the relevant procurement officials in the relevant contracting authorities.
FOL Movement has constantly expressed concern that the non-function of the PRB has created opportunities for mismanagement, abuse and corruption in public procurement.
FOL concludes that if the complaint filed during the period when the PRB has been non-functional will not be reviewed and leaving them to public procurement officers to decide for, will create:
1.Possibilities for mismanagement, abuse and corruption in public procurement.
2. Damage the interests of economic operators, and
3. Create a precedent for other cases where authorities that are obliged by law enforce justice to refuse to do so.
Therefore, FOL Movement calls the Board of PRB not to pass on its responsibility to procurement officials, but try and find the possibility to review the filed complaints even with an expedited procedure and decide as it is mandated by law. We consider that any other form of action is extremely dangerous and can create abusive opportunities by contracting authorities.