On February 14, Prime Minister Edi Rama signed a Decision of the Council of Ministers (VKM), which will further favor the small group of businessmen supporting his government. VKM 914 changes the public procurement conditions, raising the bar for international tenders and removing conditions previously imposed by Rama himself to avoid damage to the state budget.
Previously, the ceiling for national tenders was 1.2 billion lekë (~€9 million), but through VKM 914 this has been raised to 2.4 billion lekë (~€18 million). This means that for tenders up to €18 million, the tender will not be international, and therefore Albanian companies will not face competition from foreign companies.
Furthermore, VKM 914 repeals one of the conditions of the Public Procurement Law imposed on companies competing for a government tender. According to art. 26(ç) of that law, competing companies should have finished at least 70% of the physical work on any other tenders they have received from the government. This article protects the state from being affected by sudden bankruptcies, limiting the damage to a single tender.
By repeals art. 26(ç) the government opens the door to companies applying to multiple tenders while not having finished previous contracts, thus increasing the financial risk of the government and the Albanian public.
Both measures introduced in VKM 914 do nothing to improve the Albanian business and investment climate, and in fact reduce the competition on the market while increasing the financial risks for the state.
