The annual report of the Public Procurement Commission (KPP) shows a considerable increase in complaints filed against state institutions in the context of public procurement procedures.
According to the report, 1,393 complaints were registered in 2016 in total for all public procurements, concessions, mining licenses, and auctions. Compared to 2015, this presents an increase of about 20%.
During 2016, 5,109 public procurement procedures were held by state institutions, 714 (or 14%) of which have led to a complaint procedure.
Nearly all complaints (99.5%) related to a public procurement procedure, 0,4% to auctions, and 0,1% to concessions.
The highest number of complaints were filed against the Albanian Post, the General Directorate of Taxes, and the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth, respectively 85, 35, and 33 complaints.
The majority of complaints related to the public procurement of security services: 60.6% of all complaints fell into this category. This is not very surprising, considering that the security industry operates as a cartel, and its price fixing strategies have gone unpunished for years.
In many cases, the KPP concluded that the action or inaction of the contracting authorities were illegal, and in several instances the Public Procurement Agency has started an administrative investigation. In 11% of the cases legal procedures had been violated, after which the KPP canceled the procurement procedure; in 41% of the cases the contracting authority was forced to perform a reevaluation, while in 8% of the cases the KPP concluded the tender’s criteria were discriminating or without legal support.
