As of 1 January 2023, all business entities will be able to register in the Register of Bidders electronically, significantly saving time and money, because they will no longer have to collect all certificates in person from different service windows of various state authorities.
By registering in the Register, participation in bids will be greatly facilitated for bidders, while contracting authorities will find it easier to access data on the basis of which they can look into the companies with which they wish to conclude a contract. Based on the available data from the Register of Bidders, institutions will have access to data which will help them better analyze the state of the public procurement system and further improve it.
This was announced at a media briefing at the Serbian Business Registers Agency, as was the fact that a total od 14,585 legal entities were registered in the register during 2022. According to NALED’s research, about 60% of bidders are not currently in this register.
The improvement of the register is part of the project "Effective Public Procurement for the Purpose of Economic Growth", which is financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and implemented by NALED.
“By improving the Register of Bidders, the Serbian Business Registers Agency will, starting from 1 January, enable electronic registration and issuance of decisions, extracts, and certificates for bidders, as well as easier access to registered data, which should facilitate this procedure for businesses and other legal entities. I am sure that the novelties which were introduced in the registration procedure and management of the Register of Bidders, along with the existence of the ePortal for public procurement, will ensure a higher level of legal security and transparency and that this will, in turn, encourage more bidders to register in this register and participate in public procurement procedures”, the SBRA director Milan Lučić stated.
According to the survey presented by NALED at the media briefing, more than half of citizens positively evaluate the new public procurement system. The number of those who are aware that procurement has moved to a digital environment more than doubled in 2021 and as many as 64% of citizens believe that the new solution has improved efficiency and transparency, while in 2021 only 47% of the population thought the same.
“However, there are still segments that need to be improved, namely the competition and the need to increase the number of offers in bids, of which there are now an average 2.5 per bid, as well as encouraging contracting authorities to prioritize quality instead of the lowest price criterion, which is represented in 95% of bids. Additionally, the results regarding the implemented green and social public procurements show that their implementation is still insufficiently developed, and they are undoubtedly an effective tool for supporting the protection of the environment and vulnerable groups", the executive director of NALED, Violeta Jovanović pointed out.
The program director of the organization “Transparency Serbia”, Nemanja Nenadić, referring to the presented results, stated that in the coming period, the priority is to reduce the mistrust of bidders and create the conditions for a greater number of companies to dispute those procurements that are suspected of being rigged.
On this occasion, the mobile application of the ePortal for public procurement was presented, which is available for download on the Google Play Store. Through notifications, the app helps bidders to react faster and not miss deadlines when asking questions, submitting bids, requests for the protection of rights, etc. Moreover, an e-learning platform www.lppp.rs was also presented, where bidders and contracting authorities can become better acquainted with the procurement system through regulations, opinions, guidelines and manuals.
For additional information, please see the Infographic New electronic services in the Register of Bidders. The statements of the participants at the media briefing on public procurement are available on the Agency’s YouTube channel.