A joint meeting was held in the offices of the Ministry of Infrastructure between the Minister of Infrastructure Lutfi Zharku, Minister of Health Imet Rrahmani, Director of Central Procurement Agency Mursel Rraci, the British Ambassador Ruarí O'Connell and the Executive Director of KDI, Ismet Kryeziu.

In this meeting, the need for cooperation between the Civil Society and Government Institutions in addressing the challenges and elimination of corrupt practices that can follow the Public Procurement activities was emphasized. 

Minister Zharku, as the host of the meeting, said “”We appreciate the monitoring and other Civil Society activities and we will make maximum efforts to increase the transparency of the management of funds in the Government, and the Ministry of Infrastructure in particular”.

Ambassador O'Connell stated “there are problems in the public procurement, but I hope that all those present today are committed to improving this area”. The Ambassador added that “a transparent and accountable procurement prohibits corruption, prevents the misuse of money, puts an end to mismanagement and enables increasing efficiency, better environment for businesses, and warrants a fair and free competition”. He welcomed the expressed readiness of the Institutions to deal with these problems and to cooperate with Civil Society.

The Minister of Health Imet Rrahmani pronounced that, “monitoring and partnership with the Civil Society and all other stakeholders will help the Ministry of Health to be more transparent in the procurement processes and the righteous and legal spending of the public money”.

In addition, the CPA Director, Mursel Rraci pointed out some of the difficulties the Public Procurement faces and the legal needs to address these challenges. Among other things, he also stated “I guarantee the Institution that I lead, will provide a transparent access to KDI in expenditures’ reports and also as ease of access to official documents.”

The Executive Director of KDI, Ismet Kryeziu, thanked the British Embassy for the continued support to the civil society. He also thanked the Ministers and the Director of the CPA for their commitment and guarantees to be partners in improving the procurement field. He stressed that “it is the goal of KDI to ensure taxpayers’ money are managed in the best way and the same tax payments are returned on welfare for the citizens.”

 

For a period of one year, KDI will be monitoring procurement of the three aforementioned institutions, focusing on five phases of the procurement process from Assessing the Customer Needs and Planning to the Quality Control of the received Products or Services. The methodology of monitoring these departments is based on the Transparency International guidelines. Kosova Democratic Institute (KDI), a chapter of Transparency International, has received the support of the British Embassy in Pristina to continue monitoring the Public Procurement sector with the aim of improving the practices in order to enhance the law enforcement and increase the efficiency of these institutions in the management of the public money.