To combat crime in public procurement necessary changes to Penal Code

Given the lack of efficiency in fighting this type of crime, civil society has proposed classification of criminal acts related to public procurement under the Criminal Code.

Genc Nimoni from the organisation “Arise”, tells Radio Free Europe that classification of these works would make fighting public money misuse more effective through public procurement.

This action has not been classified as a particular criminal act. Parts of the crime meant they were scattered into other criminal acts, in misuse of official duty, fraud and other, but not codified in a particular place in the field of public procurement. I consider that this will help much more the first prosecutor to identify this nature of violations much more easily, and also to proceed further for punishment in court of such natural violations”, Nimoni said.

Encoding of this work under the Penal Code also supports procurement field connoisseur Isuf Zamena, from the organisation “Democracy Plus”.

Zeynep says this helps to identify criminal acts related to public procurement.

Now the idea is that any damage caused to Kosovo's budget, the aprior, should be considered a criminal offense, whether it was done knowingly or unconsciously. As the damage is done, it has to be treated as a criminal act, and I think it helps the Prosecutor a lot in pursuing corrupt acts, which are carried out through public procurement procedures. So it's supposed to ease the job of prosecutors in classifying corruption criminal acts”, Zeynep estimates.

Kosovo has consistently faced various abuses in the area of public procurement.

Organizations monitoring procurement have calculated abuses in tender procedures, ranging from presenting the tender file to contracting authorities, realising the works according to the procurement plan and to multiple abuses by persons and law during contract tendering and implementation.

Categorisation has not been included in the new Penal Code Draft, says Commission for Legislation Chairman MP Albulen Haxhiu.

This is important to address the fact that many of the top politicians, related officials, who have had certain positions, which are highly sensitive, namely, were enriched due to frauds in public procurement and influences in this process”, Haxhiu says.

Haxhiu adds that her opposition party, the Vetevendosje Movement, has proposed an amendment in co-operation with civil society that in the future Penal Code is a special work dealing with fraud in public procurement.

“We have seen this criminal offence enter the chapter of corruption acts, is chapter 33 -- that is, related to official corruption and criminal acts against official office” -- Haxhiu declares.

The proposed amendment has four points and, among other things, envisions that perpetrators of deeds that benefit or cause significant property damage -- in values over 5 thousand euros -- the owner is sentenced to at least five years in prison.