Workshop “Implementation of Sustainable Public Procurement in Mediterranean Countries“, PR Centar Podgorica, 11 December 2012

The speakers were Ms Dafne Mazo, Project Manager of the CP/RAC and Ms Elena Estevan, Expert for Sustainable Procurement of the EcoInstitut from Barcelona.The participants of the Workshop included representatives of relevant institutions in the area of public procurement, environmental protection, sustainable development and others, and they had the opportunity to introduce themselves with the concept of sustainable/green procurement, green entrepreneurship, as well as methods of practical implementation of said aspects in the EU countries. The aim of the Workshop was also to indentify the key institutions in Montenegro that would implement the strategy of sustainable procurement, as well as the priority activities that would enable inclusion of these concepts into the public procurement practice, both by contracting authorities and by the bidders in Montenegro.

After the Workshop had been finished, a meeting was held and it was attended by, on behalf of the Public Procurement Administration: Mr Mersad Mujević, Director; Mrs Mara Bogavac, Assistant Director; Mrs Sandra Škatarić, Senior Adviser and Mrs Svetlana Tomović, Senior State Employee; and Ms Mazo and Ms Estevan on behalf of the CP/RAC. Director Mujević informed the guests on the legal competences of the PPA in view of proposing to the Government the measures for implementation of sustainable/green procurement and the PPA’s role of monitoring the public procurement procedures.

The Workshop was evaluated as a very useful one in terms of providing relevant information and statistical data that would serve as a basis for comparative analysis and a planned design of a Handbook for sustainable and green procurement. The Public Procurement Administration, according to Mr Mujević, actively participates in implementation of the Strategy for Development of the Public Procurement System in Montenegro for the period 2011-2015, wherein the introduction of sustainable/environmental/social aspect into the public procurement procedures had been incorporated. He also emphasized that the sustainable/green procurement would be included in the program for professional development and education conducted by the PPA as a part of its regular activities. Ms Mazo announced that the further CP/RAC activities in Montenegro will focus on identification of priority products/services whose procurement would imply the use of environmental and social criteria, and it would be followed by some pilot-actions aimed at their practical application. These pilot-procurement actions would be accompanied by further training of the PPA officers and the activities on raising awareness on the importance of sustainable/green procurement, which was recognized as a priority by all participants of the meeting. The continutation of cooperation between the PPA and  CP/RAC was foreseen for the beginning of 2013, when, depending on the available funds at both sides, there will be launched a project in which some other relevant institutions will be actively involved, such as the Ministry for Sustainable Development and Tourism and the Ministry of Economy. Also, the meeting parties agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, which would serve as a starting point and contain definitions of future forms of coopeation.

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