TIRANA, APRIL 28, 2011   Today, the Center for Development and Democratization of Institutions (CDDI) presented its findings from recent activities monitoring the work of the Procurement Advocate (PA) in Albania.

According to its findings, economic operators (businesses) and contracting authorities believe that the PA’s work is necessary and helps make the public procurement process in Albania more effective, transparent, and fair. However, in order to strengthen the role of this institution and make its contributions more efficient, several recommendations were made by CDDI such as improving the PA’s appointment procedure, preparing sub-legal acts to strengthen its investigation procedures, and establishing cooperative ties with other procurement related-institutions. 

This monitoring study was conducted with the support of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Albania Threshold Program II (MCCA2), administered by USAID. 

CDDI presented its findings and recommendations to the Procurement Advocate, representatives of public institutions involved in the procurement process, contracting authorities, the business community, civil society organizations, and international donors.

CDDI conducted the study from October 2010 – March 2011. As part of the activity, CDDI reviewed the PA’s legal framework, conducted focus groups with economic operators, and held in-depth interviews with representatives of contracting authorities in 6 districts throughout Albania and representatives from the three main institutions in the public procurement arena (Procurement Advocate, Public Procurement Agency, and Public Procurement Commission.)