As part of the TSI project (Technical Support Instrument) aimed at fighting collusive agreements in public procurement (bid rigging) that has been implemented since September 2024 in cooperation with competition authorities from Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, and Romania, with expert support from the OECD and the European Commission, the Republic of Croatia has taken on the role of the lead member state.<\/p>\n
Within this project, three key workshops will be held in Zagreb to educate and raise awareness among various stakeholders involved in public procurement procedures.<\/p>\n
The first workshop, scheduled for 7- 8 April 2025, will be a two-day event intended for the representatives of public contracting authorities, including government bodies, agencies, and sector contractors actively participating in public procurement procedures.<\/p>\n
The second workshop, a one-day event on 9 April 2025, will be focused on judicial officials, including judges and public prosecutors.<\/p>\n
The third workshop, also a one-day event, will take place on 10 April 2025, and will be designed for the private sector \u2013 the representatives of associations of undertakings as well as individual undertakings involved in public procurement processes.<\/p>\n
In addition to experts from the OECD and the European Commission, representatives of the Croatian Competition Agency will deliver presentations at these workshops, and a guest lecture will be given by a representative from the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition.<\/p>\n
Bid rigging issues are explained the OECD Guidelines for fighting bid rigging in public procurement. The OECD Guidelines (now a part of the Recommendation of the Council on Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement) have been designed to provide assistance in reducing the risk of bid rigging through carefully designed procurement processes and to enable effective detection of collusive behaviour such as illegal price fixing, suppression or withdrawal of bids, rotation systems, and\/or market-sharing agreements, all that leads to reduction in the quality of offered goods, works, or services.\u00a0 Thus, bid riggings is a secret prohibited restrictive agreement between competitors that has all the features of a cartel and as such constitutes a hard-core restriction of competition.<\/p>\n
The objective of this project is to provide appropriate tools and knowledge to all participants in the public procurement procedures to prevent irregularities and promote competition, thereby contributing to the creation of a fairer and more efficient public procurement system in Europe.<\/p>\n