(Podgorica, 23 November 2011) – The President of the Public Procurement Control Commission (PPCC), Marko Lazarević, once gain failed to rebut any of the claims that MANS has brought out into the public eye relating to the Bemax affair. This includes his failure to deny that the PPCC ignored the ruling of the Administrative Court of Montenegro, which overturned the PPCC’s initial decision granting the contract for the Mojkovac tailings dump to Bemax.
We would once again like to remind Mr. Lazarević that the rulings of Montenegrin courts are binding on all parties – including the institution he runs – and that the failure to comply with such rulings is a criminal offense. The judgement in this case, however, isn’t simply an isolated instance of Lazarević’s poor performance but an example of the ways in which this body has operated for years.
According to the records of the Administrative Court, in 2010 alone some 59 decisions of the PPCC were annulled, while in the first ten months of this year another 19 decisions were overturned. These figures are a devastating illustration of the reality that reigns at the PPCC. Lazarević’s demagogic statements to the contrary cannot alter the fact that for years this body has refused to properly abide by the laws and regulations of this country.
So far there is no precise data detailing how much damage was caused to the state budget by the irresponsible stance of Lazarević’s PPCC. What is clear, however, is that the current PPCC with Marko Lazarević at its head isn’t particularly interested in securing full legal compliance within the public procurement system.
The PPCC should be the first line of defense when it comes to protecting the public interest in the procurement system. It is disappointing that Lazarević does not see this as the Commission’s role, while any request for greater transparency is interpreted as an attack on the Commission.
We understand his anxious responses given the fact that someone is finally looking into the transparency and legality of the PPCC’s work, bearing in mind that until now Lazarević has escaped public scrutiny. Nevertheless, we would like to remind Lazarević that besides answering to the Government of Montenegro – which appointed him to the position he now occupies – he must also answer before the Montenegrin public and Montenegro’s judicial authorities.
As for the now infamous licenses in the Bemax case, MANS expects that Montenegro’s prosecutors will soon initiate pretrial proceedings in order to shed further light on the relationship between the Commission, Lazarević and a the companies applying for tenders.
Unfortunately for Mr. Lazarević, and in spite of his resistance to such a course of action, MANS will continue to pursue investigations into his violations of the Public Procurement Law. Along these lines, we once again call upon companies that have problems with the PPCC’s work to contact us with relevant information so that we can collectively ensure that the rule of law is respected in this realm.
