On Friday, 2 July 2010, a formal closing ceremony has marked the official end of the IPA 2007 twinning light project “Strengthening of the Administrative Capacity of the Agency for the Public Private Partnership in the Republic of Croatia in Relation to the Implementation of the New Public-Private Partnership Legislation”. Mr. Kamilo Vrana, acting Managing Director of the Agency for Public Private Partnership, Mr. Domagoj Šimunović, Assistant Director of Central Finance and Contracting Agency and Twinning National Contact Point, as well as Ms. Paulina Stanoeva, Attaché and Task Manager for Public Finance and Public Administration in the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Croatia and Mr. Nikolaos Mantzoufas Head of the Special Secretariat for PPP within Hellenic Ministry of Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping and Mr. Georgios Trantas, Ph.D., Secretary General of Centre for International and European Economic Law addressed the audience and subsequently presented the results of the project.
The project, with a budget of EUR 250.000 funded by the EU program IPA 2007 was implemented during the last six months. The project was of the great importance for Croatia in the framework of the EU accession process since it contributed directly to the fulfillment of the requirements under Chapter 5. Public Procurement. In addition it supports the establishment of the sound economic environment on the basis of a more transparent and efficient PP system, also by further strengthening of the Agency’s administrative capacities.
The objectives of this project are developed sound and transparent public procurement system in the area of public private partnership in the Republic of Croatia, harmonized with the acquis communautaire and the relevant EU standards in the field of the Public-Private Partnership. This was accomplished trough:
• development of methodological tools for fostering the implementation of the Public Private Partnerships legislation;
• making the Agency for the Public Private Partnership and other stakeholders aware, prepared and enforced for the implementation of the new public-private partnerships legal framework in Croatia.
The following results have been achieved:
– Delivery of Comprehensive analytical Report on Croatian Public-Private Partnership Legislation in comparison with European good practices;
– Practical Manual for the Preparation and Conduct of the PPP projects based on the Report on Croatian Public-Private Partnership Legislation compared by European Good Practices and Draft of comprehensive set of Standardized Documentation for PPP projects, as attachments to the Practical Manual (in Croatian and English language);
– Strategy for Enhancing the Administrative Capacity of the APPP and the Action Plan for the adoption of this Strategy;
– Delivery of the training Programme and study visits for the staff of the APPP regarding PPP.
– Delivery of the training Programme for the staff in public bodies involved in PPP projects.
Mr. Vrana also thanked partners for their cooperation during project implementation, especially in light of the fulfillment of commitments in the negotiations and stressed the importance of the achieved results which certainly contributed to their completion and thus the chapter of public procurement was provisionally closed at the meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference held on June 30 in Brussels. He also stressed the full readiness of the Agency in implementing all of its functions as the pivotal institution for public-private partnership in the Republic of Croatia.
