Central institutions implemented their procurement plan for the first six months of 2026 at a low level. According to the INPO report, titled “Procurement That Remains in the Plan,” only 170 of the 905 planned activities had been initiated by June 30.

The findings were presented by Arbër Kabashi, an INPO researcher, during the publication of the report examining the planning and implementation of procurement activities by ministries and the Office of the Prime Minister for the period from January 1 to June 30, 2026.

Kabashi explained that the analysis was based on Form B05, known as the contract notice form, through which most of the activities included in procurement plans are expected to be initiated. He stressed that the monitoring covered only procedures launched during the period from January 1 to June 30, 2026.

According to him, during this period the ministries and the Office of the Prime Minister also carried out other activities, but these were procedures initiated in previous years and were not included in the report’s analysis.

Osman Vishaj of the Public Procurement Regulatory Commission (PPRC) said that planning forms the basis of the entire procurement process. He compared it to the foundation of a building, saying that a weak foundation can cause major problems later on.

Vishaj stated that delays in approving the law and the division of several ministries had created difficulties not only in planning, but also in implementing the procedures. As an example, he mentioned cases in which an institution, including the Ministry of Education and Culture, had launched a procedure that changed during the evaluation phase, while the project and financial resources were transferred to the ministry responsible for Culture and Sport. According to him, these changes had created uncertainty about how the initiated activities should be handled.

Procurement expert Diana Metushi-Krasniqi said that procurement had largely remained in government plans and had not been implemented in practice. She referred to the report titled “Procurement That Remains on Paper.”

Metushi-Krasniqi warned that delays in implementing the plan had consequences beyond the loss of the opportunity to use the budget. According to her, unused funds could no longer be implemented, affecting the reduction of financial circulation in Kosovo’s market, where around one billion circulates.

She stressed that businesses create jobs and pay most of the taxes, meaning that the blocking of a considerable part of the budget indirectly harms the state and governance as well, through reduced tax revenues.

According to the expert, failure to implement the procurement plan also weakens the performance of institutions, which are left without the necessary resources to fulfill their duties, plans and public promises regarding infrastructure and improved well-being. This, she said, also contributes to lower public trust in institutions.

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Five public procurement procedures with a combined value of €22.5 million were marred by numerous violations. These irregularities were detailed by Democracy Plus (D+) in a report titled “The Cost of Unfinished Procedures: Repeated Re-evaluations and the Absence of Contracts.”

The report’s data were obtained by monitoring procedures conducted by the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship, Trade and Innovation (MINTI), the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MPB) and the Ministry of Health (MSh). According to the document, the practices identified led to prolonged procedures, their cancellation or failure to conclude contracts.

A statement said that one of the main problems identified was the improper appointment of members to evaluation committees. In addition, new grounds for excluding economic operators were presented only at the review stage, while operators offering abnormally low prices were recommended for contracts without a complete and documented analysis. The findings also include the unjustified shortening of statutory deadlines for submitting bids.

The document also highlights procurement procedures that remained blocked for more than two years, despite repeated decisions by the Procurement Review Body (OShP). As a result, the implementation of contracts was delayed, negatively affecting the efficiency of public spending.

Based on these findings, D+ is calling on contracting authorities to appoint evaluation committees in accordance with the law and to apply the principle of legal certainty when handling requests for review. The organization also recommends the proper assessment of abnormally low bids, ensuring transparency and proportionality in procurement, and completing procedures within statutory deadlines through the effective implementation of OShP decisions.

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Diana Matoshi Krasniqi, coordinator for advocacy and research at KDI, said: “An analysis should be conducted of the efficiency of competition procedures and value assurance, and legal reforms should be proposed that support not only digitalization and modernization but the structural formation of the entire process,”

The panel stressed that, based on experience to date in public procurement, reform oriented toward performance and quality is essential in order to ensure greater transparency and accountability.

Member of the Kosovo Assembly, Eliza Hoxha, said: “Our role today and going forward would be to see how we can improve them; now the first challenge is whether there is political will, the relevant institutions and the horizontal spectrum of other institutions connected to procurement processes, to have a working group on that matter and to have broad inclusion, which is the basic principle of democratic societies,”

Meanwhile, Member of the Kosovo Assembly Janina Ymeri highlighted the budgeting problem, saying: “Budgeting is initially a problem; the budget is stretched so much for a certain project that it is institutional laziness to simply divide a project over four or five years, and this prevents both municipalities and ministries from doing a job properly”,

Pressure from the media and the verdict of citizens’ votes were seen as important elements for increasing accountability and guaranteeing fair and efficient public procurement. However, it was emphasized that real change requires full transparency, continuous oversight, and uncompromising enforcement of the law, in order to build a procurement system that protects the public interest and ensures that every euro of taxpayers’ money is returned in real value to citizens.

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