Public procurement in the Republic of Albania is set up by the Law no.9643 of 20 November 2006, amended respectively by Law no.9800 of 10 September 2007, Law no.9855 of 26 December 2007, Law no.10170 of 22 October 2009, and Law no.10309 of 22 July 2010, as well as by implementing Bylaws . ( Approval of Public Procurement Rules; Public Procurement Manual; Manual on Preventing Conflict of Interest)
The purpose of the Law is to set out rules applied to the procurement of goods, works and services by contracting authorities, managing public funds.
Public Funds means:
a) any monetary value of the State Budget determined to be
used for public contracts;
b) any monetary value of the Local Budget determined to be used for public contracts;
c) aid or credit funds provided by foreign donors, based on
international agreements, which do not require the
implementation of other procedures different from this law;
d) income from State, local enterprises, companies and any other entities where the State has the majority of the capital shares.
The award of the public contracts is governed by the following general principles:
(a) non-discrimination and equality of treatment of actual and
potential tenderers;
(b) transparency of procurement procedures;
(c) proportionality of requirements and obligations imposed to
actual and potential tenderers.
Public procurement is managed and carried out by:
1. Contracting authorities, which are responsible for procurement with public funds at their disposal. Contracting authorities manage procurement funds, select procedures and announce tenders in compliance with the provisions of the Law. They also evaluate bids and award contracts.
2. The Public Procurement Agency, which is a central body, with legal and public personality, reporting to the Prime Minister™s Office. It submits proposals for procurement regulations, trains contracting authorities™ officials involved in public procurement, monitors the system and presents an annual report to the Council of Ministers regarding the overall functioning of the public procurement system.
3. The Public Procurement Advocate, which safeguards the legal rights and interests of candidates, bidders or suppliers against irregular actions or lack of actions by contracting authorities. The Public Procurement Advocate monitors, and carries out investigation on infringements, related to the public procurement administrative procedures.
4. The Public Procurement Commission, which is the highest authority in the field of procurement for reviewing the complaints of economic operators in public procurement procedures. Upon completion of the complaints examinations, Commission™s decisions are administrative final acts.
Procedures:
The types of public procurement procedures are:
a) open procedure;
Open procedures™ are those procedures whereby any interested economic operator may submit a tender. Under an open procedure, all tenderers submit their tenders, namely their economic and technical offer and evidence of the satisfaction of the selection criteria.
b) restricted procedure;
Restricted procedures™ are two stages procedures in which any economic operator may request to participate, but whereby only those economic operators selected by the contracting authority may submit a tender. Under a restricted procedure, after the published time-limit to submit requests to participate, as specified in the contract notice, expired, contracting authorities select the candidates in accordance with the law specified criteria. Then, contracting authorities issue an invitation to tender to the selected candidates, requesting an offer to be submitted.
c) negotiated procedure;
Negotiated procedures™ are those procedures whereby the contracting authorities negotiate the contract terms with one or more of them. Negotiated procedures may be with or without prior publication of a contract notice.
When the value of the contract to be awarded is above the low value thresholds, contracting authorities may use a negotiated procedure with prior publication in the following cases:
a) in the event of irregular tenders or the submission of tenders which are unacceptable under national legal provisions, in response to two consecutive open or restricted procedures, insofar as no substantial alteration is included in the contract, or
b)in exceptional cases, when the nature of works, supplies or services or the risks attaching thereto do not permit prior overall pricing .
When the value of the contract is lower than the low value thresholds, contracting authority may use negotiated procedures with prior publication of a contract notice in any case, which they deem appropriate, provided that the procedure complies with the principles of equal treatment, proportionality and transparency.
Contracting authorities negotiate with tenderers in order to adapt their submitted tenders to the requirements which they have set out in the contract notice, and to seek out the best tender.
For all contracts of a value above or below the low value thresholds, contracting authorities may use negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice only in the following cases:
a) when minimal conditions for competition have not been met in response to two consecutive open or restricted procedures, provided there is no substantial alteration to the initial conditions of the contract;
b) when for technical or artistic reasons, or for reasons connected with exclusive rights or intellectual property rights, the contract may be executed only by a particular economic operator;
The types of public procurement procedures are:
a) open procedure;
Open procedures™ are those procedures whereby any interested economic operator may submit a tender. Under an open procedure, all tenderers submit their tenders, namely their economic and technical offer and evidence of the satisfaction of the selection criteria.
b) restricted procedure;
Restricted procedures™ are two stages procedures in which any economic operator may request to participate, but whereby only those economic operators selected by the contracting authority may submit a tender. Under a restricted procedure, after the published time-limit to submit requests to participate, as specified in the contract notice, expired, contracting authorities select the candidates in accordance with the law specified criteria. Then, contracting authorities issue an invitation to tender to the selected candidates, requesting an offer to be submitted.
c) negotiated procedure;
Negotiated procedures™ are those procedures whereby the contracting authorities negotiate the contract terms with one or more of them. Negotiated procedures may be with or without prior publication of a contract notice.
When the value of the contract to be awarded is above the low value thresholds, contracting authorities may use a negotiated procedure with prior publication in the following cases:
a) in the event of irregular tenders or the submission of tenders which are unacceptable under national legal provisions, in response to two consecutive open or restricted procedures, insofar as no substantial alteration is included in the contract, or
b)in exceptional cases, when the nature of works, supplies or services or the risks attaching thereto do not permit prior overall pricing .
When the value of the contract is lower than the low value thresholds, contracting authority may use negotiated procedures with prior publication of a contract notice in any case, which they deem appropriate, provided that the procedure complies with the principles of equal treatment, proportionality and transparency.
Contracting authorities negotiate with tenderers in order to adapt their submitted tenders to the requirements which they have set out in the contract notice, and to seek out the best tender.
For all contracts of a value above or below the low value thresholds, contracting authorities may use negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice only in the following cases:
a) when minimal conditions for competition have not been met in response to two consecutive open or restricted procedures, provided there is no substantial alteration to the initial conditions of the contract;
b) when for technical or artistic reasons, or for reasons connected with exclusive rights or intellectual property rights, the contract may be executed only by a particular economic operator;
c) when for reasons of extreme need, brought about by causes unforeseeable und uncontrollable by the contracting authority, and when the time limit, as foreseen in Art. 43 provided for in open, restricted or negotiated procedures, with prior publication of notice, cannot be compiled with. The circumstances invoke to justify urgency must not, in any event, be attributed to the action or lack of action of the contracting authority.
d) request for proposals;
Request for proposals™ is the procedure whereby any interested economic operator may submit a tender, but the contracting authority also seek offers from 5 (five) economic operators of its choice.
Contracting authorities may use the request for proposals procedure for contracts of a value below the low thresholds. Under this procedure, contracting authorities may seek offers from a limited number of economic operators of their choice, or may use electronic communication.
e) design contests;
Contracting authorities may organize design contests for contracts above the low thresholds for services.
f) simplified procedure;
For small value procurement of goods, services or works, below the low threshold, contracting authorities may use simplified procedures.
Tender documents:
In elaborating tender documents, contracting authorities use the standard documents prepared and approved by Public Procurement Agency.
In open procedures, contracting authorities make tender documents available to economic operators, upon request, at a price specified in the contract notice. The complete tender documentation are made available, cost free, by electronic means, at the Public Procurement Agency™s website.
In restricted procedures and negotiated procedures, tender documents are included in the invitation to tender or the invitation to negotiate. They should be available even in electronic form, in this case the invitation should include all the necessary indication where to download them.
Contracting authorities wishing to award a public contract by open, restricted or negotiated procedures with prior notice or request for proposals procedure, or launch a design contest, shall make known their intention by Contract Notices.
d) request for proposals;
Request for proposals™ is the procedure whereby any interested economic operator may submit a tender, but the contracting authority also seek offers from 5 (five) economic operators of its choice.
Contracting authorities may use the request for proposals procedure for contracts of a value below the low thresholds. Under this procedure, contracting authorities may seek offers from a limited number of economic operators of their choice, or may use electronic communication.
e) design contests;
Contracting authorities may organize design contests for contracts above the low thresholds for services.
f) simplified procedure;
For small value procurement of goods, services or works, below the low threshold, contracting authorities may use simplified procedures.
Tender documents:
In elaborating tender documents, contracting authorities use the standard documents prepared and approved by Public Procurement Agency.
In open procedures, contracting authorities make tender documents available to economic operators, upon request, at a price specified in the contract notice. The complete tender documentation are made available, cost free, by electronic means, at the Public Procurement Agency™s website.
In restricted procedures and negotiated procedures, tender documents are included in the invitation to tender or the invitation to negotiate. They should be available even in electronic form, in this case the invitation should include all the necessary indication where to download them.
Contracting authorities wishing to award a public contract by open, restricted or negotiated procedures with prior notice or request for proposals procedure, or launch a design contest, shall make known their intention by Contract Notices.
Contract notices for contracts of a value above the high value thresholds are published on the Public Procurement Bulletin, and on at least one newspaper of European distribution.
Contract notices of a value lower than the high value thresholds, but above the low value thresholds, are published on the Public Procurement Bulletin.
All contract notices are published on the Public Procurement Agency web-site.
Standard tender documents for open procedures for goods1 2, services and civil works can be found attached.
Standard tender documents for restricted procedures for goods, services and civil works can be found attached.
Standard tender documents for negotiated procedures with prior publication of a notice, for goods, services and civil works can be found attached.
Standard tender documents for Requests for proposals procedures for goods1 2, services and civil works can be found attached.
Standard tender documents for design contests can be found attached.
Time terms:
Contract complexity and time required for drawing up tenders, must be taken into considerations while defining the time-limits for the submission of tenders and requests to participate. Time-limits are expressed in calendar days.
In case of open procedures above the high value thresholds, the minimum time-limit for the submission of tenders shall not be less than 52 days from the date when the contract notice was published on the Public Procurement Agency website.
In case of restricted or negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice, above the high thresholds, the minimum time-limit for the submission of requests to participate shall be 20 days from the date when the contract notice was published on the Public Procurement Agency website.
In case of restricted procedures, the minimum time-limit for the submission of tenders shall be 20 days from the date when the invitation to tender was sent to the candidates.
Contract notices of a value lower than the high value thresholds, but above the low value thresholds, are published on the Public Procurement Bulletin.
All contract notices are published on the Public Procurement Agency web-site.
Standard tender documents for open procedures for goods1 2, services and civil works can be found attached.
Standard tender documents for restricted procedures for goods, services and civil works can be found attached.
Standard tender documents for negotiated procedures with prior publication of a notice, for goods, services and civil works can be found attached.
Standard tender documents for Requests for proposals procedures for goods1 2, services and civil works can be found attached.
Standard tender documents for design contests can be found attached.
Time terms:
Contract complexity and time required for drawing up tenders, must be taken into considerations while defining the time-limits for the submission of tenders and requests to participate. Time-limits are expressed in calendar days.
In case of open procedures above the high value thresholds, the minimum time-limit for the submission of tenders shall not be less than 52 days from the date when the contract notice was published on the Public Procurement Agency website.
In case of restricted or negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice, above the high thresholds, the minimum time-limit for the submission of requests to participate shall be 20 days from the date when the contract notice was published on the Public Procurement Agency website.
In case of restricted procedures, the minimum time-limit for the submission of tenders shall be 20 days from the date when the invitation to tender was sent to the candidates.
In case of open procedures with values between the high and low value thresholds, the minimum time-limit for the receipt of tenders shall be 30 days from the date when the contract notice was published on the Public Procurement Agency website.
In case of restricted or negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice, with values between the high and low thresholds, the minimum time-limit for the submission of requests to participate shall be 15 days from the date when the contract notice was published on the Public Procurement Agency website .
In case of restricted procedures, the minimum time-limit for the submission of tenders shall be 15 days from the date when the invitation to tender was sent to the candidates.
In case of procurement procedures below the low value threshold, the minimum time-limit for the submission of tenders shall be 10 days from the publication of the contract notice on the Public Procurement Agency website.
Where notices are prepared and published electronically, the time-limit for receipt of tenders may be reduced by seven days for open procedures and the time-limit for receipt of requests for participation may be reduced by five days for restricted and negotiated procedures.
Links:
All documents, notices, decisions, information and communications provided for in the Law are made in writing.
Public procurement in the Republic of Albania is currently being carried out electronically, through an on-line registration procedure of the interested operators at the Public Procurement Agency™s website www.app.gov.al.
In case of restricted or negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice, with values between the high and low thresholds, the minimum time-limit for the submission of requests to participate shall be 15 days from the date when the contract notice was published on the Public Procurement Agency website .
In case of restricted procedures, the minimum time-limit for the submission of tenders shall be 15 days from the date when the invitation to tender was sent to the candidates.
In case of procurement procedures below the low value threshold, the minimum time-limit for the submission of tenders shall be 10 days from the publication of the contract notice on the Public Procurement Agency website.
Where notices are prepared and published electronically, the time-limit for receipt of tenders may be reduced by seven days for open procedures and the time-limit for receipt of requests for participation may be reduced by five days for restricted and negotiated procedures.
Links:
All documents, notices, decisions, information and communications provided for in the Law are made in writing.
Public procurement in the Republic of Albania is currently being carried out electronically, through an on-line registration procedure of the interested operators at the Public Procurement Agency™s website www.app.gov.al.