Meeting with Danijel Drlić from the Ministry of Economy

Also present at the meeting were colleagues from the Directorate: Anton Tomljanović, Sector Advisor; Tatjana Petrlin, Head of the Department for Professional Support; Mateja Matković, Head of the Department for International Cooperation, System Development and Alignment; and Matija Karaula, Head of the Department for Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting.

The main topic of the meeting was the amendments to the Public Procurement Act. AmCham representatives introduced Mr. Drlić to the work of the American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia, with a particular focus on the activities of the Public Procurement Committee. The discussion included a detailed overview of the proposals outlined in the position paper “Proposals for Amendments to the Public Procurement Act.”

AmCham’s recommendations cover the following areas: Change in the thresholds for the application of the 2016 PPA, Prior consultation, Conflict of interest, Simple procurement, Problems in implementing the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT), Framework agreements in public procurement and the approximate quantity of procurement items, Public procurement contract: Clearer specification of the legal nature/type of public procurement contracts, Specifying the moment a public procurement contract enters into force, Changes to the public procurement contract and monitoring the execution of the public procurement contract and The relationship between tenderers in the VAT system and those who are exempt from paying the VAT.

Mr. Drlić welcomed the cooperation with AmCham and emphasized that several of the Chamber’s proposals align with the Ministry’s views. He added that the draft amendments to the Public Procurement Act are expected to soon enter public consultation.

AmCham was represented at the meeting by Dražen Malbašić, Policy Director, Ema Menđušić Škugor, Chair of the Public Procurement Committee (Law Firm Divjak, Topić, Bahtijarević & Krka), Jelena Drndić, Vice Chair of the Public Procurement Committee (PwC Croatia), Romina Štaba, Member of the Public Procurement Committee (Law Firm Porobija & Špoljarić) and Danijela Trgovčić, Member of the Public Procurement Committee (EY Croatia).