Based on the CPAR's analysis of the legislative framework, procurement practices, institutional capacity and the opportunity for corruption, the assessment found that the environment for conducting public procurement in Croatia is average. This report makes a series of recommendations designed to strengthen the public procurement environment of Croatia, including legislative reform, improving procurement procedures and practices, institutional reform, capacity building, and the development of electronic procurement. The legal framework for public procurement should be reformed by, in the short term, amending the current legislation to address the identified weaknesses and, in the medium term, enacting a new Law on Public Procurement, aligned with the EU Procurement Directives. The report also makes several recommendations to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of public procurement practices, most importantly in improving areas such as procurement planning, the assessment of bidders' qualifications and the evaluation of bids. Several important recommendations are made to improve the independence and effectiveness of the Public Procurement Office and the State Commission as the key regulatory and review bodies for public procurement. Transparency in public procurement and the accountability of Government for the effective management of procurement should be enhanced by publishing comprehensive information on procurement operations -- current legislation, invitations to bid, contract award notices, data on procurement expenditure broken down by level of government, by institution, by different procurement procedures (open, restrictive and direct negotiation) on a web-based electronic public procurement bulletin. It is also essential that the State Audit Office should start to undertake value-for-money assessments of major public investment projects.
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