Changes in the rules for the evaluation and concession / public private partnership

Official Bulletin no.39, dated 7 March 2017

The Council of Ministers by decision no. 146, dated 22.02.2017 decided to make some changes in the rules for the evaluation and concession / public private partnership.

Among the major changes provided by this decision is that of article 3, paragraph 9 according to which the Project that meets all conditions required by the decision, is presented for approval to the Ministry of Finance, which examines it and evaluates if in accordance with Article 42 of the law on concessions and PPPs, its approval is obligatory. If the project does not need financial support, the Ministry of Finance confirms the continuation of the proceedings, within 10 working days of the project presentation. If confirmation is not submitted within 10 working days, then it is considered given.

Another amendment is the one made to paragraph 1 of Article 17, which now stipulates that the Ministry of Finance evaluates and approves in advance all concession and public-private partnership (PPP) projects, in terms of fiscal implications, individual or collective regarding budget expenditures, the budget deficit, the sustainability of the public debt and contingent potential liabilities, regardless of the provided concession / PPP model and the way in which they were initiated, ie., by a solicited or unsolicited proposal. If there will be further changes in the feasibility study after it is originally submitted for approval to the Ministry of Finance, contracting authorities must again submit it for approval to the Ministry of Finance to verify the possible fiscal implications.

Noteworthy is the amendment made in paragraph 2 of Article 22, under which the contracting Authority before sending for approval to the Ministry of Finance a concession project / PPP, should ensure that the corresponding project costs are planned to be borne within the annual budget approved by the parliament, as well as within the expenditure ceilings in the medium term, approved by decision of the Council of Ministers.

Finally, the decision amends paragraph 1 of Article 23, which now provides that any change or transfer of the concession contract / PPP, undertaken in accordance with the law on concessions and public-private partnerships, should be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for preliminary approval , which evaluates and verifies the potential fiscal implications, direct or indirect, on the contracting authority’s budget, the state budget or change in any way the financial support. In the event that any change or transfer of the contract, drawn up by the contracting authority, does not need any financial support, the Ministry of Finance confirms the continuation of the proceedings.