The Public Procurement Agency has officially announced the most important dates for the phased introduction of the CAIS EAP, which aims to achieve full electronic procurement awarding. CAIS EAP is a complex and compound platform through which procurement procedures will be carried out, completely by electronic means, and will provide consumers with:
- Publicity and transparency;
- More efficient monitoring of the public procurement market in the country;
- More efficient tracking of procurement processes;
- Reduction of terms;
Reduced public spending and reduced administrative burdens;
Additional protection and security of information.
The platform does not allow the manipulation of documents and procedures by participants, as well as by contracting authorities. The electronically submitted offers through the CAIS EAP are protected, and before their opening, they are stored in the databases only and solely in double encrypted form. Bids are double-encrypted from the platform with a unique key. The keys will then be encrypted with a unique key, which in turn is generated by the user’s browser. It will be virtually impossible to open an offer without providing the key, by a participant in the procedure.
The latest amendment to the Public Procurement Act has governed the phased introduction of the CAIS EAP. In this regard, the Public Procurement Agency announced the following dates for the phased introduction of the CAIS EAP: 01.01.2020, 01.04.2020, 01.01.2021. As of 01.01.2020, contracting authorities, determined according to a timetable adopted by the Council of Ministers, will be obliged to initiate procedures through the CAIS EAP. Contracting authorities which do not fall within the timetable and are not obliged to initiate and conduct procedures through the CAIS EAP will apply the current procedure.
From 01.04.2020, all contracting authorities will be obliged to initiate and conduct procedures through CAIS EAP, except for the Central Purchasing Authority in the Health sector and the Central Purchasing Authority for the municipalities.
From 01.01.2021, the Central Purchasing Authority in the Health sector and the Central Purchasing Authority for the municipalities will be required to initiate and conduct procedures through the CAIS EAP. With the introduction of the CAIS EAP, the publication of newly opened procedures in the Public Procurement Register will be discontinued, and the current profile of the purchaser, of the contracting authorities, will be maintained in a one year term, as of the conclusion of the last public procurement contract concluded under the current procedure.
