In March 2022, Kosovo joined the Transparent Public Procurement Rating as the 42nd country to be assessed within the framework of IDFI’s international initiative. The assessment was conducted by Lëvizja FOL and independent expert Gresa Smolica.

Levizja FOL is an independent NGO based in Prishtina (capital city of Kosovo), with the mission to contribute to good governance and fighting corruption by promoting active citizenry and enhancing transparency and accountability of public institutions. Through policy research, advocacy, monitoring public institutions, conferences, and training programs, FOL specializes in public expenditure and fighting various forms of corruption and institutional negligence.

Levizja FOL has created the Open Procurement Transparency Portal, an online platform that provides visualized information on public contracts for researchers, journalists, and public monitoring CSOs.

The evaluation covered the period from 2018 to 2021 and took a close look at Kosovo’s public procurement legislation, assessing its strengths and weaknesses through the lens of the TPPR unique methodology. The detailed analysis found that Kosovo performed quite well in most indicators that are part of the methodology, achieving a total score of 83.36% in the rating, which would make it the 4th highest-ranked country among the 42 currently assessed within the framework of TPPR.

The overall strong performance is somewhat hampered by a comparatively low score in the Transparency component, where Kosovo achieved a rating of 59.17%. The score could be improved significantly if vital documentation was published in electronic, machine-readable formats – something that would significantly enhance the transparency of any public procurement legislation, and is a problem seen in many countries assessed within the framework of TPPR.

As Kosovo is currently in the process of negotiating an updated PPL, it is our hope that it will take the opportunity to further improve its already impressive rating in TPPR.

IDFI looks forward to continuing cooperation with Levizja FOL in pushing for necessary reforms to improve and enhance Kosovo’s public procurement legislation and system.

You can read the full Kosovo assessment here.