Македонски центар за меѓународна соработка - МЦМС

On the basis of the request from the Ministry of Finance for procurement of a strategy for reform of the public utility enterprises, during 2007, a tender for selection of consultants was announced. The financing and responsible entity for the project implementation was the World Bank, which, after the conducted tender procedure at the end of 2007, selected the British consultancy Economic Consulting Associates (ECA) as the leading organization. Besides ECA, in the consortium of the project team MCIC was included as the local partner. The remaining members of the consortium were BAR E.C.E from Macedonia, IGE Consulting from Hungary and large number of individual consultants and experts from various countries.

The overall goal of the project was defined strategic directions/options for sustainable reforms of the public utility enterprises (PUEs).
The objective of the project was produced strategy for reforms of the utility sector in Republic of Macedonia.

The target group was all municipalities and PUEs in Republic of Macedonia.

Direct beneficiaries from the project were the Ministry of Finance, public utility enterprises, LSUs and other relevant ministries in Republic of Macedonia.

In the preparation of the strategy, MCIC was responsible for: Preparation of instruments and questionnaires for implementation of the research; Implementation of research and focus groups; Analyses of research and results from the focus groups; Mapping of the stakeholders; Facilitation of workshops; Participation in the preparation of the draft strategy; Contribution in the process of diagnosis; Provision of feedback reviews for finalization of the strategy.

In the framework of the implementation of the research, surveys of individual beneficiaries were conducted (households) and business in ten selected municipalities, who served as sample in this research. All the activities related to this survey were implemented by ISPJR, whereas the facilitation of the focus groups and interviews with the key stakeholders were implemented  by MCIC.

Responsible for the realization of these activities were Suncica Sazdovska and Dimce Mitreski. Among other responsibilities, MCIC provided logistics and consultations for organization of all field work and workshops, depending on the requirements expressed by the external consultants.

The realization of the foreseen activities was primarily responsibility of MCIC, in close cooperation with ECA and other members of the project team.

An assumption which influences and contributes towards realization of the overall goal is: responsible ministries and municipalities are dedicated to application of the recommendations in the strategy for reforms in the PUEs. An assumption at the level of objective is interest and availability of the municipalities and PUEs to actively participate in all the process of strategy preparation.

The cooperation with all partners, and especially the World Bank was excellent and provides an opportunity for additional cooperation.

The information on the project was submitted to the public through the information editions of MCIC, the World Banka and ECA. It is expected that follow-up activities will be undertaken for the purpose of informing the public and key stakeholders about the basic elements and recommendations in the strategy.

The strategic document was fully produced and submitted to the World Bank and Ministry of Finance in the second half of November 2008.

The time period of project implementation was January 28th – November 30th 2008.

The direct costs of the project amounted to 1.055.633,00 MKD. All funds were recompense for the consultancy services from ECA (www.eca-uk.com).

Извршно резиме од проектот.