The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and NALED are helping to improve the work of inspections in Montenegro
Due to the Covid-19 virus pandemic, which exposed the region to a risk of increased shadow economy in all areas, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) decided to react quickly. After supporting inspection reforms in Serbia, they will also assist the inspection reform in Montenegro.
The Administration for Inspection Affairs of Montenegro is in the process of developing an IT system for connecting all inspections, and the experience with the implementation of eInspector system in Serbia, also under the auspices of the EBRD in cooperation with NALED, will be highly valuable in this process.
- Improving the business and investment environment is one of the EBRD's priorities in the Western Balkans region, and within the Investment Climate and Governance Initiative, the EBRD has supported inspection reform in Serbia and, more recently, in Montenegro. The implementation of the program in Serbia has already brought concrete improvements in the work efficiency of inspection services, which has proved particularly useful in controlling the implementation of epidemiological measures during the pandemic. We are looking forward to using the knowledge and experience gained with NALED to support the reform of inspections in Montenegro in cooperation with the Administration for Inspection Affairs - said Jelena Ćirković, EBRD Project Coordinator.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has enabled the implementation of the "Project for improving inspection oversight in Montenegro" by hiring NALED's team that will prepare three important instruments for strengthening the efficiency of inspections in Montenegro - checklists to check the legality of business operations among companies and entrepreneurs, a registry of companies and their facilities under to supervision, as well as the criteria for introducing risk analysis in the work of inspections.
- It is important to note that after the finalization of checklists, which is expected by April next year, they will, the same as in Serbia, be publicly available, and businesses will be able to check whether they operate in accordance with the law and better understand regulations, by answering a series of simple questions. With the help of checklists and risk assessment matrices, inspectors will be able to rank businesses according to the level of risk and thus determine priorities in supervision. This way, responsible businesses will be less burdened with controls because inspectors will visit them less often, while entities that are found to be violating regulations will be controlled more intensively until they correct their business - says Milica Andjelković Đoković, NALED's Analytics Coordinator.
When it comes to the Registry of subjects and objects of supervision, this unified database on businesses will enable inspectors to quickly get the necessary data on supervised companies and better prepare for the control, which, in the long run, can mean reducing the burden on businesses due to more efficient controls.
It should be kept in mind that the implementation of all the above project results will take a longer period, which is due not only to the complexity of the system but also as it mostly depends on the support of other institutions in linking relevant registries.