This conclusion was based on "inspection of 77 procedures and analysis of 45 procurements conducted in keeping with the Law on Recovery of Flood Affected Areas in the Republic of Serbia adopted in July 2014."

There were no negative consequences in terms of the transparency of the procedures, and in some aspects the situation was much better than usual for the regular procedures implemented according to the Public Procurements Law, TS Program Director Nemanja Nenadic told a news conference.

Nevertheless, he said that similar problems like low competitiveness and delays in execution of works have been detected in the procedures carried out since September to December 2014 and regular public procurement procedures.

Nenadic said that the experiences from the procurement procedures for recovery from the flood damages can serve as an example of some future amendments to the Public Procurements Law which should improve the process.

Director of the Government Office for Reconstruction and Flood Relief Marko Blagojevic expressed the satisfaction with the conclusion of the analysis drafted by TS and noted that it shows the process is based on good foundations and offers lessons in terms of the amendments to the Public Procurements Law.

This is the first recovery campaign in Serbia in which procurement procedures were organized according to the model of open procurement that ensures maximum transparency, Blagojevic said.

People whose property was damaged, all Serbian citizens and donors expected to see a responsible attitude, which is why all the data on over 50,000 donors and the names of the people who received financial aid were released, he said.

Blagojevic noted that over RSD 4.5 billion worth of funds were transferred to the citizens for recovery purposes, adding that aid was delivered to around 19,000 families who needed new homes and 9,000 owners of agricultural holdings.

Noting that Serbia did not have the adequate system to tackle the consequences of the flood which hit two thirds of the country, Blagojevic noted that the analysis of laws is underway in view of proposing the amendments that should ensure the adequate foundations for prevention of natural disasters.

The OSCE Mission in Serbia funded the survey carried out by TS and Mission Head Peter Burkhard said that catastrophic floods in Serbia in 2014 inflicted considerable damages to infrastructure, facilities, economy and agriculture the total value of which adds up to over EUR 1 billion, adding that OSCE is providing support to the Serbian authorities in the fight against corruption.