Capacity Building of the Management and Control System and Partners Implementing the Operational Programme

Restricted two-stage procurement under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III) to provide capacity building for Serbia's management and control system and partners supporting the Multiannual Operational Programme on Employment, Skills and Social Inclusion. The estimated contract value is €3,900,000 with a maximum duration of 36 months and provisional commencement in July 2027, and the contract will be awarded by best price-quality ratio. Requests to participate must be submitted in English in hard copy by 5 June 2026 to the Ministry of Finance, Department for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programmes in Belgrade, and shortlisted candidates (4 to 8) will be invited to tender. Selection criteria include minimum average annual turnover of €1,300,000 (last three closed financial years), technical evidence of at least one completed capacity-building service contract of at least €1,500,000 in the last four years, and signed declarations on exclusion and conflicts of interest.

Opportunity type & purpose

What is funded

A services contract (restricted procedure) to provide technical assistance and capacity building for the Managing Authority, Management Structure, NIPAC Office, Intermediate Bodies (policy and financial), partners and end recipients for the Multiannual Operational Programme on Employment, Skills and Social Inclusion (Serbia, Window 4, 2024-2027). Activities include institutional capacity reinforcement, partner training, implementation support and communication/visibility.

Estimated contract value:€3,900,000 (estimated total value) ¹

Who can apply:Natural persons and legal entities established in EU Member States, eligible countries under IPA III, international and regional organisations; single entities or consortia. Shortlisting will invite 4 to 8 candidates.

1. 1Procedure: Restricted (non-electronic submission of sealed requests to participate).
2. 2Language: English for all communications and submissions.
3. 3Maximum contract duration: 36 months (implementation period).
4. 4Award: Best price-quality ratio.

Submission must follow the request to participate form and supporting declarations. Financial selection thresholds include average annual turnover >= €1,300,000 (last 3 years) and technical evidence of at least one completed capacity-building contract >= €1,500,000 in the last four years. See procurement documents for full selection and submission rules.

Submission method & address:Requests to participate must be submitted in English in a sealed envelope by post/courier or hand-delivery to: Ministry of Finance, Republic of Serbia, Department for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programmes, Division for Tender Evaluation and Contracting, 53 Balkanska Street, 11000 Belgrade. Electronic submission is not allowed.

Procurement is financed under IPA III (Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance). Shortlisted candidates will be invited to submit full tenders; sub-contracting is permitted. Candidates must declare no grounds for exclusion and may rely on capacity-providing entities where allowed.

Footnotes

1. 1Procurement documents and the invitation to submit a request to participate are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal: Procurement documents.

High-level summary

This is a restricted-procedure services tender financed by the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III) under the Multiannual Operational Programme on Employment, Skills and Social Inclusion (Window 4, 2024-2027) for the Republic of Serbia. The contracting authority is the Government of Serbia, Ministry of Finance, Department for Contracting and Financing of EU funded programmes (CFCU). The contract is fee-based, up to 36 months in duration, with an estimated total value of €3,900,000 (excluding VAT). Its main purpose is to reinforce capacities of the Managing Authority, Management Structure, NIPAC Office, Intermediate Bodies (policy and financial management), partners and end recipients for effective programme management and implementation, and to establish effective implementation, communication and visibility of the Operational Programme. Requests to participate must be received by 05/06/2026 12:00:59 CET (Europe/Belgrade) and submissions are non-electronic (sealed envelope to the contracting authority) ¹.

Eligible Applicant Types

Eligible applicants:natural persons (nationals of eligible countries) and legal persons effectively established in a Member State of the European Union or in an eligible country or territory as defined under Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1529 (IPA III). Participation is also open to international and regional organisations. Entities may participate individually or in a grouping/consortium (permanent or ad hoc). Sub-contracting is allowed. All members of a consortium (leader and members) are jointly and severally liable to the contracting authority. Ineligible natural or legal persons will cause exclusion of the candidate or, if part of a consortium, the whole consortium.

Examples of eligible applicant types:SMEs, large enterprises, consultancies, international/regional organisations, universities/research institutes, non-profits and consortia composed of any combination of legal or natural persons established in eligible countries under IPA III.

Funding Type

Primary financial mechanism:Procurement (services contract) financed by EU external assistance (Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, IPA III). This is not a grant, loan or equity; it is a fee-based public contract awarded under a restricted procurement procedure and financed from EU IPA funds and implemented by the Government of Serbia.

Consortium Requirement

Consortiums are allowed but not mandatory. Participation may be as a single entity or as a consortium (permanent or formed for this procurement). If participating as a consortium, the selection criteria apply to the consortium as a whole unless specified otherwise. All members of a consortium are jointly and severally liable. Short-listed candidates may not change composition or form alliances with other short-listed candidates unless prior authorisation is obtained.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility)

Geographic eligibility:Entities must be nationals or be effectively established in an EU Member State or in an eligible country or territory as defined by Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1529 (IPA III). Participation is explicitly open to organisations established in EU Member States, eligible IPA countries and international/regional organisations. The place of performance/delivery is Serbia.

Target Sector

Thematic sector:public administration capacity building and technical assistance. The CPV main classification is 71356200 Technical assistance services with additional classification 71356300 Technical support services. The contract specifically targets governance and public sector administration related to employment, skills and social inclusion programme implementation, financial and policy management structures, partner and beneficiary capacity, and communication/visibility.

Mentioned Countries

Explicitly mentioned country:Serbia. Regionally, eligible entities include EU Member States and countries/territories eligible under the IPA III regulation (as per Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1529). The contracting authority and place of performance are in the Republic of Serbia (Belgrade/Extra-Regio).

Project Stage

Expected maturity:capacity-building, implementation and operational support. Projects expected under the contract will address operational implementation, training, technical assistance, communication and visibility rather than frontier research or product development. The work spans implementation, validation and demonstration of management/control systems and partner readiness.

Funding Amount

Estimated total value:€3,900,000 (excluding VAT). The contract may include options allowing repetition of similar services up to 50 % of the initial contract value to the initial contractor by negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice.

Application Type and Submission Method

Application type:restricted tender with a two-stage approach (request to participate then invitation to tender). Submission method for the request to participate: non-electronic only (sealed envelope delivered by hand or sent by post/courier to the contracting authority; postmark or deposit slip constitutes proof). Electronic submission is not allowed, with the justification that tools, devices or file formats are not generally available. Tender stage will also be managed according to the procurement documents; provisional invitation to tender date is 25 September 2026. All procedure language: English.

Nature of Support

Beneficiaries will receive monetary remuneration under a fee-based services contract (payment for delivered services). The support is therefore monetary (contract fees). Additionally, the contract scope includes non-monetary outputs: training, capacity building, technical assistance, communication and visibility deliverables for public institutions and partners.

Application Stages

Number of stages:two-stage procurement process. Stage 1: submission of a request to participate (short-listing). Stage 2: invited short-listed candidates (4 to 8) submit detailed tenders; award follows evaluation of tenders. The contracting authority will invite between 4 and 8 candidates to the tender stage; if fewer than 4 meet the selection criteria the authority may still proceed inviting available eligible candidates.

Success Rates

The official short-listing range is 4 to 8 candidates. Success rate depends on the number of eligible applicants: minimum success probability for reaching second stage is determined by number invited (4-8). Final award: one contractor will be selected by best price-quality ratio. No historic numerical success rates provided in the documents; practical success rate from request to participate to award cannot be precisely calculated without applicant counts.

Co-funding Requirement

Co-funding:not applicable in the sense of requiring applicant co-financing. This is a procurement contract financed by IPA III; tenderers provide services for remuneration. No co-funding from candidates is required by the procurement documents.

Key Dates and Milestones

TED publication date:29/04/2026. Deadline for receipt of requests to participate: 05/06/2026 12:00 Europe/Belgrade (CET/CEST). Provisional date of invitation to tender: 25 September 2026. Provisional commencement of contract: July 2027. Maximum contract duration: 36 months.

Selection Criteria (detailed)

Selection criteria are strict and must be supported by documentary evidence. They apply to candidates/tenderers and to consortiums as a whole unless specified otherwise. Candidates relying on capacity-providing entities must produce commitments and proof of availability of resources.

1. 1Economic and financial capacity: Average annual turnover over the last three closed financial years must be at least €1,300,000. Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) in the last closed year must be at least 1. For consortia, each member must meet the current ratio requirement; turnover criterion applies to the candidate/tenderer or as specified in procurement documents.
2. 2Professional capacity: Over the current year and the previous two years, on average at least 5 personnel directly employed or legally contracted in areas of specialist knowledge related to the contract. The candidate/tenderer must not be subject to professional conflicting interests that would negatively affect contract performance.
3. 3Technical capacity: The candidate/tenderer must have completed services under at least one contract during the last four years before submission deadline, where each completed contract had a value not less than €1,500,000. Completed services must be in the domain of capacity building for public administration related to EU/IFIs/other donors funded projects. Documentary evidence (approval of report/deliverable, proof of payment, certificate from the awarding entity) is required and must clearly demonstrate the part performed by the candidate/tenderer.

Additional comparative criteria for short-list ranking (if >8 eligible)

1. 1Highest number of contracts meeting the technical capacity criterion (applied to all eligible candidates).
2. 2Highest cumulative value of completed services meeting the technical capacity criterion (applied only if tie remains for short-listing).

Award Criteria

Award method:best price-quality ratio. Specific weightings and scoring criteria are set out in the procurement documents and will be available to short-listed candidates at invitation to tender.

Submission Format and Templates

Requests to participate must be submitted using the official request to participate form (Annex B3) and accompanied by a declaration on honour on exclusion and selection criteria (template available). The forms and templates are available from the Annexes page on the F&T Wiki (see procurement documents). All documentation must be in English. Any extra documents beyond requested will not be considered.

Where to obtain forms and templates:Request to participate form and Declaration on Honour templates are available at the Annexes page referenced in the procurement documents (Funding & Tenders Portal / Annexes) ¹.

How to Submit (practical steps)

1. 1Prepare request to participate using the required Annex B3 request to participate form and the Declaration on Honour template. Ensure all requested documentary evidence for selection criteria is included and financials are expressed in EUR (convert using InforEuro May 2026 rate if necessary).
2. 2If relying on capacity-providing entities, include separate documents evidencing commitments and capacities of those entities and ensure their signed declarations on exclusion and selection criteria are provided.
3. 3Place complete request in a sealed envelope clearly marked with the contract title and publication reference. If sent by post/courier, the postmark or deposit slip constitutes proof of on-time submission; if hand-delivered, obtain signed and dated receipt from the contracting authority.
4. 4Send to or deliver hand to: Ministry of Finance, Government of the Republic of Serbia, Department for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programmes, Division for Tender Evaluation and Contracting, 53 Balkanska Street, registry office, 11000 Belgrade, Republic of Serbia. Opening hours for hand delivery: 08:00–15:00 CET.
5. 5If sent by post/courier, email a copy of the deposit slip to ec@mfin.gov.rs to inform the contracting authority that the request was sent.

Key procurement contact and portals

Legal and exclusion grounds

Participation is governed by Regulation (EU) No 2021/1529 establishing IPA III and the PRAG (practical guide to contract procedures for EU external actions). Candidates must submit a signed declaration on exclusion and selection criteria included in the request to participate form. Candidates on lists of EU restrictive measures at the moment of award cannot be awarded the contract. The procurement documents list full grounds for exclusion and disqualifying situations based on PRAG.

Other practical notes and requirements

1. 1All written communications for this procurement and contract must be in English.
2. 2Financial data must be expressed in EUR; where conversion is necessary use InforEuro May 2026 rate.
3. 3Candidates must provide email addresses capable of receiving emails of at least 20 MB or specify inbox size for efficient electronic correspondence.
4. 4A maximum of one request to participate or tender can be submitted by any natural or legal person. If multiple submissions are detected, all submissions involving that person will be excluded.
5. 5If more than 8 eligible candidates meet the selection criteria, a re-examination using additional comparative criteria will rank candidates to identify the 8 best to invite to tender.
6. 6Short-listed candidates may not change their composition or form alliances among themselves for the contract without prior authorisation.
7. 7The contracting authority may extend deadlines in cases of unavailability/disruption of electronic communication tools in the last five calendar days before the submission deadline; applicants should subscribe to the call for tenders for updates.

Templates and structure of application forms

Applicants must use the official request to participate form (Annex B3) and the Declaration on Honour template. The request to participate form requires standard information: identification of the candidate (legal status, registration/establishment), financial information (accounts for last 3 closed years), professional capacity (staff numbers and profiles), technical capacity (relevant past contracts and values, references), details of any capacity-providing entities or subcontractors, declarations on exclusion and conflicts of interest, and contact details including email for correspondence. Documentary evidence must be attached as specified (certificates, contracts, deliverable approvals, bank payments, consortium agreements where relevant). Any third-entity capacity evidence must be included in separate documents as required by the procurement documents.

Summary: What is this opportunity about and how would you explain it?

This procurement is a major technical assistance contract funded under the EU Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance to support the Republic of Serbia in implementing the Multiannual Operational Programme on Employment, Skills and Social Inclusion (2024–2027). The Government of Serbia seeks an experienced provider (single entity or consortium) to deliver comprehensive capacity-building services: strengthen the Managing Authority, Management Structure, NIPAC Office, Intermediate Bodies (policy and financial), partners and end recipients; design and deliver training and technical assistance; support programme implementation procedures, monitoring and control arrangements; and run communication and visibility activities for the Operational Programme. The contract is fee-based, up to €3.9 million and 36 months in duration. The procurement follows a restricted two-stage procedure: interested organisations submit a request to participate in English in hard copy by the specified deadline; between 4 and 8 candidates will be shortlisted, then invited to submit full tenders. Selection and award criteria are rigorous (financial, professional, technical thresholds) and award will be by best price-quality ratio. Full procurement documentation, forms and templates are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal and in the A5f additional information document referenced in the tender page ¹.

Footnotes

1. 1Procurement documents, the request to participate form (Annex B3), Declaration on Honour templates and the A5f additional information to the contract notice are available from the Funding & Tenders Portal tender page for procedure EC-ENEST/BEG/2026/EA-RP/0045: ec.europa.eu

Procurement Overview

This is a restricted procedure services contract financed by the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III) 2021-2027, supporting Serbia's Multiannual Operational Programme on Employment, Skills and Social Inclusion (Window 4, 2024-2027). The contract aims to reinforce institutional capacities for effective management and implementation of the Operational Programme while strengthening the participation of partners and end recipients.

Contract Value and Duration:The estimated total contract value is €3,900,000. The maximum contract duration is 36 months, with a provisional commencement date of July 2027.

Contracting Authority

Government of Serbia, Ministry of Finance, Department for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programmes (CFCU), Division for Tender Evaluation and Contracting, 53 Balkanska Street, Belgrade, Serbia. Contact email: cfcu.questions@mfin.gov.rs. Office hours: 08:00-15:00 CET.

Scope of Work

The contract encompasses three primary objectives:reinforcing capacities of the Managing Authority (MA), Management Structure (MS), National IPA Coordinator (NIPAC) Office, Intermediate Bodies for Policy Management (IBPMs) and Intermediate Body for Financial Management (IBFM) for programme management and implementation; strengthening capacities of Partners and End Recipients to participate actively in Operational Programme implementation; and establishing effective implementation, communication and visibility mechanisms for the Operational Programme.

Eligibility and Participation

Participation is open to natural persons who are nationals of and legal persons (participating individually or in consortia) effectively established in a Member State of the European Union or in an eligible country or territory as defined under Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1529. Participation is also open to international and regional organisations. Consortia may be permanent, legally established groupings or informal groupings constituted for this specific procedure. All consortium members are jointly and severally liable to the contracting authority.

Submission Requirements:Each natural or legal person may submit no more than one request to participate or tender, regardless of participation form. Submission of multiple requests will result in automatic exclusion of all requests in which that person has participated.

Selection Criteria

Candidates must meet three categories of selection criteria applied to the consortium as a whole unless specified otherwise.

Economic and Financial Capacity:Average annual turnover of the last three financial years for which accounts have been closed must not be less than €1,300,000. Current ratio (current assets divided by current liabilities) in the last year for which accounts have been closed must be at least 1. For consortia, this criterion must be fulfilled by each member individually.

Professional Capacity:During the current year and the previous two years, the candidate or tenderer must have on average at least 5 personnel directly employed or otherwise legally contracted on a permanent or non-permanent basis in areas of specialist knowledge related to this contract. The candidate or tenderer must not be subject to professional conflicting interests that may negatively affect contract performance, as examined through Declarations on Honour and supporting documents.

Technical Capacity:The candidate or tenderer must have completed services under at least one contract implemented at any moment during the last four years before the submission deadline. For each contract, the value of services completed must not be less than €1,500,000. The completed services must be in the domain of capacity building for public administration related to EU, IFIs or other donors funded projects. Candidates may refer to projects completed within the reference period although started earlier, or to projects partially implemented during but not yet completed within the reference period, with only the part completed during the reference period considered and supported by documentary evidence.

If more than 8 eligible candidates meet the selection criteria, re-examination will rank candidates using additional comparative criteria: first, the highest number of contracts under which services have been completed meeting the technical capacity criterion; second, if needed, the highest cumulated value of completed services meeting the technical capacity criterion.

Grounds for Exclusion

Candidates must submit a signed declaration confirming they are not in any of the situations listed in Section 2.4.2.1 of the practical guide (PRAG). Where candidates intend to rely on capacity providing entities or subcontractors, the same declaration signed by these entities must be provided. Candidates included in the lists of EU restrictive measures at the moment of the award decision cannot be awarded the contract.

Procedure and Timeline

Procedure Type:Restricted procedure with two stages. Between 4 and 8 candidates will be invited to submit detailed tenders based on requests to participate. If fewer than 4 eligible candidates meet selection criteria, the contracting authority may invite candidates who satisfy the criteria to submit a tender.

Key Dates:

• Deadline for receipt of requests to participate: 5 June 2026, 12:00:59 (UTC+02:00) Eastern European Time
• Provisional date of invitation to tender: 25 September 2026
• Provisional commencement date of contract: July 2027

Submission Method:Requests to participate must be submitted in English exclusively in a sealed envelope by post, courier service or hand delivery to the Ministry of Finance, Government of the Republic of Serbia, Department for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programmes, Division for Tender Evaluation and Contracting, 53 Balkanska Street, registry office, 11000 Belgrade, Republic of Serbia. Electronic submission is not allowed. Submissions by post or courier must be evidenced by postmark or deposit slip date. Hand-delivered submissions must be accompanied by a signed and dated receipt.

In case of post or private mail service submission, candidates must inform the Contracting Authority that the request for participation was sent and enclose a copy of the deposit slip by sending an email to ec@mfin.gov.rs. The contract title and publication reference must be clearly marked on the envelope.

Award Criteria

The contract will be awarded based on the best price-quality ratio. Detailed award criteria weights are specified in the procurement documents.

Sub-contracting and Capacity Provision

Sub-contracting is allowed. Economic operators may rely on the capacities of other entities for particular contracts, provided they prove to the contracting authority that they will have at their disposal the necessary resources by producing a commitment from those entities. Capacity-providing entities must respect the same eligibility rules and nationality requirements as the economic operator relying on them and must fulfil the selection criteria for which the economic operator relies on them. Data for capacity-providing entities must be provided in a separate document, not included in the request to participate form.

Important Procedural Information

Language:All written communications for this tender procedure and contract must be in English.

Financial Data:All financial data must be expressed in EUR. Where amounts are originally expressed in a different currency, conversion to EUR shall be made in accordance with the InforEuro exchange rate of May 2026, available at InforEuro.

Email Requirements:Candidates must provide email addresses capable of receiving emails of at least 20 MB or specify their inbox size to ensure efficient electronic correspondence with the Contracting Authority.

Clarifications:Any request for clarifications must be made in writing through the Funding and Tenders Portal. Clarifications can be requested at the latest 21 days before the deadline for submission of requests to participate. Clarifications will be published on the Funding and Tenders Portal at the latest 8 days before the submission deadline.

Alteration or Withdrawal:Candidates may alter or withdraw their requests to participate by written notification prior to the deadline for submission. No requests may be altered after this deadline. Notifications of alteration or withdrawal must be marked accordingly on the outer envelope.

Short-listing and Tender Submission

Short-listed candidates may not form alliances or subcontract to each other for this contract. Any tenders received from tenderers having a different composition than those mentioned in the short-listed request to participate forms will be excluded unless prior authorisation from the contracting authority has been obtained.

Notification and Review

By submitting a request to participate, candidates accept to receive notification of the outcome of the procedure by electronic means. Such notification shall be deemed received on the date the contracting authority sends it to the electronic address provided in the request to participate form.

Review Procedures:The National Court of Serbia is the review organisation. For more information on review procedures, contact the Government of Serbia, Ministry of Finance, Department for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programmes (CFCU) at cfcu.questions@mfin.gov.rs or visit Ministry of Finance and [[CFCU||www.cfcu.gov.rs]].

Additional Provisions

The contracting authority reserves the right to extend the submission deadline in case of unavailability or disruptions in electronic means of communication in the last 5 calendar days before the time limit for receipt, with extension published at the Funding and Tenders Portal without prior publication of a corrigendum. Economic operators interested in this procurement are invited to subscribe to the call for tenders at the Funding and Tenders Portal to receive notifications when new information or documents are published.

Provided they are in conformity with the basic project, new services or works consisting of repetition of similar services or works may be entrusted up to 50 percent of the initial contract value to the initial contractor by negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice.

Regulatory Framework:This procurement is governed by Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 and the LocalLaw procurement award procedure applying to European Union external actions financed from the general budget of the European Union. The procurement is not covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

For complete procurement documents and additional information, visit the Funding and Tenders Portal at Procurement Details. The Additional Information Contract Notice (document A5f) provides further details on all aspects of this procurement.