Private Security in Practice Case Studies From Southeast Europe

Private Security in Practice:
Case studies from Southeast Europe

Private
Security in
Practice:
Case studies from Southeast Europe
Franziska Klopfer and Nelleke van Amstel (Eds.)
Publisher: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces
Authors: Ola Çami Arjan Dyrmishi, Rositsa Dzhekova, Donika Emini, Anton Kojouharev,
Marko Milošević, Predrag Petrović, Mentor Vrajolli.
Editors: Franziska Klopfer and Nelleke van Amstel
Design and Layout: DTP Studio, Belgrade
This publication has been made possible by the generous support of the Swiss National Science
Foundation (SNSF).
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this volume are those of the authors alone and do not in any
way represent the views of the institutions or their representatives involved in this project.
© 2016 DCAF
All rights reserved
Geneva 2016
Acknowledgements
The Editors would like to thank Azra Avdagić, Project Assistant in the Southeast Europe Division of
DCAF, for editorial support and the management of translation and publication activities.
The Editors are indebted to Alan Bryden, Teodora Fuior and Darko Stančić for providing comments
on draft chapters. Particular thanks goes to Paulo Costa, Head of the Police Programme, Southeast
Europe Division, DCAF, for useful discussions and input regarding the privatization of police.
The Editors would also like to thank Vanessa Murphy, intern at DCAF from April to September
2016, for English language editing.
The Editors,
Geneva, November 2016

6
Table of contents
Understanding Private Security Governance in Southeast Europe

Through Case Studies
Part 1:
The Development of a Private Security Market
– Perceptions and Market Conjunctures
The Evolving Functions of Private Security in a Small Community in Albania – The Case of Vaqarr
Arjan Dyrmishi and Ola Cami
PSCs to the Rescue: The Role of PSCs in Deprived, Depopulated and Remote Villages in Bulgaria – The Case
of the Vidin Region
Anton Kojouharov and Tihomir Bezlov
Cooperation between Private Security Companies and the Kosovo Police – Opportunities and Limitation
Donika Emini and Mentor Vrajolli
Reflections and Questions
Part 2:
The role of PSCs in the Protection of Objects of National Security
Importance
Mission Critical, Mission Impossible – The Role of PSCs in Protecting Critical Infrastructure in Bulgaria
Rositsa Dzhekova and Anton Kojouharov
Privatising the Security of Critical Infrastructure in Serbia – The Case of Private Security at the
Hydropower Plant Djerdap
Predrag Petrović and Marko Milošević
Private Security in Practice: Case studies from Southeast Europe
Part 3:
The Challenge of Quality and Sustainability as a Result of
Deficiencies in the Public Procurement Processes
The Impact of Public Procurement Practices on the Private Security Sector in Albania – Analysing Public
Procurement in Tirana in 2015
Arjan Dyrmishi and Ola Cami
Part 4:
The Challenge of Ensuring Professionalism Amongst PSC Staff
Conflicts of Interest – Former and Acting Police in the Business of Private Security in Serbia
Identifying Patterns of Private Security Sector Shortcomings in Kosovo – The Albi Mall Case
Policy Suggestions for Improving Private Security Governance

in Southeast Europe
8
Understanding Private
Security Governance in
Southeast Europe Through
Case Studies
Why and how should private security be regulated? A group of researchers from Albania, Bulgaria,
Kosovo, Serbia and Switzerland has been examining these questions as part of a multi-year proj-
ect called the Private Security Research Collaboration Southeast Europe (“PSRC”) 1. The interest of
the state in interfering with the activities of private security companies is twofold: first, to ensure
that basic pillars of the modern democratic state such as the protection of human rights and the
democratic order are not threatened. Second, because the stability of the state and the happiness
and prosperity of its citizens also depend on factors such as functioning security and economy.
In order to better target its regulation of private security, it would therefore be important for the
state to know how private security companies (PSCs) impact on a country’s human rights situa-
tion, the democratic order, a functioning security and (to a lesser extent) economy.
For Private Security in Practice: Case studies from Southeast Europe the PSRC researchers assem-
bled eight case studies that explore the impact that private security has on security, human rights
and the democratic order in four Southeast European countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo and
Serbia. Since regulation should not only limit the negative impact but also foster the positive con-
tribution that private security can make, the authors specifically looked at how challenges posed
by PSCs could be avoided and how opportunities can be seized.
PSCs should be considered as part of the broader security sector governance framework. It is un-
deniable that private security plays an increasingly important role in the security sector of the four
target countries. In addition, contemporary approaches to democratic security sector governance,
1 The research team is composed of researchers from the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), the
Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), the Kosovo Centre for Security Studies (KCSS), the Belgrade Centre
for Security Policy (BCSP) and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). For more
information on the PSRC, see http://www.ppps.dcaf.ch/en/private-security-research-collaboration-south-
east-europe-2014-2017
The PSRC is a project supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). It aims to solve questions
surrounding private security governance, with a particular focus on the Southeast Europe. The project explores
the state of private security in four Southeast European countries – Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Serbia – to
compare developments and draw broader lessons about the social, economic and political factors that shape
the private security sector in a country.
10
consider that the security sector includes all actors who contribute to the provision, management
and oversight of security.
Providing security within the framework of good governance aims at enhancing state and human
security. The human security imperative within good governance means that security meets the
needs of all people within a society. This means firstly to ensure security in an efficient, effective
and accountable manner. ‘Accountable’ means that decisions about security are made by the peo-
ple or their representatives, and that those responsible for security delivery are overseen by and
accountable to the peoples’ representatives. The case studies therefore also explore what efficien-
cy, effectiveness and accountability mean for private security providers in practice.
The case study format was selected because the detailed examination of one incident, challenge
or opportunity, allows the authors the analytical depth necessary to meaningfully grasp context,
causes, and impacts of private security in practice. In principle a case study speaks exclusively for
its specific context, and indeed the editors and authors do not claim that a complete picture of the
challenges and opportunities presented by private security in the four target countries can be de-
duced from the eight case studies. However, the authors selected the case studies from incidents
which they viewed as representative of wider trends in their respective countries.2
Because the aim of this research is to consider both the challenges and the opportunities posed
by private security, the authors specifically set out to identify cases representative of both positive
and negative industry trends. This said, closer analysis often revealed that ‘positive’ cases masked
negative consequences, and vice versa.
By exploring the reasons underpinning private security’s positive or negative effect in the specific
incidents studied, the case studies also highlight broader structural governance issues in each
country. It is therefore possible to derive general lessons from the case studies both for the coun-
try in which the incident took place, and for private security in other countries which share similar
contextual characteristics. In this vein, at the end of each part a short conclusion compares the
lessons from the part’s case studies and places them within a wider policy discussion. It closes
with questions for policy makers; asking, on the basis of what we now know from the case studies,
how we should address the private security governance challenges raised.
Broadly, the case studies cover four governance challenges: the development of the private secu-
rity market, particularly in relation to the state’s retreat from its monopoly on security provision
(Part 1); the role of private security in the protection of critical infrastructure (Part 2); the state as
a client of private security companies and the impact of public procurement processes on the
private security market (Part 3); and the success and failure of different policies aimed at improv-
ing the professionalism of private security personnel (Part 4). Previous research by the PSRC team
2 Previous research, and in particular the work which produced the PSRC project’s first publication A Force for
Good? (cited below), afforded the authors a strong understanding of the major developments in the private
security sectors in their respective countries, thus enabling them to identify symptomatic cases.
demonstrated that these policy issues are important for each of the four target countries. Howev-
er, it is worth noting that other pressing policy questions regarding private security exist in these
countries, and the authors’ choice does not indicate that the topics discussed are necessarily more
pertinent or urgent than others.
The final chapter – ‘Policy Suggestions for Improving Private Security Governance in South East
Europe’ – collates the lessons and questions raised in Parts 1 to 4 in order to present new under-
standings of private security governance in Southeast Europe. It was the authors’ hypothesis that
many problems linked to private security in the four target countries are caused by an inadequate
understanding of the appropriate role for private security in the security sector. This final chapter
therefore closes by using the lessons drawn from Parts 1 to 4 to develop new understandings
about what the contribution of private security to a democratic security sector should look like in
the region.
12
PART 1:
THE DEVELOPMENT
OF A PRIVATE
SECURITY MARKET
– PERCEPTIONS
AND MARKET
CONJUNCTURES
14 Private Security in Practice: Case studies from Southeast Europe
The case studies in Part 1 consider situations where private security companies (PSCs) have par-
tially or fully assumed responsibility for tasks previously performed by the police. They examine
if and how PSCs – working alongside or indeed replacing police and other state services – can
ensure public security just as or even more efficiently and effectively as the state.
The first two case studies explore the rise of private security guarding services in local municipal-
ities in Albania and Bulgaria, respectively. In particular, the guarding of private businesses, public
buildings and residential premises constitutes the majority of private security contracts in Albania
and Bulgaria, a trend also observed in Kosovo and Serbia.3 The case studies identify the factors
driving the demand for private security services and consider whether PSCs have indeed contrib-
uted to an improvement in the security of their clients as well as to the wider community in the
areas where they operate.
Both case studies highlight that PSCs increased their presence in the communities after security
and order were challenged by waves of burglaries, violence and thefts. Important lessons can be
drawn from these cases about the role of PSCs in ensuring the security of individuals and small
businesses in rural communities in Southeast Europe which in turn can help to increase our under-
standing of the privatization of police services in the region.
The third case study examines the interplay between roles of public and private security provid-
ers (the Kosovo Police and PSCs) in ensuring the safety of the population in the country’s capital,
Prishtina. It focuses in particular on how security provision could become more effective: re-think-
ing existing roles, recommending a more clear division of tasks and encouraging opportunities for
cooperation. This case study thereby provides an insight into the optimal possible contribution
that the private sector could make to security in Kosovo.
3 Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke Van Amstel eds. A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security Landscape in Southeast
Europe (Belgrade and Geneva: DCAF, 2015).
PART 1: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PRIVATE SECURITY MARKET
– PERCEPTIONS AND MARKET CONJUNCTURES
The Evolving Functions of Private Security in a Small

Community in Albania – The Case of Vaqarr
Arjan Dyrmishi and Ola Çami
Introduction
The Albanian private security market has developed considerably in the last two and a half de-
cades (1991 to 2016), as indicated by the increasing number of employees of the private security
sector and the significant market turnover. The market has been regulated by law since Albania’s
early transition to a market economy (which occurred in 1993). However, limits set by the regula-
tion of the size and operations of PSCs, and poor implementation of the relevant legislation due
to corruption, politicisation and institutional weaknesses, have had a negative impact on the de-
velopment and consolidation of companies as well as on the quality of their services.4
It is particularly problematic that little is known about what parameters are required to ensure
that PSCs function well, and what effect they have on security. Which security needs could they
respond to? To what extent do they already do this? Which structural problems prevent them from
doing so? In order to facilitate a more in-depth understanding of the role and impact of PSCs on
the safety and security of public and private actors, the case study of Vaqarr will seek to examine
how the private security industry has contributed to improved security, which in turn has led to
improved economic development and quality of life for the citizens of Vaqarr.
Data and Methodology

The data collection for this study included both an analysis of related documents released by pub-
lic institutions and interviews with key stakeholders.
Vaqarr is a rural community located 5-10 km in the southwest of Tirana. The community is com-
posed of ten villages.5 From 1991 until today, the community has changed considerably, with an
increase in population, businesses, and at the same time, security concerns. This trend has been
observed in most communities after the end of communism, and therefore the findings and rec-
ommendations of this case may be of relevance for other areas. It is important to note that little
to no hard data exists about developing trends in this area and this analysis is primarily based on
interviews.
Interviewees included business representatives, local police, PSCs operating in the area and the
local population. Interviewees were asked about the factors that contributed first to the decrease
4 Arjan Dyrmishi and Gentiola Madhi “Albania,” in A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security Landscape in
Southeast Europe, eds. Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke Van Amstel. (Belgrade and Geneva: DCAF, 2015), 7-29.
5 INSTAT. Population and Housing Census Report 2011,
Tirana: Adel Print, 2013 http://www.instat.gov.al/media/195838/11__tirane.pdf. 84
Composed of the villages: Vaqarr, Allgjatë, Arbanë, Bulticë, Damjan-Fortuz, Gropaj, Lalm, Prush, Vishaj, Sharrë.
and then to the increase of security in the region from 1991 until 2015, and more specifically, the
role of the private security industry in this process.
Security Issues 1991-2015

Until the end of the communist regime in Albania in 1991, the demographics in the villages that
are part of the commune of Vaqarr stayed more or less the same. This situation began to change
in the early nineties as a result of internal migration. People from Tirana were attracted to Vaqarr,
where the rents were lower and the houses cheaper than in the capital. The population increased
by 25% from 1989 to 20116 and reached 10,000 inhabitants in 2011.7
At the same time, Vaqarr became attractive for businesses because of its proximity to the capital
(5-10 km), its accessibility (along the national route), and land prices that were less expensive than
in the main industrial zone (along the Tirana-Durres highway).
Around 1993, theft, violence and murder increased. As the social fabric of the area changed with
new inhabitants arriving from nearby regions, misunderstandings and differences of opinion be-
tween the inhabitants often led to personal clashes and conflicts. In addition, the privatisation of
property and land, and the unclear legislation governing land ownership negatively affected the
relationships with the old inhabitants.
Box 1. Law 7501 and the problem with land ownership in Albania8
Prior to collectivisation during the communist era, land ownership in Albania was highly con-
centrated. When land privatisation began in the early 1990s, policymakers were concerned that
returning land to the original owners would recreate feudal structures. The Law on Land (No.
7501) (1991) transferred ownership rights from collective farmlands to member families living in
the rural area at the time of the distribution. Accordingly, between 1990 and 1994, agricultural
land from collective farms was distributed to member families.
Land conflicts are frequent in Albania to this day and constitute about half of all cases in civil
courts. At the same time, there have been incidences of social unrest and violence related to land
conflicts. Conflicts are generally of two types. The first type relates to overlapping claims to a
piece of land, boundary disputes or conflicts about road access. In these cases, parties generally
try to resolve their disputes on a personal level (e.g. through the mediation by relatives, village
elders, municipal officers and local leaders) before turning to official channels of conflict resolu-
tion. The second type of conflict involves restitution and compensation claims of former owners.
6 INSTAT GIS, accessed 05 February 2016, http://instatgis.gov.al/#!/l/prefectures/population/prefpop1 Indicating

the population number 1989-2011.
7 INSTAT, Population and Housing Census Report 2011, 84.
8 United Stated Agency for International Development (USAID), Country Profile: Property Rights and Resource
Governance. Accessed 15 February 2016. http://www.usaidlandtenure.net/sites/default/files/country-profiles/
full-reports/USAID_Land_Tenure_Albania_Profile_0.pdf.
The 1997 crisis and the distribution of weapons to civilians added to security problems, as people
resorted to weapons to resolve built-up animosities.9 Businesses in the Vaqarr region and else-
where were caught in the middle of riots and fighting between different newly-armed protesters,
para-military groups and criminal gangs, and quickly became the target of theft and arson. They
did not receive protection from the police force, which was experiencing a near-total breakdown.
This period marked the beginning of the private security industry in the area. Yet, for a long time,
most private security services in the Vaqarr region were not provided by licenced companies but
through so-called grey market practices. Businesses directly hired unlicensed and generally un-
qualified individuals as security guards. Many larger businesses also hired off-duty police officers
as guards.10 In the past, the police would often take a long time to arrive after being called. Busi-
ness owners therefore hired off-duty police officers so they would use their connections to make
sure that on-duty police would arrive more quickly when called, and would perhaps even patrol
the area more diligently, as a favour to their colleagues.11
Since 1997, PSCs have worked alongside unlicensed ‘in-house’ guards to provide safety and secu-
rity for the community of Vaqarr. In case of theft or similar incidents, PSCs are permitted by law to
intervene and use force or weapons. Given that in-house security does not have these liberties by
law, businesses would contract PSCs only to provide video surveillance and immediate interven-
tion, allowing for the use of force and weapons if necessary by PSCs. This practice began with the
new Law 75/2014 “On Private Physical Security Service”12 allowing PSCs to use force or weapons.
In order to avoid tensions between the inhabitants and the security guards in the first years of
their operation, until 2000-2001, PSCs deployed guards from outside the relevant villages.13 As
crime rates increased, the overall costs of operations for PSCs also increased due to the need for
deployment of guards from other regions of Albania, the need to employ a higher number of se-
curity guards and the consumption of more fuel due to frequent patrolling.
With the gradual improvement of security, in the early years of the 2000s PSCs began to recruit
inhabitants from the area to work as security guards, thereby creating a new relationship as em-
ployer. The costs of PSCs decreased, as lower wages could be negotiated with security guards re-
cruited from the area. These local guards were in turn more motivated to participate in proactive
security, which included sharing information about threats from local criminals. The costs of pa-
trolling therefore decreased, as did the cases of rapid intervention, as the need for these declined.
9 A political and financial crisis resulting from the collapse of several Ponzi schemes led to riots, a declaration of
a state emergency and the death of 2000 people. During the crisis, after several weapon depots were looted by
parts of the population from the South of Albania, the then-president allowed the opening of weapon depots
to people from the North, to permit them to protect themselves.
10 BUS01, interview with author, 15 January 2016.
11 BUS02, interview with author, 20 January 2016.
12 PSC01, interview with author, 12 January 2016.
13 PSC03, interview with author, 19 November 2015.
The physical presence of PSCs in the community combined with the frequent patrolling of the
PSCs’ guards, especially during the night and particularly as the local police had only one patrol,
has not only protected businesses from theft and vandalism but at the same time has created a
sense of security for residents and inhabitants of the surrounding areas.14
Security also improved due to effective cooperation between the relevant actors. The police
have a strong relationship with the community; there is significant mutual trust and a clear de-
sire amongst inhabitants to report incidents, including suspicious vehicles and people. The con-
tribution of the community to security has steadily increased. At the same time, the structure
of the community – with small villages and entrenched family bonds where nearly everybody is
connected – has positively contributed to crime prevention, increased crime reporting and the
resolution of cases.
The cooperation between the PSCs and the local communities shifted from initial suspicion on
the part of the local communities, to a sense of trust as the number of property crimes declined
considerably. 15 Improved security led to more businesses being built in the area, which meant
that local people gained access to employment and improved services, or indirectly benefited
from those businesses in other ways. When businesses began to employ locals, the community
correspondingly gained trust in the PSCs, as they saw that PSCs helped businesses to operate in
the area.
Over time, employees from different PSCs built good relationships with each other, which was
welcomed by the PSCs’ management to the point of active encouragement.16 These kinds of rela-
tions contributed to an overall positive climate felt more widely by clients and the community.17
However, despite several attempts by certain PSCs to institutionalise this cooperation between
them, no formal agreements were ever established.
Though it is difficult to find evidence of this shift in the local security climate, the interviews con-
ducted for this study provide anecdotal support, and it is also possible to observe this trend in oth-
er towns of a similar size. In 2005, nearly 45% of crimes reported in Vaqarr were property related.
This number has declined over the last decade: currently, just fewer than 25% of reported crimes
are property-related and even fewer involve businesses.18
Current opportunities and challenges regarding the efficiency of PSCs

Currently there are nearly 425 businesses operating in the Vaqarr area, with the majority of large
and medium businesses based along the national route in the villages of Vaqarr and Prush.19 There
15 POL02, interview with author, 20 January 2016; BUS01 and BUS02 20, interview with author, January 2016;
POP01, interview with author, 11 January 2016; POP02, interview with author, 20 January 2016.
18 POL01, POL02, POL03, interview with author, 20 January 2016.
are approximately ten large businesses in the area. During the day, the number of people in the
area is nearly double the number of inhabitants (from 10’000 to 20’000), with 13 PSCs operationg
in the Vaqarr area.20
Nowadays, the area generally has low crime rates. Nearly 100 (penal) crimes were reported from
2012 to 2016.21 Of these, crimes involving businesses are mostly related to personal problems of
the involved businessmen. For example, they stem from murky past histories, competition, bur-
glary, or theft of goods from shops, warehouses or factories.22 As a result of the low crime rates
in Vaqarr, there is less need for professional private security providers to protect businesses from
theft and vandalism. Instead, businesses have switched to relying on moonlighting police officers.
There have been a number of problems with the quality of services provided by PSCs. For exam-
ple, PSCs have not been as effectively coordinated as could be, to increase efficiency. Even though
informal exchanges have developed, as mentioned above, PSCs’ management regard each other
more as competitors than as partners. This has prevented them from maximising their contribu-
tion to the security of the area.23 Improved cooperation could include providing mutual assis-
tance and dividing patrolling duties so as to cut the costs of operation; currently, multiple PSCs
end up patrolling the same area at the same time. Accordingly, suggestions have been made to
divide the patrolling regions so as to quicken response times in case of theft, which would also
avoid turning a blind eye to any arising need for intervention on the premises of a business which
is guarded by another PSC.
The local police and the PSCs have not become formal partners, but have developed an effective
working relationship. Several representatives of police and PSCs have suggested better cooper-
ation both amongst PSCs, and between PSCs and the local police, for example by dividing the
streets to patrol in order to decrease costs and increase the efficiency and reaction time.24 Such a
plan would detail the patrolling routes of all PSCs and be shared with the police. The police would
then be able to respond more quickly to calls from PSCs. This would make the work of PSCs more
efficient, and also contribute to reducing crime. Several attempts were made to create such a
plan, but these failed particularly because PSCs owners could not come to an agreement amongst
themselves.25
20 PSC01 15 November 2015 and POL01, interview with author, 20 January 2016.
22 POL01, POL02, POL03, interview with author, 20 January 2016; BUS01, interview with author, 15 January 2016
and BUS02, interview with author, 20 January 2016.
23 PSC01, interview with author, 12 November 2015; PSC02, interview with author, 22 November 2015
24 As suggested by POL01,POL02,POL03, interview with author, 20 January 2016 and PSC01, interview with au-
thor, 12 November 2015.
25 POL01,POL03, interview with author, 20 January 2016; PSC01, interview with author, 12 November 2016;
PSC03, interview with author, 19 November 2015.
Box 2. Example of informal cooperation among PSCs

There have been occasions where individual employees had been obliged to temporarily quit
their guarding post, for example because of health or urgent family matters, and until their em-
ploying PSC is able to organise a replacement, their post is covered by employees of other PSCs.
This kind of solidarity and support has gradually contributed to the development of an informal
cooperation among the PSCs.
The reputation of PSCs has also suffered in the last two years. Several events involving alleged
thefts by PSC personnel and guards being slow to respond have been reported throughout Alba-
nia.26 In the Vaqarr region specifically, clients have complained about PSC employees who carried
out their work poorly and were not reliable.
These clients stated that the quality of services was low, as their PSC guards were not sufficiently
trained, bossy and disinterested. They reported that guards slept while on duty, and in some in-
stances failed to act or intervene. Furthermore, the cost for the business for a guard is ALL 50’000
per month, while the guards receive salaries of no more than ALL 20’000 per month. Businesses
consider these high prices unjustified, as PSCs will not compensate property losses in cases of
failed protection, and the guards provided are poorly paid and therefore unmotivated.27
Taking into consideration the above and the fact that the community is no longer facing signifi-
cant security concerns, businesses are now replacing PSCs guards with their own in-house guards,
thus increasing the size of the unregulated ‘grey’ market in the area. In-house security consists of
trusted individuals, such as friends and family members of the owner. The pay is similar to PSC pay,
but the quality of the service is very different.28
The increase of this ‘grey’ market and the hiring of in-house security have had a direct impact on
the number of PSCs hired in the region. Many of the PSCs interviewed report a decrease in their
clients in the region of Vaqarr by about a third since 2014.29 Such a decrease is significant for the
26 Suela Gera, “Ja si u grabit Union Bank, autoret moren 4 thashe me para” [Here is how to rob Union Bank,
robbers took 4 bags of money], ORA News, 14 February, 2014, http://www.oranews.tv/vendi/publikohet-video-
ja-e-grabitjes-se-banke-grabitesit-morren-dy-thase-me-para/;
D.B., “Grabitet banka në Durrës, një në pranga dhe një në kërkim” [Robbery of a bank in Durres, one of the rob-
bers is arrested the others wanted], Gazeta Shekulli, 9 May 2015, http://www.shekulli.com.al/p.php?id=282805.
Andi Qosja, “Filiali i nje banke grabitet me arme tek rruga e Kavajes” [Tirana-A subsidiary of a bank robbed with
gun on the Street of Kavaja], ORA News, 20 May 2015, http://www.oranews.tv/vendi/filiali-i-nje-banke-grabitet-
me-arme-te-rruga-e-kavajes.
Lediona Braho, “Neranxi grabitet me arme” [Neranxi stolen gun], Gazeta Shekulli, 17 February 2015, accessed 20
12 2016, http://www.shekulli.com.al/p.php?id=218447.
“Grabitje me arme ne aksin Tirane-Durres” [Armed robbery in Tirana-Durres axis], ABC News, 27 April 2015,
accessed 20 12 2016, http://www.abcnews.al/lajme/aktualitet/2/55471
27 BUS01, interview with author, 15 January 2016; BUS02, POL01-POL03, interview with author, 20 January 2016.
28 BUS01, interview with author, 15 January 2016; BUS02, interview with author, 20 January 2016; BUS03 9, inter-
view with author, February 2016; PSC02, interview with author, 20 January 2015.
29 10 PSCs’ technical directors, telephone interviews with author, 22 -24 January 2016.
local private security industry, and it seems likely that the sector will suffer in the near future if it is
unable to continue providing services to the Vaqarr region at the same or greater rate.
At the same time, the diversity of the private security market has remained underdeveloped.30
There are a small number of large PSCs who dominate the market and have little incentive to in-
vest, as their competition is already negligible. Due to their monopoly of the market, they are able
to provide security at a low cost and dictate a low market price. The big PSCs are kept strong by
public procurement practices,31 while the other companies are small and do not have sufficient
budgets to invest and expand their services. Due to their dominating position, the big PSCs do
not take any action to change professional practices, while small PSCs are not strong enough to
react. Many small companies are therefore not able to survive, being unable to match the low
price offered by larger companies, and consequently lower the cost of their services by providing
low-quality in order to stay competitive in the market.
Recently, the need for private protection has been growing once again. The number of police
officers deployed in the area has been reduced since 2005 to one chief police officer and two in-
vestigators which patrol the area by night.32 Due to lower crime rates, these police officers were
re-allocated to a nearby region with higher crime rates and more security concerns. Recently how-
ever, the police have become overstretched as their numbers have remained the same despite the
recent criminalisation of a number of administrative offences.
This reduction in the availability of police officers meant that extra protection was required for
businesses, which (as mentioned above) was not provided by PSCs but rather by in-house con-
tracted guards.
Conclusion
The private security industry has played an important role in the provision of security in Albania,
especially in times when crime rates were high and law enforcement was not sufficient to protect
local communities.
Despite their increased role as security providers, PSCs have remained small and underdeveloped.
The market in general is distorted by the dominant position of a small number of PSCs, established
as a result of favouritism and inefficient public procurement procedures. At the same time, PSC
clients are reporting high prices and low quality of services, slow reaction time in case of incidents
and low reliability of both PSCs and guards.
These observations and recent incidents reported by the media related to PSCs’ inability to deliver
services, have incentivised the private sector to employ their own security guards and rely on PSCs
only for video surveillance and immediate intervention. This development has caused the grey
30 Cf. Part 3, Public Procurement of 2015 in Tirana.

31 Ibid.
32 POL01,POL02,POL03, interview with author, 20 January 2016.
market of informal security provision to increase considerably in recent years, such that PSCs are
being edged out of the security market.
Having examined the above-described trends materialising in the region of Vaqarr, it is evident
that PSCs emerged as a response to security needs in villages with increasing crime rates. The
presence of PSCs, their ability to use force and weapons in order to intervene in incidents, and the
resulting lowered crime rate increased trust for PSCs amongst local communities. This case study
also points to improved economic development and quality of life amongst the inhabitants of Va-
qarr. Nevertheless, several structural problems have prevented PSCs from providing efficient and
effective security to their clients. For example a lack of professionalism of employees has resulted
in more frequent use of in-house security and a larger, unregulated market of private security pro-
vision. Improvements to PSC operations could be made: for example PSCs could coordinate their
patrols better with the police, or amongst themselves. Increasing cooperation in such a way has
the potential to improve the quality of the services offered by PSCs.
Coding of sources
Occupation of the interviewee Coding
Police Inspector, Tirana Police Directorate POL-01
Chief Inspector, Tirana Police Directorate POL-02
Police Inspector, Tirana Police Directorate POL-03
Technical Director of PSC1 PSC-01
Business Manager BUS-01
Villager POP-01
Villager POP-02
Bibliography
Books
Dyrmishi, Arjan and Gentiola Madhi “Albania,” in A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Securi-
ty Landscape in Southeast Europe, eds. Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke Van Amstel. Belgrade and Geneva:
DCAF, 2015.
Legal Documents
Law 75/2014 “On Private Physical Security Service”
Newspaper Articles
Qosja, Andi, “Filiali i nje banke grabitet me arme tek rruga e Kavajes” [Tirana-A subsidiary of
a bank robbed with gun on the “Kavaja Street”], ORA News, 20 May 2015, http://www.oranews.tv/
vendi/filiali-i-nje-banke-grabitet-me-arme-te-rruga-e-kavajes.
D.B., “Grabitet banka në Durrës, një në pranga dhe një në kërkim” [Robbery of a bank in
Durres, one of the robbers is arrested the others wanted], Gazeta Shekulli, 9 May 2015, http://www.
shekulli.com.al/p.php?id=282805.
“Grabitje me arme ne aksin Tirane-Durres” [Armed robbery in Tirana-Durres axis], ABC News,
27 April 2015, accessed 20 12 2016, http://www.abcnews.al/lajme/aktualitet/2/55471
Braho, Lediona “Neranxi grabitet me arme” [Neranxi robbed with gun], Gazeta Shekulli, 17
February 2015, accessed 20 12 2016, http://www.shekulli.com.al/p.php?id=218447.
Gera, Suela “Ja si u grabit Union Bank, autoret moren 4 thashe me para” [Here is how Union
Bank was robbed, robbers took 4 bags of money], ORA News, 14 February, 2014, http://www.
oranews.tv/vendi/publikohet-videoja-e-grabitjes-se-banke-grabitesit-morrendy-thase-me-para/;
Websites
INSTAT GIS, accessed 05 February 2016, http://instatgis.gov.al/#!/l/prefectures/population/
prefpop1
Reports
INSTAT. Population and Housing Census Report 2011, Tirana: Adel Print, 2013 http://www.
instat.gov.al/media/195838/11__tirane.pdf. 84
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Country Profile: Property Rights
and Resource Governance. Accessed 15 February 2016.
http://www.usaidlandtenure.net/sites/default/files/country-profiles/fullreports/USAID_Land_
Tenure_Albania_Profile_0.pdf
PSCs to the Rescue: The Role of PSCs in Deprived,

Depopulated and Remote Villages in Bulgaria – The Case of
the Vidin Region
Anton Kojouharov and Tihomir Bezlov
Introduction
The issue of high levels of both recorded and unreported conventional crimes, such as home thefts
and burglaries, in villages and remote depopulated areas of Bulgaria has achieved considerable
political salience following increased media coverage of the problem in recent years. Stories of
poverty-ridden elderly people who suffered property loss or physical assault during burglaries
caused public outcry on both regional and national levels. In this sense the role of the media
proves indispensable in bringing to light events and developments occurring in areas that bare-
ly receive public attention otherwise. The problem of conventional crime in rural areas is being
exacerbated by dismal or deteriorating socio-economic conditions in certain regions in Bulgaria.
Continued depopulation, high levels of unemployment, lack of a permanent police presence, and
social and economic marginalisation of certain ethnic groups are among the factors that sustain
high levels of conventional crime in rural areas.33
The apparent crisis of rural conventional crime, highlighted by nationwide coverage and a con-
sequent public outcry, pressured public authorities to take pro-active measures. In late 2013 the
Ministry of Interior (MoI) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Association of Bulgar-
ian Municipalities aiming to increase the level of cooperation and effectiveness in the fight against
conventional crime in rural areas. The MoI announced at the beginning of 2014 that it would de-
ploy gendarmerie patrols to the worst affected regions.34 After the initial deployment and corre-
sponding visible positive effects in the selected regions, many other municipalities approached
the MoI to ask for gendarmerie resources on their territories.35 This new measure received popular
support, though some expressed scepticism about its long term effects and sustainability given
that the measure has been used in an ad hoc way, at times in response to media reports of elderly
persons severely beaten during a burglary.36 The onset of the refugee crisis and unprecedented
immigration pressure saw the MoI overstretched in resources, and in August of 2015 some gen-
33 Ministry of Interior (MoI). Results from the operational implementation of the program of MoI. (Sofia: Ministry of
Interior, 2013) www.mvr.bg
34 “Jandermeriya shte pazi selata” [Gandarmarie to protect villages], BNR Radio Plovdiv, 10 February 2014, ac-
cessed 1 February 2016, http://bnr.bg/plovdiv/post/100390602/jandarmeriya-shte-pazi-selata
35 “Kmetove ot pernishko poiskaha zhandarmeriya v selata” [Mayors from Pernik region demand gendarmerie in
the villages], News.bg, 5 March 2014, accessed 1 February 2016, http://news.bg/regions/kmetove-ot-pernish-
ko-poiskaha-zhandarmeriya-v-selata.html
36 Samuel Dimitrov, “Sled tv reportazhi premierut prati politsiya v selata” [After TV coverage the PM sends
police in the villages], Sega, 13 January 2016, accessed 13 January 2016, http://www.segabg.com/article.
php?id=786486
darmerie forces were deployed to assist with efforts to guard the national border with Turkey.37
In the meantime, the Ministry of Labour and Social Care announced an employment measure, in
the National Program “Security”,38 which aimed to provide employment to about 5,000 persons
as guards in rural areas for a period of 8 months. The measure was staunchly opposed by the pri-
vate security sector as inefficient, unfair, and potentially breaching the Law on Private Security.39
The primary concerns expressed by the main PSC associations were the lack of clearly prescribed
control and oversight of the guards employed under the measure, and their lack of professional
training. The measure had been piloted before, particularly in the Vidin region, where in 2004, 400
unemployed persons were hired to guard agricultural produce.40 Currently, no formal evaluation
of the measures is available.
Data and Methodology

For the purpose of the case study eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with diverse
stakeholders (see List of interviewed sources at the end of the case). Onsite visits in the Vidin
region were also scheduled in order to conduct the interviews and gain first-hand experience of
the researched environment. A balanced mix of respondents was selected to provide a solid and
well-rounded exploration of the issue. However, not all envisioned interviews were completed as
some of the stakeholders, including representatives from SOVA-7, could not be reached. It should
be noted that no representatives from the Roma community were interviewed.41
The initial analysis of the issue was informed by a media review. Using combinations of the key-
words “village(s)”, “guards”, “private security companies” and “crime”, general searches were per-
formed on Google search engine in Bulgarian. A media review was carried out by examining 21
articles in online Bulgarian media outlets. It must be noted that media in Bulgaria has long been
accused of portraying the Roma population in a discriminatory manner.42 In most of the reviewed
articles Roma criminality was identified as a main reason for the spike of conventional crimes such
as thefts and burglaries in the rural areas. Therefore, information presented in the analysed media
pieces was processed with caution, particularly concerning allegations of the ethnicity of the per-
37 “MVR prashta jandarmeriia na granicata s Turciia” [MoI sends the gendarmerie on the Turkish border], Dnevnik
Online, 27 August 2015, accessed 1 February 2016, http://www.dnevnik.bg/bulgaria/2015/08/27/2598612_
mvr_prashta_jandarmeriia_na_granicata_s_turciia/
38 “Startira programa “Sigurnost”: 5000 bezrabotni shte pazyat selata 8 mestesa” [Program “security” commences:
5000 unemployed to protect villages for 8 months], Trud, 24 April 2014, accessed 1 February 2016, http://www.
trud.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=4050243
39 “Pozitsiya na nafots otnosno natsionalna programa sigurnost” [NAFOTS position regarding the national pro-
gram “security”], Security.bg, 29 April 2014, accessed 25 January 2016, http://www.security.bg/novini/bulgaria/
pozitsiya-na-nafots-otnosno-natsionalna-programa-sigurnost
40 “Naznachavat 400 bezrabotni za okhraniteli na selskostopanskata produktsiya vuv Vidinsko” [400 jobless
employed as guards to protect agricultural produce in the Vidin region], Agro.bg, 14 April 2004, accessed 1
February 2016, http://agro.bg/news/article795.html
41 Interviews were conducted in the town of Vidin, and the villages of Novoseltsi and Vrav.
42 See James Denton, Political participation of the Roma in Bulgaria. (Washington: National Democratic Institute,
2003); and Ilona Tomova. Roma in the media. (Sofia: Association Integro, 2014).
petrators and offenders making up the bulk of the increase in conventional crimes in rural areas.
Nevertheless, the field visits largely corroborated media allegations that behind the drive for hir-
ing PSCs to guard private and public facilities stands peaking Roma criminal activity.
Background
With over-stretched resources at the national level and state-sponsored rural security programs
that lacked sustainability, a more efficient and effective way to tackle security issues in remote
areas was sought. The most prevalent resultant response to the rural crime crisis was villagers or
municipal authorities hiring private security companies (PSCs). This usually involves physical pres-
ence and patrolling of PSCs, in addition to simple alarm systems which are often deemed to be
insufficient security measures. This measure of hiring PSCs is usually taken following a particularly
vicious wave of burglaries and robberies, where villagers have been physically assaulted. Many, if
not most, media-reported cases of rural burglaries and physical assault have identified Roma per-
sons as the main perpetrators. Media reports and data from our interviews point to the fact that
many villagers consider PSCs more efficient than the police in preventing crime. This is the case
since PSC guards are able to respond more quickly to a signal and often employ brute methods
in dealing with suspects, who are otherwise frequently released by the police.43 PSC involvement
in providing security often includes an added value for the end-customer, as social services are
offered alongside security ones, including first or basic medical aid, and delivery of firewood, med-
icines, and groceries, among others.44 Finally, as many of the robberies and burglaries are allegedly
committed by Roma, some PSCs, such as in the case of Sova-7 in the Vidin region, employ as patrol
guards Roma persons who are familiar with the situation on the ground and have insider knowl-
edge of Roma communities.45 Table 1 indicated the PSCs present in each place or village, and the
services that they provide to their clients.
43 Parvoleta Tsvetkova, “Sela se otkazavat ot politsiyata, naemat chastni gardove” [Villages giving up on the
police, hiring PSC instead], Standard News, 16 January 2014, accessed 1 February 2016, http://www.standar-
tnews.com/regionalni/sela_se_otkazvat_ot_politsiyata_naemat_chastni_gardove-221927.html; BG-VN1, BG-
VN2, BG-VN4 interview with authors, Vidin.
44 “Chastni okhraniteli shte pazyat startisite ot apashi” [Private guards to protect the elderly from criminals], Blitz,
14 April 2014, accessed 1 February 2016, http://www.blitz.bg/article/37953
45 BG-VN1, BG-VN2, BG-VN4, BG-PS1 interview with authors, Vidin.
Table 11. Villages where PSCs provide specialised services.
Private Security Companies Place/Village/Coverage Service

Arcus Security Village of Malko Gradishte Patrols
(Haskovo region)
Traffic SOT 51 villages in the Stara Zagora Patrols, first aid, domestic
region assistance (delivery of
firewood, medicines etc.)
Traffic SOT Village of Dragomir (Plovdiv Patrols, first aid, domestic
region) assistance (delivery of
SOVA - 7 Villages of Novoseltsi, Byala Patrols, some domestic
Rada, Slana Bara, Ruptsi, assistance
Akstsievo, Voinitsi, Vrav and
others (Vidin region)
Not yet identified Village of Ravnets (Bourgas Unknown
region)
Not yet identified Several villages in the Vratsa Unknown
region
Delta guard Vurbitsa and four other Patrols
villages (Pleven region)
Traffic Sot Village of Kaloyanovo (Plovdiv Patrols, first aid, domestic
VG Security Village of Malorad (Vratsa Patrols, first aid, domestic
Delta Guard Agricultural lands (Pleven Patrols
region)
Delta Guard More than 30 villages (Veliko Patrols/alarms
Turnovo and Pleven region)
Arcus Devene, Tri Kladenci (Vratsa) Patrols
Traffic Sot Starosel Patrols, first aid, domestic
assistance (delivery of
Unknown Dachin (Veliko Turnovo Patrols, first aid, domestic
VG Security Dolna Kremena (Vratsa region) Patrols
Our media analysis revealed a much wider and deeper scope of PSCs’ involvement in niche mar-
kets, such as in remote and depopulated regions where police forces lack resources for regular
patrolling and adequate response time. Preliminary estimates based on our media analysis indi-
cate that hundreds of villages may be employing specialised PSC guarding services, including the
packaging of security services with social services.
The villages in the Vidin region were one of the first to receive nation-wide media coverage for the
“innovative” way they dealt with crime by hiring PSCs. The much-publicised involvement of PSC
Sova-7 in the region, particularly in the case of the town Novoseltsi, was the main reason for se-
lecting this case study. In addition, the Northwest of Bulgaria, including Vidin, is one of the regions
within the European Union with the lowest socio-economic indicators, including unemployment,
low education, and depopulation among others. As such, it presents a challenging security envi-
ronment.
As of 1 June 2015, 33 PSCs have obtained specific licenses to operate in the territory of the Vidin
region, and 28 companies have registered headquarters in the city. In addition, 946 PSCs have a
valid nationwide license to deliver security services, which means that they may operate in the
Vidin region as well.46
The Northwest and Vidin region in numbers

The Vidin region is characterised by one of the most depressed labour markets in the country.
It demonstrates some of the lowest levels of economic activity,47 with over 1/3 of its population
living under the regional poverty line.48 There is also concern over the ageing population,49 depop-
ulation50 and unemployment.51
Regional studies have identified a reverse correlation between the economic development of
some regions and their social environment in terms of security and justice. The more economically
developed a region is the more problems are identified regarding the functioning of the judiciary
and the number of registered crimes against property and persons.52 The Vidin region stands out
as an outlier in this correlation: it is one the poorest regions in Bulgaria yet it also displays one of
46 Ministry of Interior (MoI). National register of private security companies. (Ministry of Interior, 2015) www.mvr.bg.
47 Only Silistra has a lower GDP per capita than Vidin at 5384 BGN, compared with the national average of 10 958
BGN for 2012. The average monthly wage in Vidin is twice as low as in the capital of Sofia. The region is also
uniquely identified for combining the most unfavourable demographic indicators with one of the least devel-
oped labour markets. Source: Desislava Nikolova, et al. Regional Profiles: Indicators for Development 2015. (Sofia:
Institute for Market Economy (IME), 2015). pp. 6; 16; 19.
48 Ibid, 6.
49 The region displays the worst proportionality between persons over 65 and persons 15-64, and the second
lowest rating for proportionality between persons of 65 and over and persons between 0 and 14. Source: Ibid.
50 The region has the lowest natural population growth coefficient. It has the lowest coefficient for natural popu-
lation growth at -15.2 per 1000, compared with the national average of -5.7 per 1000 for 2014. Source: Ibid.
51 The region has the second highest unemployment rate, according to data from 2014. The unemployment rate
in the Vidin region is over 22%, compared to the 11.4% national average for 2014. Source: Ibid.
52 Nikolova, et al. Regional Profiles: Indicators for Development 2015.
and unemployment.
Regional studies have identified a reverse correlation between the economic development of some
regions and their social environment PART in terms
1: THEof security and OF
DEVELOPMENT justice. The more
A PRIVATE economically
SECURITY MARKET
developed a region is the more problems are identified regarding the functioning of the judiciary and
the number of registered crimes against property and persons.52 The Vidin region stands out as an
outlier in this correlation: it is one the poorest regions in Bulgaria yet it also displays one of the
highest levels of registered property crimes per 10,000 inhabitants (see Figure 2). According to MoI
the highest levels of registered property crimes per 10,000 inhabitants (see Figure 2). According
data, the Vidin region also has the highest rate of registered crime per 100, 000 inhabitants, reaching
to MoI data, the Vidin region also has the highest rate of registered crime per 100, 000 inhabitants,
1699.7 in the first half of 2013,53 crimes committed are mainly thefts.
reaching 1699.7 in the first half of 2013, crimes committed are mainly thefts.
53
Figure 1. Registered property crime per 10,000 inhabitants by regions in 201454

Figure 1. Registered property crime per 10,000 inhabitants by regions in 201454

Statistics have shown that a disproportionally large number of crimes are committed by members
of the Roma
also uniquely community
identified in the region.
for combining the most unfavourable demographic indicators with one of the least
developed labour markets. Source: Desislava Nikolova, et al. Regional Profiles: Indicators for Development
2015. (Sofia: Institute for Market Economy (IME), 2015). pp. 6; 16; 19.
48
Ibid, 6.
49
The region displays the worst proportionality between persons over 65 and persons 15‐64, and the second
lowest rating for proportionality between persons of 65 and over and persons between 0 and 14. Source: Ibid.
50
The region has the lowest natural population growth coefficient. It has the lowest coefficient for natural
population growth at ‐15.2 per 1000, compared with the national average of ‐5.7 per 1000 for 2014. Source:
Ibid.
51
The region has the second highest unemployment rate, according to data from 2014. The unemployment
rate in the Vidin region is over 22%, compared to the 11.4% national average for 2014. Source: Ibid.
52
Nikolova, et al. Regional Profiles: Indicators for Development 2015.
53
Ministry of Interior (MoI). Report on the Ministry activities for 2012. (Sofia: Ministry of Interior, 2013).
53 Ministry of Interior (MoI). Report on the Ministry activities for 2012. (Sofia: Ministry of Interior, 2013).
54
Source: Ministry of Interior
54 Source: Ministry of Interior
20
Statistics have shown that a disproportionally large number of crimes are committed by members of
the Roma community in the region.
Figure 2. Identified perpetrators of crime in the Vidin Region55
Figure 2. Identified perpetrators of crime in the Vidin Region55
Identified perpetrators of crimes against property and persons
‐ Vidin region
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008
other Roma
Research has shown that the Roma community in Bulgaria suffer from long-term unemployment,
Research
sustained has shown
social that the Roma
and economic community
marginalisation in aBulgaria
and suffer
generally from existence,
insecure long-termall
unemployment,
of which could
sustained social and economic marginalisation and a generally insecure existence, all of which
could be causes of their alleged involvement in crime.56 In the Northwestern region, which in-
cludes the Vidin province, Roma communities have a significantly younger population than other
55
Ibid.
population groups. At the same time, literacy rates among young Roma are decreasing, and many
young Roma are unemployed57 and uneducated with little prospect of integration or improve-
ment of their social and economic status.58 21
55 Ibid.
56 Unemployment is a major factor driving conventional criminality among the Roma. Some argue that long-
term unemployed, sustained social and economic marginalisation and the perpetually insecure existence of
the Roma contributes to long-lasting psychological damage and a lack of coping mechanisms amongst Roma
communities, which in turn result in anger, rage and a proclivity to aggression and violence. This manifests in
rising violence, anti-social behaviour, and disrespect for the norms and rules of society. Some surveys have in-
dicated that though they constitute only 5% of the total population of Bulgaria, Roma are responsible for 31%
of conventional crime. Source: Simeonova, Korudjieva, and Petrova. The Roma in Bulgaria, 16.
57 According to the census in 2011 only 19.3% of all Roma over 15 in the Northwestern region are employed.
58 Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP). Updated national strategy for demographic development of the pop-
ulation of Bulgaria (2012-2030). (Sofia: Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, 2011), 32.
With possible threats of crime, many citizens opt for the services of private security companies
(PSCs) which promise the protection and support that citizens feel they do not receive from the
police.
PSC patrolling in villages – the model

The most common PSC services provided in the Vidin region are pro-active patrolling/guarding
services. The patrolling service offers security for a whole village, even if not all citizens have sub-
scribed to the service. Individual houses are included in the patrolling routes with a 10BGN month-
ly subscription. The model has been offered by the local PSC Sova-7.59 Sources strongly indicate
that the creative force behind the business model was the executive director of Sova-7, Ivanka
Kamenova-Vanya, and the former mayor of Novoseltsi, Pantelej Panchev (in office 2011-2015).60
Two other PSCs also offered the same model of patrolling in villages – “Alpha Shtit” and “Mars”. The
companies, however, dropped the model as it was deemed economically disadvantageous – for
the patrolling to be efficient, several shifts of patrols must be available at all times, which makes
economic sense only after a certain threshold of subscribers have been secured. Sources indicate
that Sova-7 worked pro-actively with local mayors to secure an audience for their outreach and
marketing activities in the villages. Village gatherings, forums, presentations and dissemination of
marketing materials were employed as business development strategies.61 In most villages, due to
a lack of separate facilities for office purposes, Sova-7 representation is negotiated and channelled
through the local mayor, whereby in many instances monthly subscriptions are collected through
the mayor’s office. This underscores the importance of cooperation and collaboration with local
authorities for the model to function effectively. As these regions are poor and depopulated, the
social, financial and economic infrastructure is depleted as well. Local leaders (such as mayors) are
therefore very often the gatekeepers for business and politics in a certain area. This is why busi-
ness development initiatives are channelled through the local influence of such leaders, and the
infrastructure that is already available is used. The authors were not able to clarify whether such
arrangements were based on written or legal agreements, similar to public-private partnership
agreements in which the contribution of each partner and the related costs were accounted for.
Most sources indicate that after the initial campaign62 and a registered boom in PSC subscriptions,
the rate of new customer acquisition slowed down significantly. This may have been the case
particularly after a noticeable increase in property crimes in the region in 2009-2010 and 2012-
2013 (see Figure 1). One explanation for this anomaly may be that, after the initial surge in rates
59 According to BG-VN2 and BG-PS1 the company started operating in 1992 by guarding barns along the Serbian
border, which were used by smugglers to conceal and store their motorcycles. Smugglers would push their
motorcycle across the Serbian border and sell the contents of its tank. This activity was performed multiple
times per day, and at the end of the day the motorcycles were stored in nearby barns, guarded by Sova-7.
60 BG-VN1, BG-VN2, BG-NV1 interview with authors, Vidin and Novoseltsi.
61 BG-VN2, BG-PS1, BG-NV1, BG-NV2 interview with authors, Vidin and Novoseltsi.
62 Sources allege that increased media coverage of Sova-7 was arranged by their director Kamenova as a market-
ing move, BG-VN2 interview with authors, Vidin.
of new customer acquisition and a noticeable drop in the number of thefts and burglaries, the
company has decreased frequency and effectiveness of patrols, therefore leaving some villagers
disappointed with the service.63 At the same time the less effective security service provided by
the PSC has presented an opportunity for criminals to resume their activities. Furthermore, sharp
increases in conventional crimes are sometimes due to criminal activities of “visiting” or “touring”
gangs, although this has not been corroborated with certainty for the statistical variation in the
particular region.
Main characteristics of the model

A mixed impression of the effectiveness and ultimate results of the patrolling services is given. On
the one hand crime in villages has been reduced, but on the other hand there are concerns about
the model’s sustainability and long-term effectiveness, and its alleged disregard of the human
rights of suspected perpetrators.
According to police, PSC representatives, and local residents, some key elements of the model
include:
¾¾ Compensation for the victims. The value of damages (burglaries, thefts) is often small in
nominal terms (a domestic animal, domestic tool, old TV/Radio set, etc.). Yet the victims, who
are very often poor elderly people, may find it extremely difficult to deal with such a loss be-
cause of their typically abject financial situation. Accordingly, in many instances PSCs have
provided a replacement for the stolen item in cases where it was not recovered. This is an
informal policy that many PSCs implement in these regions. For example, when interviewed
BG-NV1 described how she had been a victim of a theft during which a car battery was stolen
from her vehicle. The guards managed to procure a replacement battery at the expense of the
company as they were unable to locate and recover the stolen one. Another case involved the
theft of hens from a village elder, which were replaced at the expense of Sova-7, as the stolen
ones were not found. Stolen items are difficult to recover as they are immediately sold or con-
sumed.64
¾¾ High visibility of security measures. The presence of patrolling guards and vehicles has a
potent prevention effect. After initial deployment of patrols, criminals tend to avoid the village
altogether.
¾¾ Employing the Roma minority. Sova-7 deploys mixed patrol units, which include Roma
guards who are familiar with local criminality and the factors behind it.65 This greatly increas-
es the chances of locating stolen goods and apprehending perpetrators if necessary. It also
63 BG-VN1, BG-NV-1, BG-NV2 interviews with authors, Vidin and Novoseltsi.

64 BG-SG2 interview with authors, Novoseltsi.
65 Allegedly Sova-7 took advantage of EU-funded schemes for employment and human resource improvement.
The company enrolled Roma individuals in the program and trained them as guards. This activity was repeated
as many times as the company was approved for funding. BG-VN2 and BG-PS1 interview with authors, Vidin.
enhances dialogue and communication with Roma communities, as Roma guards are able to
provide access to local Roma leaders.66 However, concerns have been raised that the Roma
staff do not always use their influence in their community in a benign manner (see below).
Although this security model has mostly been praised, concerns have also been raised. It appears
that Sova-7’s main drive and reason for success was their director, Ivanka Kamenova. She is de-
scribed as a very pro-active person with both regional and national ties in the MoI, who has since
left the company. As a result, presently Sova-7’s village patrolling activities are stagnating, with
little to no efforts being made into marketing and popularising the service.67 After the initial boom
of subscribers to the service, a period of cancellations followed after which subscriptions stabi-
lised but never reached the levels of previous years. There are several reasons for the decrease in
subscriptions:
¾¾ The Roma from Nov Pat have been migrating to Germany, particularly to the city of Koblenz.68
Most of the former Roma leaders have also relocated to Germany.69 As a result, the PSCs’ activ-
ities geared toward preventing Roma crime have had to align with this new reality. Currently,
Sova-7 does not patrol with the same frequency and intensity as in previous years.70
¾¾ Another factor contributing to the decrease of alleged Roma criminality is that a large number
of thefts and burglaries appear to happen in waves in a particular village or villages. As a result,
often there is nothing more to steal and raiders switch to different locations.
¾¾ According to some, police efforts have led to a decrease in crime rates particularly because
police now respond more quickly to reports on petty crimes in the villages.71 As patrols have
a preventive effect in the immediate vicinity of a client’s house, neighbours may opt not to
subscribe to or renew contracts with PSCs, as they benefit from the patrols’ effect without a
subscription.
In addition, villagers are voicing concerns that the patrols have decreased in frequency from the
nightly shifts and multiple vehicle presence of previous years.72
66 BG-VN2, BG-NV1, BG-NV2 interview with authors, Vidin and Novoseltsi.

67 BG-VN1, BG-VN2 interview with authors, Vidin.
68 The following article describes in detail the model of travelling to Koblenz by bus. Apart from the 300 new-
ly-arrived Roma families in Koblenz, there are some 200 in Cologne. Roma from Nov Pat have also immigrated
to Italy, Spain and Greece. Source: “Polovinata romska makhala na Vidin veche e v germanskiya grad Koblents”
[Half of the Roma neighbourhood of Vidin is already in the German city of Koblenz], 24Chasa, 21 April 2015,
accessed 2 February 2016, http://www.24chasa.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=4724919
70 BG-NV1, BG-NV2 interview with authors, Novoseltsi.
71 BG-VN4, BG-VV1 interview with authors, Vidin and Vrav.
72 BG-NV1, BG-NV2, BG-VN3, BG-VN4 interview with authors, Vidin and Novoseltsi.
Main challenges and shortcomings of the model

The overall crime-deterring effect of Sova-7 patrol activities in the villages of the Vidin region re-
mains unquestioned. Media analysis confirms that this is also the case in other rural areas where
such security measures have been provided by PSCs. Interviews with law-enforcement, customers
of the service and PSC representatives in the region, however, reveal particular concerns about the
lawfulness and long-term effectiveness and sustainability of the service. Sources indicate several
potential challenges and shortcomings with the Sova-7 model, similarly implemented in other
rural areas by other PSCs:
¾¾ Legal limitations and violations. The patrol service may potentially usurp police functions.
In some areas, hiring a PSC to patrol private houses is the last resort of both village authorities
and inhabitants seeking a solution to the rural crime crisis. As such, there have been reports
that mayors, in their ambition to tackle crime in the area, have required PSCs to stop vehicles,
make arrests and search suspected persons. This is legally controversial as the law provides
PSCs with very limited operative functions when it comes to suspect apprehension, while
searching and stopping vehicles is not allowed by law for any PSC.73
¾¾ Alleged use of violence and pressure. According to BG-VN2 there is information about the
alleged use of violence against suspected Roma thieves. However, no official complaints have
been registered thus far. Many of the Roma employed by Sova-7 are in fact former criminals
who are trained and employed as drivers and guards, sometimes also referred to as “observers”.
Under the leadership of a retired police officer, who is of Roma descent and who is allegedly
currently informally working for Sova-7, the PSC successfully locates and apprehends suspect-
ed Roma thieves. However, they are also said to be “punishing” suspects. This has spread fear
among criminals and thefts and burglaries have decreased. Still, the methods are question-
able.
¾¾ Operational and coordination issues with police forces. Police sources voiced opinions that
communication and collaboration with PSCs patrolling in the area may be improved. Villagers
often contact both PSCs and the police for reporting suspicious and criminal activities. As both
deploy units to investigate, there is a potential for incidents to occur due to lack of communi-
cation and knowledge of the response tactics of the other.74
¾¾ Training. Police sources allege that Sova-7’s guards are not properly trained. Although many
are not trained as guards at all and are instead employed officially as drivers or other types of
non-guarding personnel, they do in fact perform guard functions. This, according to police,
greatly reduces the quality of the security service.75 In addition to lack of proper training, the
guards are generally lacking in motivation because of low salaries. Guards are usually paid

74 BG-VN2, BG-VN3, BG-VN4 interview with authors, Vidin.
the minimum allowed monthly salary. Many are also employed through national and regional
measures to increase employment.76
¾¾ Accessibility. The vast majority of the rural population in the Vidin region lives around or un-
der the poverty line. In this respect, the patrol services offered by PSCs may not be accessible
to many who are in need of such a service, despite the generally low price of around 10 BGN
per month.
¾¾ Sustainability and competiveness. The patrolling service makes economic sense only when
there are a sizeable number of subscriptions. It requires the purchase and maintenance of ve-
hicles, sufficient staff to man a 24 hour presence, etc. As such, presently only Sova-7 offers such
services, as the market is too constricted to allow for other participants and most companies
are instead providing conventional alarm and response systems. This may potentially have an
adverse impact on the quality of security services.77
Discussion and Conclusion

As stories of violent rural crime continue to plague the front pages of online and convention-
al media, PSCs are increasingly asserting themselves as the saviour of the Bulgarian village. Our
research has shown that PSCs are increasingly re-packaging their security services to include a
strong social component that allows them to cater to community needs, such as by providing do-
mestic and medical assistance. In effect, PSCs are focusing on filling gaps previously filled by state
services, such as social care and policing. The Vidin Sova-7 case study is indicative of seized oppor-
tunities, success stories as well as missed potential. The overall result of the company’s activities in
the villages in the region has been positive, as thefts and burglaries have significantly decreased
where the PSC has a patrolling or permanent presence. Challenges remain, however, in communi-
cating and cooperating with police, particularly with respect to effective and efficient allocation of
resources and intelligence gathering. Currently it appears that police and PSCs cooperation exists
on both a formal and informal level. It is not clear how potentially sensitive information gathered
through PSC surveillance activities is being shared and communicated with police authorities.
Furthermore, when reporting a crime or other incidents the victim often contacts both the police
and the PSC, which at times results in a duplication of resource allocation, for example in such a
case one unit may arrive at the crime scene, while the other may perform surveillance of the vi-
cinity in view to identify a suspect or recover stolen property. Although a Memorandum of Under-
standing (MoU) was signed by PSC associations and the MoI in mid-2014 which aimed to improve
cooperation, little evidence of such improvement was uncovered in our case study, pointing to
possible avenues to improve cooperation and service delivery to rural communities.
76 VN-PS1 interview with authors, Vidin.

77 VN-PS1 interview with authors, Vidin.
List of interviewed sources

Occupation of interviewee Coding
Director of MoI Regional Directorate, Vidin BG-VN1
Deputy Director of MoI Regional Directorate, Vidin BG-VN2
Temporary Chief of Sector “Private Security Companies and Gun BG-VN3
Control”, Vidin Regional Directorate, MoI
Officer in Regional Police Force BG-VN4
Mayor of Novoseltsi BG-NV1
Assistant to the Mayor of Novosetlsi BG-NV2
General Manager of a large private security company in Vidin BG-PS1
Deputy Mayor of Vrav BG-VV1
Private security guards from Sova-7, stationed in Novoseltsi BG-SG2
Bibliography
Newspaper or Online Articles
Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) Plovdiv.“Jandermeriya shte pazi selata” [Gendarmerie
to protect villages], 10 February 2014, http://bnr.bg/plovdiv/post/100390602/jandarmeri-
ya-shte-pazi-selata
“Chastni okhraniteli shte pazyat startisite ot apashi” [Private guards to protect the elderly
from criminals], Blitz, 14 April 2014, accessed 1 February 2016, http://www.blitz.bg/article/37953.
Dimitrov, Samuel. “Sled tv reportazhi premierut prati politsiya v selata” [After TV cover-
age the PM sends police in the villages], Sega, 13 January 2016, accessed 13 January 2016,
http://www.segabg.com/article.php?id=786486.
“Kmetove ot pernishko poiskaha zhandarmeriya v selata” [Mayors from Pernik re-

gion demand gendarmerie in the villages], News.bg, 5 March 2014, accessed 1 February 2016,
http://news.bg/regions/kmetove-ot-pernishko-poiskaha-zhandarmeriya-v-selata.html.
“MVR prashta jandarmeriia na granicata s Turciia” [MoI sends the gendarmerie

on the Turkish border], Dnevnik Online, 27 August 2015, accessed 1 February 2016,
http://www.dnevnik.bg/bulgaria/2015/08/27/2598612_mvr_prashta_jandarmeriia_
na_granicata_s_turciia/.
“Naznachavat 400 bezrabotni za okhraniteli na selskostopanskata produktsiya vuv Vidinsko”

[400 jobless employed as guards to protect agricultural produce in the Vidin region], Agro.bg, 14
April 2004, accessed 1 February 2016, http://agro.bg/news/article795.html.
“Polovinata romska makhala na Vidin veche e v germanskiya grad Koblents” [Half of the
Roma neighbourhood of Vidin is already in the German city of Koblenz], 24Chasa, 21 April 2015,
accessed 2 February 2016, http://www.24chasa.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=4724919.
“Pozitsiya na nafots otnosno natsionalna programa sigurnost,” [NAFOTS position regarding

the national program “security”], Security.bg, 29 April 2014, accessed 25 January 2016,
http://www.security.bg/novini/bulgaria/pozitsiya-na-nafots-otnosno-natsionalna-programa
sigurnost.
“Startira programa “Sigurnost”: 5000 bezrabotni shte pazyat selata 8 mestesa” [Program “se-
curity” commences: 5000 unemployed to protect villages for 8 months], Trud, 24 April 2014,
accessed 1 February 2016, http://www.trud.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=4050243.
Tsvetkova, Parvoleta . “ Sela se otkazavat ot politsiyata, naemat chastni gardove” [Villages

giving up on the police, hiring PSC instead], Standard News, 16 January 2014, accessed 1 February
2016, http://www.standartnews.com/regionalni/sela_se_otkazvat_ot_politsiyata_
naemat_chastni_gardove-221927.html.
Reports
Denton, James. Political participation of the Roma in Bulgaria. Washington: National Demo-
cratic Institute, 2003.
Ministry of Interior (MoI). National register of private security companies. Ministry of Interior,
2015. www.mvr.bg.
-. Report on the Ministry activities for 2012. Sofia: Ministry of Interior, 2013.
-. Results from the operational implementation of the program of MoI. Sofia: Ministry of Interior,
2013. www.mvr.bg.
Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP). Report on the implementation of the updated
national strategy for demographic development of the population of Bulgaria (2012-2030). Sofia: Min-
istry of Labour and Social Policy, 2014.
-. Updated national strategy for demographic development of the population of Bulgaria (2012-
2030). Sofia: Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, 2011.
Ministry of Regional Development (MRD). Regional plan for the development of the Northwest
region 2014-2020. Sofia: Ministry of Regional Development, 2013.
Nikolova, Desislava et al. Regional Profiles: Indicators for Development 2015. Sofia: Institute for
Market Economy (IME), 2015.
Simeonova, Maria, Korudjieva, Daniela, and Lora Petrova. The Roma in Bulgaria; New chal-
lenges. Sofia: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2007.
Tomova, Ilona. Roma in the media. Sofia: Association Integro, 2014.

Cooperation between Private Security Companies and the

Kosovo Police – Opportunities and Limits
Introduction and Background
Though Kosovo’s private security sector emerged almost simultaneously alongside the national
police, its development has not followed the same promising path. Indeed, as one of the most
prominent state institutions, the police force has made remarkable strides in its development –
this has not however been the case for private security companies (PSCs).
After 1999, when the private security sector first began to emerge in Kosovo, international and
local institutions restrained the role of PSCs within the domestic market. From a post-conflict per-
spective, the international community viewed the development of PSCs as a potent force of chal-
lenge to their authority. Locals also had reservations about the private security sector, mainly due
to rumours which linked many PSC owners to particular political groups or individuals. Further-
more, private security in Kosovo was a new market phenomenon, and this caused clashes with
individuals who held more traditional views about roles within the security sector. As a result, for
more than a decade PSCs were excluded from the majority of security sector circles within Kosovo.
As a result of this apprehension of PSCs (shared by a wide range of public stakeholders), the real
development of the private security sector in Kosovo began relatively late; taking shape only after
2011 when the new legal framework on private security services was adopted by the Assembly of
Kosovo.78 Indeed, the development of this sector is still in its early stages. Fragments of scepticism
about the role of PSCs continue to exist amongst representatives of key public institutions, includ-
ing the Kosovo Police (KP). Considering that the private security sector in Kosovo has increased
substantially, this mind-set is concerning. Indeed, the latest statistics generated by the Ministry
of Internal Affairs suggest that the number of PSC staff in Kosovo is continually increasing, to the
point that numbers are likely to soon match the numbers of the KP. According to these statistics,
while the KP currently consists of 8’981 members (7’883 police officers and 1’098 civilian staff ) at
the national and the local level (more precisely, including the General Directorate in the capital
Prishtina and eight Regional Directorates in the biggest municipalities within Kosovo),79 PSC staff
currently number more than 6’500 employees.80 The market presence of PSCs is increasing in both
rural and urban areas, and this has resulted in a further increase in the numbers of their units.
This increase prompts the need to reassess the role of private and public security actors in Kosovo.
Representatives of both private and public security institutions have emphasised that the dynam-
78 Donika Emini and Menotr Vrajolli, “Kosovo,” in A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security Landscape in South-
east Europe, eds. Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke Van Amstel. (Belgrade and Geneva: DCAF, 2015), 61-82.
79 Official Statistics of the Kosovo Police, 2016.
80 Officials Statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2016.
ic trend of PSC expansion is not the result of any decrease in efficiency amongst the police or other
rule of law institutions in Kosovo. On the contrary, they hold that the increase in private security
providers is a global phenomenon, triggered by the emergence of new market demands for pri-
vate security services. Accordingly, competition with public security institutions has not driven
the emergence of the private security sector in Kosovo. Rather, the need to supplement public
security services has allowed the sector to develop within a new market.
The contribution of PSCs to public safety goes beyond the reporting of crimes which have occurred
within their contracted areas. Various media reports (mostly written media and online sources)
have indicated concrete examples of cooperation between KP and PSC representatives, within the
scope of their respective legal mandates, which have had a direct positive impact on public safety
in Kosovo. In addition, PSC and KP representatives have reported a pattern of cases wherein the
KP was assisted by PSCs. This assistance has included reporting criminal incidents to the KP, as well
as providing concrete evidence about these incidents, resulting in their resolution. Hence, PSCs
can play a positive, key role in reducing crime rates in monitored areas. However, considering that
cooperation between the KP and PSCs is still in its early stages of development, it is difficult to find
detailed examples of success stories illustrating cooperation between the two parties.
This case study will therefore tackle the following question: what would improved collaboration
between the KP and PSCs look like, within the framework of their current legal mandate? To an-
swer this question, this study begins first by analysing cases wherein the KP used footage from
CCTV cameras operated by PSCs. We consider what made these cases positive examples of col-
laboration, and critically assess the positive and negative impacts this collaboration could have.
Second, this study continues by addressing cases where collaboration between the KP and PSCs
failed, and how this negatively impacted local security. Third, we look to the future and collate
the ideas of security experts (both from within the KP and PSCs) regarding how these two sets of
actors could collaborate in a more efficient way. These ideas are assessed in the final part of the
study by considering the parameters for collaboration set by national and international law. To
conclude, we propose a way forward for policy makers, the KP, and the private security industry in
Kosovo.
Methodology
This study is based largely on qualitative desk research, and focuses mainly on an extensive anal-
ysis of legal and political reports and journals. Cases provided by the Kosovo Police were also key
documents reviewed during the process of research and analysis. The collection of data further-
more included face-to-face interviews with key stakeholders, such as private security company
owners and employees, and Kosovo Police officials. The authors conducted these interviews with
relevant stakeholders to shed light on the possibility of increasing cooperation between the KP
and PSCs in Kosovo. Due to the lack of information and previous research regarding this cooper-
ation, interviews and focus groups were used to extract information on the detail of this matter.
Desk research, on the other hand, focused on the relevant legal framework and media reports.
The Use of PSCs’ CCTV Footage by the KP

Research results have shown that there are a large number of cases, mainly in the region of Pr-
ishtina, where the KP used footage collected by CCTV cameras operated by PSCs in order to solve
crimes such as robberies (including bank robberies), car accidents (hit and run cases), violent inci-
dents in high schools, and murder cases. For example, networks of criminals selling stolen goods
in public retail areas were identified using CCTV footage that PSCs provided to police.81 CCTV is
therefore often considered an efficient and successful tool for fighting and reducing crime rates
in specific and targeted areas.
Data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo (MoIA) shows that the number of PSCs
in Kosovo licensed to provide electronic surveillance reached 30 in early 2016, representing 50
percent of PSCs in Kosovo82 ̶ a slight increase since 2012. There is no database containing a cen-
tralised record of the number and types of clientele and cameras installed by PSCs in Kosovo, nor
is there information available regarding the region with the highest number of clients.83 Nonethe-
less, according to the two largest PSCs in Kosovo providing this type of service, in Prishtina alone
more than 8’000 cameras have been installed. This is much higher than the number of public
cameras.84
Indeed, state and municipal authorities have installed only a limited number of cameras.85 This ex-
plains why CCTV footage from PSCs has contributed so significantly to crime prevention in places
81 Police Reports and Cases covering the region of Prishtina , September 2015.
82 Ibid.
83 Data Protection Agency Official, 2016.
84 Interviews with PSC Owner B, PSC Owner C, PSC Owner D, DPSC Official, MoIA Official, 2016
85 There is no official data capturing the exact number of public cameras in the territory of Kosovo. There is,
however, data on a limited number of municipal-level camera installation projects which aimed to increase the
level of public safety and improve crime prevention. As such, the first town to install public cameras was the
town of Gracanica (located in the centre of Kosovo), mostly inhabited by the Serbian community “Raport mbi
qeverisjen në katër komunat me shumicë serbe: Graçanicë, Ranillug, Kllokot dhe Partesh” [Report on Gover-
nance in the four Serb-majority municipalities, Gracanica, Ranillug, Kllokot and Partesh] GAP Institute, 2012.
Retrieved 6 April 2016, from http://www.institutigap.org/documents/600_RAPORTIPERKOMUNATEREJA.pdf.
This initiative took place after a series of ethnic-based incidents that occurred in the area. The case of Gracanica
set a precedent for other towns in Kosovo, such that the town of Peja (located in the western part of Kosovo)
– which was one of the towns with the highest crime rate since the end of the conflict in Kosovo in 1999 – also
installed public cameras. The decision of Peja (Selimaj, U “Peja Nën Vëzhgimin e Kamerave” [Peja under obser-
vation camera] Kallxo, 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2016, from http://kallxo.com/gjnk/peja-nen-vezhgimin-e-kamer-
ave/) to install 200 cameras was followed by other towns in Kosovo such as Ferizaj (“Ferizaj përuron projektin
për vëzhgimin e qytetit me kamer” [Ferizaj inaugurates project to the city with camera surveillance] Koha
Ditore, 4 February 2016. Retrieved June 04, 2016, from http://koha.net/?id=9), which installed 120 cameras,
some districts in Prishtina such as Dardania, and some key, crowded locations in the capital (Focus Group with
Kosovo Police Representatives, January 2016). Though the number of public cameras is slightly increasing, they
do not compare to the number of cameras owned and the number of places monitored by PSCs in Kosovo.
PSC CCTV cameras have wider coverage, as they are placed in private houses, small businesses and smaller
neighbourhoods where public cameras are not typically present.
like Prishtina and the town of Peja.86 Following an increase in the crime rate in these locations,
public opinion called for municipalities to install more security cameras. However, state and mu-
nicipal authorities have been slow to react, due to a lack of financial resources and concerns aris-
ing from data protection restrictions.87
PSCs therefore filled an obvious gap in security provision by introducing tools, such as cameras,
which provide crucial information for KP’s crime prevention and investigation activities in certain
municipalities. However, there are also a number of concerns which must be considered in these
cases.
According to legislation in Kosovo, the CCTV services provided by PSCs should primarily cover the
private spaces of the relevant contracted area. However, due to the nature of the service, in some
cases it is impossible for PSCs to provide proper CCTV coverage of the contracted area without
extending the perimeter of the camera coverage beyond the contracted area. For example, CCTV
monitoring of the entrances of privately secured areas inevitably covers the public entrance to the
private space, which may be frequented by the public, and this may represent a privacy concern.
As described above, CCTV cameras were often set up by PSCs in areas where local municipalities
had been slow to install their own cameras, partly due to concerns over privacy protection. The
fact that PSCs installed CCTV cameras does not mean that it was ultimately concluded that there
would be no violation of the right to privacy if a camera was installed. Accordingly, police should
be careful not to misuse privately-obtained camera footage from a location where police cameras
were not permitted to be installed in the interest of the public’s privacy.
In its Introductory Handbook on State Regulation Concerning Civilian Private Security Services,
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) highlights this concern regarding the
protection of privacy in the context of private security activities:
The challenge to States is in regulating the information which private security companies may le-
gitimately collect, and in what manner and from whom it is collected, how it is stored and for how
long, who has access to it, and how it may be shared and with whom.
The potential for abuse and misuse requires regulators to link regulatory frameworks and provi-
sions on information-sharing with legislation governing personal privacy and freedom of informa-
tion. Standards can be set controlling the nature of information collected and the specific instanc-
es in which collection and sharing is permitted, how it is stored and shared and for how long [...].88
86 Interview with Kosovo Police Officer D, 2016.

87 “Prishtina pa kamera sigurie në hapësirat publike” [Prishtina without security cameras in public spaces] Koha
Ditore, 3 April 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016, from: http://koha.net/?id=
88 UNODC, Introductory Handbook: State Regulation Concerning Civilian Private Security Services (New York: UNO-
DC, 2014). Available online at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/crimepreven-
tion/Ebook0.pdf, 18.
Legislation in Kosovo also provides some clarity on the issue. The Law on the Protection of Per-
sonal Data permits the use of video surveillance systems by both the public and private sector in
order to ensure the safety of people and the security of properties.89 It also specifies clear rules for
informing people when they are being monitored,90 and regulates the storage of recorded mate-
rial.91 Separately, the Law on Private Security Services clearly limits the purposes for which PSCs
may use electronic surveillance.92
While it is a positive development that the footage collected by PSCs has helped in criminal inves-
tigations, clear regulations (such as those previously mentioned) should be enforced in order to
ensure the protection of citizens’ right to privacy.
The ECK Case: A Lack of Coordination and Cooperation

The example of the KP using CCTV footage collected by PSCs in their criminal investigations might
give the impression that the KP and PSCs have developed a constructive and collaborative part-
nership. Generally however, this is not the case; some KP officials claim there have been many oc-
casions when PSCs have obstructed the work of the KP. For example, PSC guards have prevented
KP officers from arresting their clients (municipal officials).93
The “ECK-case” brought to the Supreme Court by the Kosovo Energy Cooperation (ECK), is an illus-
trative example of the clash of interests between PSCs and the KP.94 The case of ECK is unique be-
cause a large number of PSC employees continuously worked there despite the fact that the PSC
contracted by ECK changed more than three times. Around 500 security workers were transferred
from one PSC to another as a result of the change of contracted company, and the newly contract-
ed companies failed to exercise control over their new employees, resulting in many crimes and
burglaries taking place which were not satisfactorily investigated. According to the KP, it is impos-
89 Law of the Republic of Kosovo on the Protection of Personal Data, Law No.03/L–172 (hereafter “Law on Person-
al Data Protection”), Article 62, § 1.
90 CF. Ibid, Article 61 §2 as well as Article 62 §5.
91 Recorded material may only be stored for a maximum of 6 months (cf. Ibid, Article 62 §7).
92 Law of the Republic of Kosovo on Private Security Services, Law No.04/L –004 (hereafter “LPSS”), Article 27, §5.
93 While the KP fails to recognise PSC personnel as potential partners in preventing crime and increasing public
safety, citizens perceive PSCs more positively. As the results of the Kosovo Security Barometer show, around
60 percent of respondents viewed the role of PSCs in Kosovo as positive, while a significant number of respon-
dents (more than 70 percent) declared that they had had contact with PSC personnel. This reflects the pres-
ence of PSCs in the field: they cover almost the entire territory of Kosovo due to the fact that they offer services
to banks, post offices and businesses; supervise and protect movable and immovable property; guard proper-
ty and provide surveillance of public spaces; transport cash; protect persons; provide in-house security, store
security, in-house detectives, and access control; control attendance at events; ensure security of shopping
malls; supervise apartment blocks; and deliver CCTV monitoring (which is highly present everywhere). They
are therefore closer to the public. (The Kosovo Security Barometer is a special programme by the Kosovo Cen-
tre for Security Studies (KCSS) aiming to measure citizens’ perceptions towards security institutions in Kosovo,
in the past three years KCSS has included PSCs in their studies/ research given the increasing role of PSCs in
providing security services.)
94 “Rasti i tenderit 6-milionësh shkon në Gjykatën Kushtetuese” [Tender case 6-million goes to the
Constitutional Court] Koha Ditore, 25 December 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2016, from http://koha.net/?id=27
sible to solve such cases – i.e. cases where PSC employees are suspected of being complicit in the
crimes – because security employees have a vast knowledge of the relevant locations and are very
well organized within their circles of illegal activities. This scenario therefore embodies the poten-
tial for failed cooperation between the KP and PSCs, while also illustrating the risks associated with
a lack of management control within certain PSCs.95
Arguments for a Different Model of Cooperation

The above examples demonstrate how much good will is needed on the behalf of both PSCs and
the KP to ensure successful cooperation. Provided that this good will can be generated, which
security issues should be tackled jointly by PSCs and the KP to guarantee high-quality coopera-
tion and coordination? In particular, what kind of collaboration would be appropriate, lawful, and
effective? To answer these questions, we interviewed a number of security specialists including
representatives from the KP and PSCs in Kosovo. These experts offered several suggestions as to
useful cooperation initiatives between law enforcement agencies and PSCs.
An often cited example of actual cooperation between the KP and PSCs in Kosovo is the provi-
sion of security at public events. In the past, public events were only secured by the police. Today
however, most public event security is provided by PSCs because it has become evident that the
relevant guarding tasks do not require highly-skilled police officers. Nevertheless, the police still
work with PSCs to provide an assessment of the security situation and to provide additional sup-
port should there be a threat to public security and safety.
In a similar vein, one KP officer who was interviewed for this study believed that collaboration
between the KP and PSCs is in the interest of both parties as well as for the citizens of Kosovo.96 In
his opinion, law enforcement institutions (the KP in the present case) could use and prepare PSC
personnel to assist in emergencies, and thereby coordinate efforts to increase public safety. The
influence of PSCs could also be used for this purpose, as they have a wide range of clients, from
businesses and individuals, to properties, and so on. According to another KP officer, increasing
the level of cooperation between these key security actors would increase public safety in Kosovo
by improving the overall effectiveness of crime prevention efforts.97
Several PSC owners and two officials from the MoIA furthermore pointed out that so far, PSCs have
failed to collaborate (or at most, have rarely collaborated) with law enforcement institutions in
their community policing activities. Yet PCSs have more staff present in the field than the KP. There
is thus a flagrant lack of coordination and little willingness to boost the partnership between the
public and private security sectors.98
95 Interview with PSC Owner and Security Expert D, March 2016.

96 Interview with KP Officer E, March 2016.
97 Interview with KP Officer F, March 2016.
98 Interviews with PSC Owner B, PSC Owner C, PSC Owner D, DPSC Official, and MoIA Official, February 2016.
The executive director of a Kosovar PSC stated that cooperation between KP and PSCs employees
should be particularly easy because their professional background is often similar. It is therefore
unsurprising that members of the KP and PSCs maintain close personal relations. Thus former
members of the KP who are now employed by PSCs could help facilitate improved cooperation
between these security actors. In our interviewee’s opinion, this shared professional background
presents an opportunity to enhance the success of any potential joint projects.99
Similarly on the subject of potential avenues for mutually advantageous cooperation, a PSC own-
er argued that the widespread presence of PSCs in the field, if used effectively by the KP, could
boost the success rate of crime prevention and public safety.100
Several PSC professionals also pointed out that certain basic security tasks do not need to be
carried out by highly-trained police officers, but rather could be performed by private security
staff in the interest of cost-efficiency. Using the capacities of PSCs to offer this type of basic guard
services would allow officers of the KP to accomplish other duties that PSCs cannot and are not
legally allowed to perform.101
Finally, representatives of PSCs suggested that more information should be exchanged between
the KP and PSCs. As explained in the legal analysis section, PSCs are obliged to cooperate with the
KP, but in reality this rarely occurs, and cooperation in Kosovo is often limited even in the exchange
of information.102 For example, the current legal framework in Kosovo obliges PSCs, to some ex-
tent, to provide information to the KP in cases reported by the PSCs themselves – however in prac-
tice such exchange is dependent on the PSCs’ willingness or reluctance to do so.103 According to
the data provided by the KP, almost one in eight incidents is reported by a PSC, and in one of seven
cases a PSC member has been involved.104 At times, cases reported by PSCs are not registered as
such, but rather are registered as having been reported by random citizens.105 PSCs should be one
of the groups that the KP reaches out to when collecting information about security threats and
needs, thus it is important that cases are accurately registered as being reported by a PSC so that
this potential source of information can be followed up with as the case is investigated.
Analysis and Examination of the Legal Aspects of Cooperation between the

PSCs and the KP
The different methods of cooperation described by the representatives of the KP and PSCs above
are likely to increase the effectiveness of the work of law enforcement in Kosovo, and therefore to
improve overall security in the country. However, certain concerns should be considered regard-
99 Interview with PSC Executive Director D, March 2016.

100 Interview with PSC Owner and Security Expert A, March 2016.
101 Interview with PSC Owner F, 2015.
102 Interview with PSC Executive Director G, March 2016.
103 Interview with Police Officer H, January 2016.
104 Official Statistics of the Kosovo Police, March 2016.
105 Interview with PSC Representative and Security Expert F, 2016.
ing the respective roles and mandates of PSCs and the police. Kosovar legislation clearly prescribes
the duties of the KP, which include protecting life and property, offering safety for all people with-
in Kosovo, protecting the rights and fundamental freedoms of all citizens, and maintaining pub-
lic order.106 Legislation also sets out the rights and obligations of PSCs; a closer look at the legal
framework in Kosovo is therefore key to determining the respective mandates of police and PSCs.
In principle, current legislation regulates the private security sector the same as it does any other
private sector in Kosovo, with the exception that this sector is also the subject of the Law on the
Private Security Sector (LPSS). The LPSS explicitly states that PSCs can only have a defensive safe-
guarding role, and lack authorisation to initiate any measures which may go beyond their defen-
sive safeguarding purpose.
However, there are other legal requirements which PSCs, just like other legal and private agen-
cies, are obliged to comply with. Violation of provisions of the Criminal Code may lead to crimi-
nal charges, including for crimes against the administration of justice and public administration,
crimes against the liberties and rights of individuals, and crimes related to weapon offenses. As
such, in a complete analysis of the interaction between the private security sector, rule of law in-
stitutions, and citizens, general legislation such as the Criminal Code, which is not limited to the
private security sector, should not be overlooked.
Considering the security-related authorization that PSCs have, application of the Criminal Code is
especially important for two reasons: first, it defines the extent of private security actors’ respon-
sibilities in relation to the rule of law and cooperation with justice institutions; going beyond the
LPSS or contractual obligations between PSCs and their clients. Second, it defines the extent to
which a non-state (private security) actor can use force, with due respect to the principle of pro-
portionality.
Kosovar legislation thus clearly sets out the roles, responsibilities, and obligations of each security
actor in Kosovo. As a state body, the KP has responsibility for ensuring public security. All citizens,
if they can contribute, should help in this endeavour. This is particularly pertinent for private se-
curity staff, as they are likely to have more relevant information to share than the average citizen.
Furthermore, PSCs must not violate Criminal Code provisions when carrying out their work (for
example by compromising the liberty or physical integrity of the citizens that they are dealing
with). The police, by comparison, have powers within the course of an investigation (given to them
by judicial authorities) to limit a citizen’s rights, as long as this limitation can be justified within the
context of their mandate to ensure public safety and the rights of all citizens. Unlike the police,
private security companies do not have this mandate to ensure the rights of citizens and uphold
public order and safety. They therefore do not have the corresponding privileges.
106 Law of the Republic of Kosovo on the Police (Law No. 04/L-076), Article 10.
Conclusion and Policy Recommendations

Cooperation between the police and private security companies is increasing in Kosovo, with ev-
ident willingness to further expand this cooperation. However, caution must be applied. Private
security personnel should not assume responsibilities reserved for the police. Though there are
certain tasks previously carried out by police, such as security control at airports, which may be
carried out by private security guards, nevertheless private security should not be wholly respon-
sible for ensuring public security and safety. This is due to the level of oversight attached to public
forces and their democratic mandate; such a mandate and level of control are not in place when
private security provides similar security services.
The above-described examples, in particular the use of PSC CCTV footage by the KP, demonstrate
that police can make effective use of information collected by PSCs, but concurrently that regula-
tion is needed to ensure that PSCs do not overstep their mandate as private agencies or infringe
upon the rights of citizens (such as the right to privacy).
In cases where cooperation would be mutually advantageous, especially in the exchange of ex-
pertise regarding general security threats and needs, cooperation should be carried out formally
and transparently to avoid conflicts of interests (e.g. police giving information to their former col-
leagues who are now private security officers) and possible illegal activities (e.g. PSCs carrying out
activities for the police, which the police would otherwise be unable to do).
There is also a need to increase the general trust between the KP and PSCs. PSCs should not be
treated dismissively by police officers based on prejudices about their professional abilities: police
should value private security staff as witnesses, at least as much as they would with any other pri-
vate citizen. On the other hand, PSC staff should be aware of their positive duties as law-abiding
citizens and take care not to obstruct the work of law enforcement, and further, should endeavour
to assist law enforcement operations when they are in a position to do so.
Bibliography
Books
Emini Donika and Mentor Vrajolli “Kosovo”. In A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security
Landscape in Southeast Europe, edited by Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke Van Amstel, 61-82.
Belgrade/Geneva: DCAF, 2015.
Legal Documents
Law of the Republic of Kosovo on Private Security Services, Law No.04/L –004
Law of the Republic of Kosovo on the Police, Law No. 04/L-076
Law of the Republic of Kosovo on the Protection of Personal Data, Law No.03/L–172
Official Statistics provided by the interviewees

Official Statistics of the Kosovo Police, 2016
Officials Statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2016
Police Reports and Cases covering the region of Prishtina , September (Provided during the
interview with the members of the KP)
Newspaper on Online Articles

“Ferizaj përuron projektin për vëzhgimin e qytetit me kamer” [Ferizaj inaugurates project
to the city with camera surveillance] Koha Ditore, 4 February 2016. Retrieved June 04, 2016, from
http://koha.net/?id=9
“Prishtina pa kamera sigurie në hapësirat publike” [Prishtina without security cameras in

public spaces] Koha Ditore, 3 April 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016, from http://koha.net/?id=
“Raport mbi qeverisjen në katër komunat me shumicë serbe: Graçanicë, Ranillug, Kllokot
dhe Partesh” [Report on Governance in the four Serb-majority municipalities, Gracanica,
Ranillug,Lkkokot and Partesh] GAP Institute, 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2016, from
http://www.institutigap.org/documents/600_RAPORTIPERKOMUNATEREJA.pdf
“Rasti i tenderit 6-milionësh shkon në Gjykatën Kushtetuese” [Tender case 6-million goes to
the Constitutional Court] Koha Ditore, 25 December 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2016, from
http://koha.net/?id=27
Selimaj, U “Peja Nën Vëzhgimin e Kamerave” [Peja under observation camera] Kallxo, 2011.
Retrieved 4 June 2016, from http://kallxo.com/gjnk/peja-nen-vezhgimin-e-kamerave/
Reports
UNODC, “Introductory Handbook: State Regulation Concerning Civilian Private Security Ser-
vices”, New York: UNODC, 2014. https://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison
reform/crimeprevention/Ebook0.pdf

All three case studies in Part 1 examine the activities of PSCs that have de facto filled a security
vacuum. This shift away from public security provision is not an explicit government policy, but
rather was triggered when citizens – faced with insecure local conditions – hired PSCs to compen-
sate for a reduced or insufficient state police presence.
In all three cases, the increased presence of PSCs supported crime prevention and resulted in a
perceived increased local security. Particularly in the Vidin case study, citizens welcomed the arriv-
al of PSCs amidst feelings that they had been abandoned by police and social services. The PSCs’
innovative and flexible methods of operation and their ability to invest in expertise and equip-
ment contributed to their local popularity. However, it is worthy of concern that some of this PSC
success was achieved by resorting to excessive use of force (in Vidin) and by relying on PSC officers’
personal connections to the police to leverage support (in the second case study on the Albanian
region of Vaqarr). Nevertheless, the success of the PSCs does not appear to have been exclusively
dependent on the aforementioned excessive use of force or personal police connections; though
these issues call for closer regulation, they do not necessarily indicate systemic flaws in PSC secu-
rity delivery.
Set against this cautiously optimistic diagnosis, the case studies also proceed to consider how the
existing systems could be improved. An argument that is often voiced against the privatization of
police services is that PSCs only provide services to their clients, rather than to the community as
a whole (as the police do). This assumption is challenged by the PSCs examined in the Vidin and
Vaqarr case studies, which provide security to the entire community within which their clients are
located, rather than solely to the assets or properties of their clients.
For example, the PSC in Vidin found that by securing the entire community, they rendered it more
difficult for criminals to target the property of their clients. This illustrates the many potential pos-
itive knock-on effects of private security, but also points to the limits of the market model: the pri-
ority of a commercial security provider is necessarily to fulfil its contractual obligations to its client
in the most profitable way possible. Securing other assets or areas not associated with the client
may fit into the cost-benefit model of the PSC (as observed in Vidin) – but also may not. It cannot
therefore be assumed that the private security model will ensure security for an entire community.
Indeed, the risks of relying largely on the market to deliver security are highlighted in the two
case studies from Vidin and Vaqarr, where the PSC market model did not bring about sustainable
security provision. A security vacuum emerged when PSCs lost contracts and consequently had to
reduce their services, and the police were unable to quickly adapt to fill this gap.
With this in mind, the Prishtina case study considers how private security can most effectively
work alongside the police. In Prishtina, the state retained the responsibility to guarantee (most)
local security needs, but outsourced the delivery of some of its tasks to private security providers.
Another model, also discussed in more detail in the Prishtina case, is non-contracted cooperation
between police and private security whereby each works independently but cooperates with the
other by, for example, exchanging information when this is in the interest of both parties (in the
Prishtina case, the use of PSC CCTV footage by the Kosovo Police is discussed). Such models of co-
operation between the police and PSCs can be found throughout Western Europe,107 and are also
becoming increasingly common in Southeast Europe.108
In a study on PSCs in Switzerland, scholar Matthias Bieri posits that a major risk of outsourcing
public security tasks to a private provider is a decrease in state control and therefore a corre-
sponding decrease in accountability.109 This may not pose a major concern when it comes to tasks
such as ticket inspections or security controls at airports or public events. However, this lack of ac-
countability becomes more problematic when the outsourced activities are more likely to have a
direct impact on a person’s human rights (for example when PSCs are given powers of detention).
Accordingly, when PSCs are contracted to provide public security, matters of responsibility and
liability must be addressed by state authorities.110
As a final consideration, the Vidin case study discusses the hidden costs of outsourcing public tasks
to PSCs. Sova 7, the company that so successfully operated in the Vidin region, owed much of its
success to the active support of the local mayor who invested his (and possibly his staff’s) time in
promoting Sova 7 and collecting subscription fees on the company’s behalf. State resources were
thus used to support a private company. Both the Vidin and Vaqarr case studies also highlight
the cost associated with mismanaged private security: police ultimately had to invest in re-es-
tablishing public security structures when private security solutions proved unsustainable. First
downscaling and then re-building public security structures is unlikely to be significantly cheaper
than preserving and maintaining the public structures initially in place. Hidden costs such as these
must be considered before security is outsourced to a private provider.
In sum, when considering the privatization of security services formerly provided by state security,
policy makers should consider the following questions:
• If the state is responsible for providing basic security and the PSC market should only be used
to provide additional security, how should we define the “basic security” functions that must
be reserved for the police?
107 CoESS (2010) Critical Infrastructure Security and Protection – The Public-Private Opportunity. White Paper and
Guidelines by CoESS And its Working Committee Critical Infrastructure. 8-9.
108 Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke Van Amstel eds. A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security Landscape in Southeast
Europe (Belgrade and Geneva: DCAF, 2015).
109 Bieri, Matthias (2015) ‘Beständiger Aufstieg: Private Sicherheitsunternehmen in der Schweiz’, in: Nünlist, Chris-
tian; Thränert, Oliver (eds.) Bulletin 2015 on Swiss Security Policy, Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich,
pp. 63-86.
110 Sparrow, Malcolm K. (2014) ‘Managing the Boundary Between Public and Private Policing’. New Perspectives in
Policing Bulletin. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 2014. NCJ 247182. p
9.
• Is it possible (and if so, is it desirable) to reduce public security provision and allow the PSC
market to deliver (the majority of ) security services? Is the private security industry econom-
ically robust enough to guarantee a sustainable delivery of security, even when the number,
resources, and diversity of their clients fluctuate?
• Is the outsourcing of public security tasks to private providers genuinely more cost-effective,
if one considers hidden costs such as the investment required to establish procurement ar-
rangements (such as selecting and vetting private security and formalising contracts), and the
cost of up-scaling and down-scaling public security provision quickly to fill any market gaps?
• Which tasks previously provided by public security are now being performed by PSCs? How
can communication between law enforcement and these PSCs be improved? What kind of co-
operation can be envisaged such that the state retains control (and preserves accountability),
and avoid ending up paying more because setting up and maintaining control mechanisms is
so expensive?
PART 2: The role of PSCs in the protectionof objects
of national security importance
PART 2:
The role of PSCs

in the protection
of objects
of national
security
importance
Part 3 will examine the role that private security plays in the protection of critical infrastructure111
in two Southeast European countries: Bulgaria and Serbia. Damage to assets of critical importance
to a society can have a tremendous impact on the security of thousands of people. The protection
of critical infrastructure is therefore a matter of national security. While the duty to ensure pro-
tection is typically the responsibility of the proprietor of the critical infrastructure – regardless of
whether the proprietors are private or public entities – the state must nevertheless define these
duties and intervene if adequate protection is not provided.
These two case studies explain how private security companies (PSCs) can have an impact on
national security when they provide security services to critical infrastructure assets, and examine
whether PSCs can guarantee the required level of security in this context. The case-studies ask
whether critical infrastructure protection (CIP), when conducted by PSCs, bears specific risks or
opportunities. How can these risks be mitigated, and opportunities fostered? Is there a funda-
mental flaw in the decision to place PSCs in charge of a national security prerogative such as CIP?
111 “‘Critical infrastructure’ means an asset, system or part thereof located in Member States which is essential for
the maintenance of vital societal functions, health, safety, security, economic or social well-being of people,
and the disruption or destruction of which would have a significant impact in a Member State as a result of
the failure to maintain those functions.” COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2008/114/EC, of 8 December 2008 on the identi-
fication and designation of European critical infrastructures and the assessment of the need to improve their
protection, Article 2(a).
Mission Critical, Mission Impossible – The Role of PSCs in

Protecting Critical Infrastructure in Bulgaria
Rositsa Dzhekova and Anton Kojouharov
Introduction and background
Until 2013, the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior (MoI) had an internal department for technical secu-
rity services (SOD), with territorial units and specialised monitoring centres at regional police sta-
tions. The Ministry also had the remit of providing security to all critical and strategic facilities and
services, formally designated as such in Bulgaria. The removal of the guarding unit from the MoI
in 2013 was part of a cost-cutting reform as, allegedly, it incurred losses of around BGN 2 million
annually.112 Now that the MoI has relinquished a large part of its security and guarding functions,
PSCs have begun to fill the gap, including protecting critical and strategic infrastructure. The ab-
sence of a specialised security unit within the MoI has not, however, resulted in the absence of
security provision by the security services of the MoI. On the contrary, many critical and strategic
facilities and services - such as airports, the subway in Sofia and some train and bus stations - are
still guarded exclusively by police forces. The decision on who guards what is made both at the
local and national level. For example, the classification of the Sofia subway as a strategic facility
was allocated by the Sofia Directorate of the MoI113. In such cases, the MoI is awarded a contract.
The level of safety and protection of critical infrastructure in Bulgaria, including potentially dan-
gerous facilities not designated as such, has been somewhat of a quiet topic in the public domain.
Regrettably, the controversies surrounding the protection of such facilities have been exposed
by the media only after serious damage and loss of human life had occurred as a result of major
incidents.
Critical infrastructure protection involves continuous and uninterruptible activities that are con-
ducted in normal and complex environments, which may require engagement from all state or-
ganisations114. This includes information protection or intelligence and physical protection. Intel-
ligence entails the monitoring and detection of planned or committed offenses against national
security or critical infrastructure.
The motivation for selecting the specific topic for this case study stemmed from a concern about
the lack of transparency regarding how potentially dangerous facilities or those designated as
112 According to then Minister of the Interior, Tsvetlin Yovchev, See “MVR sukrashtava 15% ot administratsiyata,
zakriva turkovskite druzhestva” [MoI cuts 15% of its administration, closes its commercial entities], Media-
pool.bg, 9 August 2013, http://www.mediapool.bg/mvr-sakrashtava-15-ot-administratsiyata-zakriva-targov-
skite-druzhestva-news209889.html
113 See Public Procurement Agency. “Opinion on the conclusion of preliminary control for Metropoliten AD,” 1 De-
cember 2014, http://metropolitan.nit.bg/assets/resourcedocuments/841/%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B-
D%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%89%D0%B5.pdf
114 OECD, “Development of Policies for Protection of Critical Information Infrastructures,” OECD Digital Economy
Papers, No. 130, OECD Publishing, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/231008575813
critical are being protected. In addition to a number of serious incidents in recent years, media
reports of rigged public procurement procedures for providing security to such facilities have re-
vealed a political dimension to the issue, allegedly related to conflicts of interest and corruption.
This case study aims to shed light on how facilities ̶ which are critical for the functioning of soci-
ety are potentially dangerous to public health ̶ are being protected and what the role of private
security companies is in this process.
Data from the interviews suggests that whether a facility has been designated as critical or not
has little to no impact on how a PSC conducts its business. Conversely, PSCs have no input in the
process of designating a service or facility with a particular security rating or priority. However,
when a facility has been included in the list of objects/facilities of strategic importance to national
security, its protection is closely controlled and monitored by the State Agency National Security
(SANS), while the role of the PSC lies in adhering to and executing the security plan recommended
or approved by SANS. This duality in treating the classification ̶ i.e. importance of services and
facilities, in relation to the risk of their failure and/or being subject to an attack ̶ is partly due to
lack of a clear and comprehensive legal framework regulating the designation of facilities and
infrastructure.
The national approach to CI protection is generally fragmented, with multiple definitions used
when classifying facilities and services as critical, strategic, important, etc. In addition, it is not clear
what consequences the various classifications actually entail for the provision of security to such
services and facilities. Currently, under various Bulgarian laws and bylaws, an infrastructure com-
ponent may be classified as a “strategic facility and activity of importance to the national security”,
“critical infrastructure”, “potentially dangerous high-risk facility” or “particularly important facility”
(see Figure 1). Only the first two will be discussed herein, as they are managed and implemented
by official regimes and procedures.
It must be noted that the issues identified and discussed with regards to the role of PSCs in protect-
ing critical infrastructre are not stand-alone. Rather, they fall within the problematics surrounding
the activities of private security in Bulgaria already identified in the 2015 volume A Force for Good?
Mapping the Private Security Landscape in Southeast Europe.115 Therefore, it is worth reiterating
that corruption, rigged public procurement procedures, poor control and enforcement of rules, as
well as a large grey sector, still plague the private security industry, regardless of the heightened
risks, threats and responsibilities associated with protecting critical infrastructure.
115 See Rositsa Dzhekova and Atanas Rusev “Bulgaria,” in A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security Landscape
in Southeast Europe, eds. Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke Van Amstel. (Belgrade and Geneva: DCAF, 2015), 31-60.
Figure 1. Regulatory Framework for CIP in Bulgaria
Crisis Management Act, 2007 (repealed 2009); Disaster Protection Act, 2006;
National Program for Disaster Protection 2009-2013; etc.
Council of Ministers Council of Ministers

Decree No 256 of Decree No 18 of
17.10.2012. on 01.02.2011 on
Critical Infrastructure European Critical
Infrastructure
Council of Ministers
Decree No 256 of
17.10.2012.
Methodology
Methodology
An initial media sweep was performed in order to identify key problematic areas of research in-
An initial media sweep was performed in order to identify key problematic areas of research interest.
The keywords
terest. “critical “critical
The keywords infrastructure”, “incidents”,
infrastructure”, “private
“incidents”, security
“private company”,
security “strategic
company”, facilities”
“strategic facil-
and “national security” were used in various combinations to yield results that may assist in gaining
ities” and “national security” were used in various combinations to yield results that may assist in
an overall perspective on the situation.
gaining an overall perspective on the situation.
Document analysis was conducted on key national regulations, by‐laws, strategic and other
specialised documents. Most of the documentation is publicly available, with the exception of a few
Document analysis was conducted on key national regulations, by-laws, strategic and other spe-
documents provided by interviewed persons.
cialised documents. Most of the documentation is publicly available, with the exception of a few
Seven in‐depth
documents semi‐structured
provided interviews
by interviewed were conducted with a diverse set of stakeholders: one
persons.
interview with a MoI representative; one interview with a representative from the Ministry of the
Seven in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with a diverse set of stakeholders:
Economy; four interviews with representatives from PSCs; one interview with a representative of a
major telecom company, included in the list of strategic facilities; and one interview with a security
one interview with a MoI representative; one interview with a representative from the Ministry of
expert. Contact was made with the chairman of the largest PSC association, who was instrumental in
the Economy; four interviews with representatives from PSCs; one interview with a representative
providing access to PSCs who have been involved in providing services and facilities included in the
of a major telecom company, included in the list of strategic facilities; and one interview with a
critical infrastructure list.
security expert. Contact was made with the chairman of the largest PSC association, who was in-

strumental in providing access to PSCs who have been involved in providing services and facilities
Protection of important facilities and activities and PSC involvement
included in the critical infrastructure list.
Critical Infrastructure
Worldwide, deliver necessary services and ensure functioning of society, so their adequate
operations are of crucial importance. The Council Directive 2008/114/EC of the European Union
(hereafter CI Directive) highlights the paramount position that critical infrastructures occupy in
contemporary society. It defines a critical infrastructure as
41
Protection of important facilities and activities and PSC

involvement
Critical Infrastructure
Worldwide, deliver necessary services and ensure functioning of society, so their adequate opera-
tions are of crucial importance. The Council Directive 2008/114/EC of the European Union (hereaf-
ter CI Directive) highlights the paramount position that critical infrastructures occupy in contem-
porary society. It defines a critical infrastructure as
an asset, system or part thereof located in member states which is essential for the maintenance
of vital societal functions, health, safety, security, economic or social well-being of people, and the
disruption or destruction of which would have a significant impact on a member state as a result
of the failure to maintain those functions. 116
The drive behind a comprehensive EU regulation on CIP is predicated on the assumption that a
national (or regional, or international) CI is part of a complex system of interconnected and inter-
dependent CIs, since individual CI need products and/or services from other ones in order to func-
tion normally. This interdependencies are unavoidable, but the critical infrastructure vulnerable
to failure117.
The term “critical infrastructure” first entered Bulgarian legal language in 2005, with the now de-
funct Crisis Management Act. This law defined CI as “a system of facilities, services and information
systems, whose failure, malfunction or destruction would exert serious negative impact on the
public health and safety, the environment, the national economy or the effective functioning of
the state”.118 Seven years later, the Council of Ministers (CoM) issued a decree (CoM Decree #256
on the “Order, manner and competent authorities for the identification of critical infrastructure
and their risk assessment”) regulating the order, manner and responsible authorities for classi-
fying facilities in critical infrastructure and their risk assessment. The Decree entered into force
on 23.10.2012 and together with changes to the Protection from Natural Disasters Act of 2011,
largely transposed requirements stemming from the above-mentioned. CI Directive.119 The De-
cree provides general guidelines for the classification and designation of facilities and services as
critical and makes the MoI responsible for the coordination of the process. Nineteen sectors are
identified in the Decree, which contain elements belonging to the critical infrastructure, including
116 European Commission, “Council Directive 2008/114/EC on the identification and designation of European
critical infrastructures and the assessment of the need to improve their protection,” 2008, available at http://
eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:345:0075:0082:EN:PDF
117 Ana Lauge, Josune Hernantes and Jose M. Sarriegi, “Critical infrastructure dependencies: A holistic, dynamic
and quantitative approach,” The International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection 8 (2015): 16-23, http://
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187454821400081X
118 Crisis Management Act (Promulgated, State Gazette, No 19/01.03.2005), available at http://www.maxiconsult.
bg/pdf/ZUK.pdf
119 The 2012 CoM Decree elaborates further on the 2011 CoM Decree #19 on the “Establishment and Designation
of European Critical Infrastructure in Bulgaria and the measures for their protection”.
energy, transport, ICT, environment, postal services, foodstuffs and agriculture and healthcare,
among others. The responsibility for determining criticality in each of the sectors lies with the
respective governmental structure managing and regulating that sector.
Following the guidelines set forth in the CoM Decree, each institution drafts its own methodology
for criticality classification and subsequently for the risk assessment of critical infrastructures. This
usually involves a working group at the government body which decides which of the services
or facilities under its remit and responsibility are to be designated as critical infrastructure. After
the operator of the facility or service is notified that their service/ or facility has been designated
as critical infrastructure, they have one year in which to draft a risk assessment. The regime set
forward in the Decree does not differentiate between various types of ownership of the operator
of the facility or service identified as critical. Furthermore, the Decree only stipulates that critical
infrastructure must be identified, the risks assessed, and the facility or service protected by the
relevant measures. It does not interfere with how a critical infrastructure should be secured oper-
ationally and tactically. This risk assessment is sent to the MoI for approval. In this case, the respon-
sibility for protection and risk assessment lies solely with the operator. In addition, the costs asso-
ciated with security are also born by the operator. The operator may then initiate a procurement
procedure for the provision of security in accordance with the risk assessment, which must then
be approved prior to issuing by the principal organisation and the MoI. The security plan prepared
by the PSC must be approved by the MoI prior to commencing security activities.
Issues with the CIP regime
This system, however, proves problematic on a number of levels. Although, according to the De-
cree, the MoI is in charge of coordinating the CIP regime, it does not participate in the risk as-
sessment and analysis stages, which are instead conducted by the operators of facilities and ser-
vices in the critical infrastructure. As such, from a control and coordination perspective, there is
no clarity on what exactly critical infrastructure is and how it is being determined as such. From a
resource allocation and crisis response perspective there appears a lack of prioritisation of critical
services and facilities as the criteria are different for the various business and government sectors.
Some are of the opinion that in many cases facilities are being evaluated as critical without due
argumentation.
Data from the interviews suggests that there is no definitive connection between a designation
of criticality and requirements for enhanced security measures. It appears that financial concerns
override security ones when determining the need for and contracting of private security services,
while operators of critical infrastructures tend to opt for the lowest offered price in a tender pro-
cedure.120 One example, offered by an interviewee, included a former military depot operator who
wished to secure a large perimeter with only one guard in order to save costs. A second interview-
ee indicated that important and critical facilities, such as large regional and municipal hospitals,
120 BG-PS1; BG-PS2; BG-EX; BG-TL; BG-PS3, BG-ME interview with authors, Sofia and Plovdiv.
also select their security measures based solely on price.121 In such cases, PSCs allegedly operating
in the grey market may have a stronger chance of winning a tender bid for security services since
they can offer their services cheaper.
In this context, PSCs are often faced with a difficult dilemma. As many critical infrastructure facili-
ties are state owned, public procurements for security are regularly announced. PSCs participating
in the tenders deem that some tender specifications are drafted in such a way that if implement-
ed, security would be dangerously compromised, particularly in facilities related to military pro-
duction, storage and utilisation.122 This is the case because according to the interviewees, a lack of
expertise in security matters, an environment of general neglect towards safety and security con-
cerns and a strong desire to reduce expenses exist. In such cases, PSCs often attempt to convince
operators to re-consider initially proposed specifications. This is all the more important since the
operators are not obliged entities under the Private Security Act (PSA), and as such the contracted
PSC is solely liable for any irregularities and offenses that may occur as a result of contractual ob-
ligations with the operator.123
Previous research in the field of CIP has pointed to the problematic issue of monitoring and con-
trolling whether operators of critical infrastructure are fulfilling their responsibilities, as private
companies and corporations may find it easy to conceal their weaknesses and vulnerabilities from
the government.124 During interviews this was confirmed, as concerns were voiced, particularly by
state representatives, that the control and oversight of measures undertaken by a privately owned
operator of a critical infrastrucre may be difficult or impossible to exercise.125 The rationale for this
concern is the alleged inability of the state to impose security requirements onto privately owned
critical infrastructures. However, data from the interviews suggest that these concerns are only
valid for facilities and services that are not identified as strategically important, since in these cas-
es the SANS exercises close control over the implementation of the regime and the applied securi-
ty measures (see below for more information on the SANS).126 The lack of control over the selection
process of a PSC by a privately owned critical infrastructure was also alleged as an area of concern.
While state-owned organisations are obliged to initiate procurement procedures required by the
Procurement Act, privately owned critical infrastructures are bound by no such obligations.127
121 As human resources for physical protection and guarding constitute considerable expenses, in many cases
operators of critical infrastructure would specify in a tender procedure an insufficient number of guards to be
deployed – often less than the accepted standard of three persons per shift. (BG-SP1 interview with authors,
Sofia).
122 BG-PS1; BG-PS2 interview with authors, Sofia.
123 BG-SP1; BG-EX; BG-PS3 interview with authors, Sofia and Plovdiv.
124 Myriam Dunn-Cavelty and Manuel Suter, “Public–Private Partnerships are no silver bullet: An expanded gov-
ernance model for Critical Infrastructure Protection,” International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection 2
(2009): 179-187.
125 BG-MI, BG-ME interview with authors, Sofia.
126 BG-TL, BG-EX, BG-PS1 interview with authors, Sofia.
127 BG-MI, BG-ME interview with authors, Sofia.
Data from all interviews gives an overall impression that the implementation of the CIP regime
suffers from a lack of expertise, strategic direction and clarity. This is demonstrated by the fact that
PSC representatives and independent security experts are generally excluded from the process
of determining criticality and the subsequent risk assessments. This may be considered a short-
coming of the system as PSCs have valuable onsite operational knowledge and expertise, as well
as situational awareness and intelligence of ongoing security threats. On a strategic and tactical
level, this lack of communication may also hinder the government’s ability to monitor the imple-
mentation regime where it sits outside its ownership. In such a framework of information sharing
it may be difficult to establish whether private organisations are in fact passing on the relevant
information.128 In this scenario, the state assumes a coordinating function, as opposed to over-re-
lying on monitoring and control. Some experts purport that this lack of effective communication
– and therefore hindered monitoring – is best remedied through network governance models,
self-regulating, and adequate and efficient use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).129
Protection of facilities and activities of importance to national security

In 2009, the Council of Ministers issued Decree #181, introducing a list of facilities and activities
that are classified as strategically important for national security. The classification is conducted by
SANS and is periodically updated as threats and risks are continuously re-assessed by the Agency.
The facilities and activities contained in the list are considered vital for national security; there-
fore their priority supersedes that of the facilities included in the critical infrastructure list. In this
respect, all facilities and activities of strategic importance to national security are automatically
considered as critical infrastructure, but not vice versa.
The security arrangements of strategic facilities and activities differ significantly from those in
critical infrastructure. SANS exercises direct scrutiny over security issues and actively controls and
monitors all security measures. A good example of the interaction between SANS, PSCs and oper-
ators in protecting strategic infrastructure is telecommunication. Telecommunication companies
were included in the list pursuant with the Protection of Classified Information Act of 2002 (PCIA).
The telecommunication companies are subject to the statute as they process and store classified
information. On an annual basis, a commission led by SANS, including representatives from the
local police department, conducts a security audit which is followed by the drafting of a risk as-
sessment, conducted by SANS. SANS then gives instructions to the telecommunication company
on how the security of specific strategic facilities and activities should be organised. As not all
telecommunication facilities and infrastructure are subject to the regulations of the PCIA, SANS’
involvement is limited only to those which are related to the processing and storage of classified
information. After initial security audits and risk assessments have been completed, the agency
128 Myriam Dunn-Cavelty and and Manuel Suter, “Public–Private Partnerships are no silver bullet: An expanded
governance model for Critical Infrastructure Protection,” International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection,
2: 179-187.
129 Ibid.
submits its recommendations for the security plan to the telecommunication company, which are
regarded as mandatory. The PSC – employed by the company – then drafts a security plan in ac-
cordance with the Agency’s requirements. The plan is sent back to SANS for final approval. Control
and oversight of the security measures implemented to protect the strategic facilities and services
is performed by way of audits and control checks by SANS, both on a regular and ad hoc basis.
In this particular case the tactical and operational security of the telecommunication infrastruc-
ture is implemented in two separate directions. The non-strategic facilities and services of the
company are protected by its own resources, as the company also has its own private security li-
cence. All strategic elements are protected by an externally hired PSC, while guidance, monitoring
and control are exercised by SANS.
Issues with strategically important facilities and services regime

Data from the interviews indicates that there is a strong reluctance and opposition from operators
to be included in the list under Decree #181.130 The operator must cede strategic control of its
security to SANS and fulfil all requirements that the Agency makes in terms of security measures.
Moreover, all security related expenses are the responsibility of the operator.
Despite tight control and oversight, the sector is often shaken by scandals involving rigged public
procurement processes for security services. A prominent example is the Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD
(MMI), a state-owned energy plant included in the list of strategic facilities in the energy sector,
which had been sanctioned for breaching public procurement tenders. In 2009, the plant can-
celled its 2005 contract for security with PSC Kremak. Without initiating a tender procedure MMI
hired PSC “Professional Protection Electronic” under the pretext that being left without proper
security constituted a de facto force majeure condition under which the company was (allegedly)
allowed to bypass the legal procurement requirements. The parent company, Bulgarian Energy
Holding (BEH), failed to intervene, despite being legally obliged to do so.131 Moreover, MMI re-ne-
gotiated the price of the contract with PSC “Professional Protection Electronic” by increasing the
amount owed to the PSC to over EUR 10 million for three years132. In an attempt to explain the mo-
tivations behind these offenses, allegations of collusion and corruption in the local government
have been suggested.
Because of their status as strategically important and the close scrutiny of SANS, some such facil-
ities may have used the veil of state secrecy to conceal irregularities in contracts signed for secu-
rity services. Such was the case with another state-owned energy plant on the strategic facilities
list – TPP Maritsa East 2 (TTPME2). The energy company had signed a framework agreement for
130 BG-PS1; BG-PS2; BG-PS3; BG-TL interview with authors, Sofia and Plovdiv.
131 Public Procurement Act (Promulgated, State Gazette No. 28/06.04.2004); Energy Act (State Gazette No.
107/9.12.2003). Available at http://www.bgenh.com/index.php/bg/2014-04-13-20-56-05/2014-04-13-21-53-17;
132 Ralitsa Nikolova and Annie Kodjaivanova. “Charged tenders in Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD,” Capital, 9 July 2012,
http://www.capital.bg/biznes/kompanii/2012/07/09/1862627_minirani_turgove_v_durjavnata_marica-iz-
tok/?sp=1#storystart
security services and infrastructures in 2014 and using the justification of strategic importance,
managed to receive a state secret classification for it. Media investigations revealed that under
the said framework agreement in 2016, the TTPME2 had contracted a company for the amount
of roughly EUR 15 million for constructing security facilities. The contractor firm appeared to be
linked to the controversial politician and businessman, Delyan Peevski. Consequently, the Bulgari-
an Prime Minister Boyko Borisov tasked the Ministry of Energy to declare the contract void as soon
as revelations of the connection became public. The logic for cancelling the contract put forward
by the Prime Minister was that the state energy company had been working at a loss and could
not or should not afford such security expenses at this time.133
Despite these challenges, the regime of protecting the strategically important infrastructure un-
der Decree #181 stands in sharp contrast to that under the CI Decree. Interviewees suggested that
in general, SANS exercises strict and direct control of the security measures implemented by the
operator or the contracted PSC. Thus, it may be concluded that strategically important facilities
and activities appear to be well protected.
Conclusion and discussion

This case study has pointed to the high level of involvement of PSCs in the protection of critical in-
frastructure in Bulgaria. This involvement is governed by Decree #181, which ensures strict moni-
toring and control of PSCs by SANS, and the CI Decree which allows PSCs to function in accordance
with their other normal business activities. However, this involvement remains almost exclusively
operational, given that PSCs are largely excluded from the strategic level of CIP management.
Problems and challenges within the private security sector and within public procurement have
also been revealed in the case study, as the ability of PSCs to provide high-quality services to criti-
cal infrastructure is inhibited by less-than-transparent public procurement practices.
This initial examination of CIP in Bulgaria has revealed several deficiencies on the strategic and
operational level. These are obstacles to more effective participation of PSCs in the CIP, not only in
regards to the operational implementation of security measures, but also at the strategic level of
classifying infrastructure components as critical and their respective risk assessments. Currently,
the operational experience and intelligence of PSCs appears to be largely untapped by authori-
ties. The general shortcomings of the CIP regime may be summarised as follows:
• Fragmented legal framework – CIP in Bulgaria is regulated by the Disaster Protection Act, CoM
Decree #181, CoM Decree on CI, as well as other laws and bylaws. In addition, the Decree on
CI is implemented independently in each institution, which develops its own methodology
for classification and consequential risk assessment. Therefore, the legal framework does not
133 Iglika Filipova. “The state voids TPP Maritsa East 2 contract with Vodstroj,” Capital, 9 March 2016, http://www.
capital.bg/politika_i_ikonomika/bulgaria/2016/03/09/2720188_durjavata_prekrati_dogovora_na_tec_mari-
ca-iztok_2_s/
provide for an effective basis for a comprehensive and prioritised CIP regime that may be ade-
quately monitored and controlled.
• Lack of sector analysis – the sectors, facilities and activities to be protected as CI need to be
identified with more specific security requirements and measures. Criteria for criticality must
be agreed on a strategic and operation level. This would provide CI operators with clear criteria
to establish security requirements in line with the level of criticality, which would allow ade-
quate and relevant specifications for security measures to be written into procurement proce-
dures. This may encourage a race-to-the-top competition among PSCs, whereby PSCs may be
motivated by the best suited proposal, rather than the specific security needs.
• Lack of effective partnership among participants and stakeholders in the CIP regime – the
critical infrastructure consists of a multitude of networks, facilities and activities that fall under
the ownership of diverse state and private actors, which presents a hindrance in their pro-
tection. Where cooperation exists between responsible state authorities and PSCs, it is often
performed ad hoc or informally. This can be remedied by more effective and legally binding
coordination mechanisms.
• Weak control and oversight – irregularities surrounding public procurement in security services
continue to plague the CIP sector. Most operators lack knowledge and expertise in security
matters and aim at the lowest price in their tenders, often neglecting vital security concerns by
drafting inadequate specifications. This may also act as a push factor for PSCs to move into the
grey sector and/or encourage those already operating outside the formally established rules
to continue. Furthermore, allegations of rigged tenders in the interest of a particular applicant
are common practice.
List and coding of sources

Occupation/title of interviewee Coding
Representative of the Ministry of the Interior (Head of Department) BG-MI
Representative of the Ministry of the Economy (Head of Department) BG-ME
Management representative of a large PSC BG-PS1
Management representative of a large PSC BG-PS2
Security expert BG-EX
Security manager in a large telecom BG-TL
Representative of a large PSC professional organisation. BG-PS3
Bibliography
Books
Dzhekova, Rositsa and Atanas Rusev “Bulgaria”. In A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Secu-
rity Landscape in Southeast Europe, edited by Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke Van Amstel, 31-60.
Belgrade and Geneva: DCAF, 2015.
Journal Articles
Dunn-Cavelty ,Myriam and Manuel Suter. “Public–Private Partnerships are no silver bullet:
An expanded governance model for Critical Infrastructure Protection,” International Journal of Crit-
ical Infrastructure Protection 2 (2009): 179-187.
Lauge, Ana, Josune Hernantes and Jose M. Sarriegi. “Critical infrastructure dependencies: A
holistic, dynamic and quantitative approach.” The International Journal of Critical Infrastructure
Protection, 8 (2015): 16-23 accessed
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187454821400081X.
OECD, “Development of Policies for Protection of Critical Information Infrastructures”, OECD

Digital Economy Papers, No. 130, OECD Publishing, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/231008575813.
Legal Documents
European Commission, “Council Directive 2008/114/EC on the identification and designation
of European critical infrastructures and the assessment of the need to improve their protection.”
2008, available at
http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:345:0075:0082:EN:PDF.
State Gazette No. 107/9.12.2003, “Energy Act”, 2003, available at

http://www.bgenh.com/index.php/bg/2014-04-13-20-56-05/2014-04-13-21-53-17.
State Gazette No. 28/06.04.2004, “Public Procurement Act”, 2004, available at

http://lex.bg/laws/ldoc/2135482815.
State Gazette, No 19/01.03.2005, “Crisis Management Act” (Promulgated), available at

http://www.maxiconsult.bg/pdf/ZUK.pdf.

Filipova, Iglika. “The state voids TPP Maritsa East 2 contract with Vodstroj,” Capital, 9 March
2016, http://www.capital.bg/politika_i_ikonomika/bulgaria/2016/03/09/2720188_durjavata_
prekrati_dogovora_na_tec_marica-iztok_2_s/.
“MVR sukrashtava 15% ot administratsiyata, zakriva turkovskite druzhestva,”[MoI cuts 15%

of its administration, closes its commercial entities]. Mediapool.bg, 9 August 2013, http://www.
mediapool.bg/mvr-sakrashtava-15-ot-administratsiyata-zakriva- targovskite
druzhestva-news209889.html.
Nikolova, Ralitsa and Annie Kodjaivanova. “Charged tenders in Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD,” Cap-
ital, 9 July 2012, http://www.capital.bg/biznes/kompanii/2012/07/09/1862627_minirani_turgove
v_durjavnata_marica-iztok/?sp=1#storystart.
Other
Public Procurement Agency. “Opinion on the conclusion of preliminary control for Metrop-
oliten AD”. 1 December 2014.
Privatising the Security of Critical Infrastructure in Serbia

– The Case of Private Security at the Hydropower Plant
Djerdap
Marko Milošević and Predrag Petrović
Introduction
A significant transformation of the security provision for critical infrastructure is under way in Ser-
bia. “Critical infrastructure” is a term used by European governments to describe assets that are
essential for the functioning of a society and economy.134 The term encompasses, for example,
facilities for water and energy supply, important factories, telecommunication networks, and traf-
fic assets. Hence, the security arrangements for critical infrastructure are of great relevance for
national security and the wellbeing of citizens.
Until the early 2000s, security at critical infrastructure facilities in Serbia was provided by the fa-
cilities’ own in-house security services. However, in recent years some of these services have been
restructured as separate commercial entities. These security companies are still state-owned,135
and briefly held a monopoly on the provision of security services for critical infrastructure. In ad-
dition, some in-house security services remained, working alongside the state-owned security
companies. New models are also emerging: in the case of the Djerdap hydroelectric power plant
for example, security services have been partly outsourced and private security companies (which
are not state-owned) have been employed to protect the critical infrastructure.
This case study examines the market mechanisms which – in the absence of relevant legislation
– shaped the protection of Serbia’s critical infrastructure, with a specific focus on the Djerdap hy-
droelectric power plant (“HPP Djerdap” hereafter). Until recently, all permanent security services at
HPP Djerdap were exclusively provided by the plant’s in-house security. The outsourcing of securi-
ty services occurred gradually and was made possible by changes in Serbia’s legislation on privati-
sation. This study describes the outsourcing process, addresses how the in-house security service
and their daughter company (Djerdap Services) contributed to ensuring security at the plant, and
considers how cooperation between in-house and outsourced security could be improved. This
study is particularly relevant as other nationally- owned critical infrastructure facilities in Serbia
134 Directive 2008/114/EC of the European Council defines European Critical Infrastructure (“ECI”) based on an
all-hazards approach while countering threats from terrorism as a priority. ECI includes two types of critical
infrastructure: energy (electricity, oil, gas) and transportation (road, rail, air transports, inland waterways trans-
port, and ocean and short-sea shipping and ports) infrastructure. Djerdap hydroelectric power plant com-
bines both types of critical infrastructure, as it has electrical power generation as well as river transportation.
The text of Directive 2008/114/EC is available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=O-
J:L:2008:345:0075:0082:EN:PDF
135 The only exception being Djerdap services (Djerdap usluge), that was privatized as a joint stock company with
500 shareholders. More information below.
currently employ almost 20% of the country’s private security personnel through restructured
daughter companies (“service companies”).136
Methodology
This case study builds upon a previous study conducted by the authors in Serbia from 2014 to
2015 and which was published as a chapter entitled “Serbia” in the DCAF book A Force for Good?,
edited by Franziska Klopfer and Nelleke van Amstel.137 Here, the topic is narrowed to examine an
emerging challenge in Serbia: the private security protection of critical infrastructure. Research
conducted for this study encompassed interviews with key stakeholders, and a desk-based anal-
ysis of existing legislation and public procurement documents related to the specific critical in-
frastructure enterprise of HPP Djerdap. Interviews were conducted with managers of two private
security companies (PSCs) providing security to HPP Djerdap, and an interview was conducted
with one security consultant employed to help service companies adapt to the new competitive
business environment.138 In order to better understand how private security is obtained through
public procurement, an interview was also conducted with a licensed public procurement official.
Additional information was obtained using free access to public information, including a set of
questions regarding the bidding procedure and selection of PSCs at HPP Djerdap. An analysis of
legislation helped us to understand the “manoeuvring ground” available for PSCs in public pro-
curement exercises. The HPP Djerdap website139 and the Public Procurement Portal140 were also
useful tools, where data on past public procurements, contracts, request for bids, and questions
was available. This data was used to supplement and enrich the data collected from interviews.
Djerdap Hydroelectric Power Plant

The HPP Djerdap is located at the ‘Iron Gate’ gorge which embraces the Danube River on the Ser-
bian border with Romania, near the town of Kladovo in the Bor district. The site encompasses
seven hydroelectric power plants (Djerdap 1, Djerdap 2, four Vlasina HPPs and HPP Pirot), which
together provide 25% of the electricity in Serbia.141 The Djerdap dam is also a throughway for river
136 Almost 8000 private security personnel work in private security companies that were formally part of a state-
owned facility. In addition to the company Djerdap Services (Djerdap usluge), which will be described in this
case there are other examples such as the PSCs Kostolac Services, Kolubara Services or Telus. It is estimated
that in total the Serbian private security sector consists of around 40 000 personnel.
137 Milošević, Marko and Petrović, Predrag, “Serbia”, in F. Klopfer, N. Van Amstel (eds.) A Force for Good? Mapping the
Private Security Landscape in Southeast Europe, DCAF (Belgarde and Geneva) 2015
138 As there are three interviewees, all of whom are currently engaged in the provision of security, we promised to
use their data anonymously. Any coding for the purpose of this case study may have rendered them identifi-
able, and as that could jeopardize their work and our credibility, we have opted to maintain their anonymity
while still providing relevant data on the issue.
139 HPP Djerdap website, available at: www.djerdap.rs
140 Public Procurement Portal, available at: http://portal.ujn.gov.rs/default.aspx
141 The largest facility of this site is the Djerdap hydroelectric power plant, which produces 75% of the site’s
electricity output, while the remaining 6 HPPs together produce 25% of the energy of the hydroelectric power
plants in the Djerdap system.
transportation and a border crossing with Romania. HPP Djerdap is one of several hydroelectric
power plants and thermoelectric power plants which together make up Elektro Privreda Srbije
(EPS) – a monopolist, state-owned company in charge of the production and distribution of elec-
trical energy in Serbia.
Đerdap services
15%
Đerdap in‐house
security
30%
G4S and VIP Security
55%
Đerdap in‐house security G4S and VIP Security Đerdap services
Security Arrangements at HPP Djerdap

The second procurement procedure of 2015 was marked by constructive questions157 that prompted
Permanent security at HPP Djerdap is provided by the plant’s in-house security and by contracted
changes to the original Request for Bids (“RFB” hereafter), rendering it more specific.158 The initial
private security companies. Together they are responsible for most of HPP Djerdap’s security. Until
RFB conditions were presented as if to ensure that “a different company would win the job, one of
the2013, the solebeing
conditions PSC that
thatwas contracted
guards was Djerdapnavy
wear mandatory services,
blue auniforms
daughterwithout
company. The in-house
insignia,”., 159
This
security section covers 30% of HPP Djerdap’s physical protection, 70% of the technical protection
restriction was considered discriminatory for bidders with different uniforms. The tender itself was
alsoandvery
90% complicated and some while
of the fire protection, conditions were notcompanies
the contracted initially specified. For example,
provide 70% of physicalthe tender
protec-
required the installation of surveillance equipment, but the quantity and
tion, 30% of technical protection, and also provide other types of services. characteristics
142 of these
were only specified in the later amendments to the tender documentation. This specification of
quantity and characteristics was crucial for bidders, because the costs of equipment had to be
incorporated within the prices for employees’ working time that PSCs would submit within their
142 Such as electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering works; river traffic management; maintenance of coastal
and pump stations; maintenance of fire protection equipment; services in the field of recreation, culture, and
sport; hotels and restaurants; administrative services, etc.
157
Interested parties were able to ask questions during the call, and answers were provided by HPP Djerdap.
Questions and answers were part of the Request for Bids (RFB) process and were made available online. The
identity of interested parties remained concealed.
Additional security is provided, if necessary, by the regional police department, working together
with the Serbian border police. Special and regular units of the police and of the military of Serbia
from the wider region of Eastern Serbia also cover the territory of HPP Djerdap. Finally, as HPP
Djerdap is situated at the border, Serbian-Romanian military and police forces operate in this area
through the EUROPOL and the Partnership for Peace cooperation programmes.
The Outsourcing of Security at HPP Djerdap
As was the case for all state-owned enterprises,143 security services at the Djerdap hydroelectric
facility were previously provided exclusively by in-house security staff, employed directly by HPP
Djerdap. In 2001, the Law on Privatisation144 and (shortly after) the Decree on the Process and
Manner of Restructuring of Enterprises and Other Legal Entities145 were passed. The Decree pro-
vides for the restructuring of state entities, including via the breaking up of state entities into
several legal entities in order to make privatisation more efficient.
As a result, one part of the in-house security service at Djerdap was set up as a separate commer-
cial entity. The new company, “Djerdap Services” (“Djerdap usluge” in Serbian) first remained in
state-ownership and was then privatised, becoming a joint stock company (500 shareholders).146
In Serbia it was common practice that when companies were dismantled, the newly created ser-
vice companies would have a privileged status and received security contracts that lasted several
years.147 Indeed, when Djerdap Services separated from HPP Djerdap, it was agreed that the former
‘mother’ company was obliged “to award the contract to the extracted company”148 and Djerdap
Services therefore automatically received the contract to provide security services to the plant.
This arrangement was initially set to last for three years, but was maintained for much longer.149
This allowed Djerdap Services to develop expertise and resources, and to improve its services.150
In 2014, HPP Djerdap ended this exclusive arrangement and opened the tender for security ser-
vices to all interested companies. The legal basis for this change was the Law on Public Procure-
ment (the “Procurement Law” hereafter), which regulates the procurement of services by Serbian
public bodies, including private security services. According to the Procurement Law, contracts
143 See Milošević, Marko and Petrović, Predrag, “Serbia”, in F. Klopfer, N. Van Amstel (eds.) A Force for Good? Mapping
the Private Security Landscape in Southeast Europe, DCAF (Belgrade and Geneva) 2015
144 Law on Privatization, Official Gazette of RS No. 38/2001, 18/2003 and 45/2005
145 Decree on the Process and Manner of Restructuring of Enterprises and Other Legal Entities, Official Gazette of
RS No. 1/2002
146 Djerdap Services were extracted as a separate entity in 1996. They were privatized by selling off the state-
owned share through public auction. (Contract no. I-1864/06-685/05 signed on 31.10.2006)
147 This situation was not envisaged by the law, but as state retained a majority ownership in these “service com-
panies“, they were incentivised to award contracts to these new companies.
148 Interviewee Statement.
149 At least for a decade.
150 Other privatized public security companies were less successful. “Kragujevac Security” went bankrupt in 2015,
while “Kostolac Services” does not have any property which could serve as capital ̶ only human resources
and an occasional vehicle. They are, therefore, unattractive to buyers.
with service providers are set for a period of one year, with Article 52 of the law providing for the
exceptional possibility of concluding a public procurement contract lasting several years.151 In ac-
cordance with the Procurement Law, the service contract must be awarded to the bidder offering
the lowest price, or to the one with the most economically advantageous offer. This practice keeps
the service prices low, with little variation in budget plans from one year to the next.152 It came as a
surprise to many when the multi-national private security company G4S and not Djerdap Services
was awarded the tender based on this model.153, 154
Losing the tender prompted Djerdap Services to hire business consultants and make major in-
vestments in the development of its services, licensing155 and equipment (improvements included
specialised training, modern technology, etc.). This investment paid off, and in little more than a
year Djerdap Services was included as a subcontractor in the next security services contract at the
HPP Djerdap. The main security provider remained G4S, who together with VIP security156 provid-
ed 55% of the workforce while Djerdap Services provided 15%. The HPP Djerdap in-house security
provided the remaining 30%.
Figure 1: Division of work amongst security services at HPP Djerdap in 2015
The second procurement procedure of 2015 was marked by constructive questions157 that prompt-
ed changes to the original Request for Bids (“RFB” hereafter), rendering it more specific.158 The ini-
tial RFB conditions were presented as if to ensure that “a different company would win the job, one
of the conditions being that guards wear mandatory navy blue uniforms without insignia,”.,159 This
151 Legal entities can conclude contracts lasting a period of up to three years, but only if they are concluded in
accordance with the provisions of Art. 54 of the Law on Budget System (Official Gazette of RS No. 54/2009,
73/2010, 101/2010, 101/2011, 93/2012, 62/2013, 63/2013 and 108/2013). This could be possible, if the legal
entity possesses financial assets to underpin the first year of the contract, has permission from the Ministry of
Finance to handle financial commitments in the contract’s second and third years, and has confirmation from
the Ministry of Finance to include them in financial plans for the relevant years. More on: http://www.pravni-
portal.com/saglasnost-na-visegodisnje-ugovore-o-javnim-nabavkama/
152 According to the Procurement Law, the budget plan of the user of public funds planned for the following year
may change up to a maximum of 10% in excess of the previous year’s prices. (Art. 51, para 4).
153 High-value public procurement of security services for procurement code: BE “HPP Djerdap” B-75/13, 20 Febru-
ary 2014 (this is the exact code of the procurement as marked by HPP Djerdap).
154 This caused surprise amongst private security companies, because they had previously viewed former state-
owned service companies as being untouchable when it came to securing contracts from their “mother com-
panies.” However, it turned out that it was not possible to create a tender tailored to the characteristics of local
firms without the same requirements also potentially being fulfilled by large multinational companies. This
information is based on the statement of an interviewed PSC Manager, October 2015.
155 Involving paying for trainings and education for personnel.
156 A small but influential security company that informally advertises themselves as “being close to SNS“ (Serbian
Progressive Party, i.e. the ruling party).
157 Interested parties were able to ask questions during the call, and answers were provided by HPP Djerdap.
Questions and answers were part of the Request for Bids (RFB) process and were made available online. The
identity of interested parties remained concealed.
158 Tender documentation for the high-value public procurement of security services for procurement code: BE
(Business Entity) “HPP Djerdap“ B-33/15
159 Interviewee Statement: Navy blue uniforms were standard for Djerdap Services, whereas G4S usually wore
grey uniforms. Such a restriction is not common in tenders and it suggests discrimination against other bid-
restriction was considered discriminatory for bidders with different uniforms. The tender itself was
also very complicated and some conditions were not initially specified. For example, the tender
required the installation of surveillance equipment, but the quantity and characteristics of these
were only specified in the later amendments to the tender documentation. This specification of
quantity and characteristics was crucial for bidders, because the costs of equipment had to be
incorporated within the prices for employees’ working time that PSCs would submit within their
bid,160 it is clear that the exclusion of these specifications in the initial tender becomes problematic
and results in unfair tender bids.
The tender documentation for the high-value public procurement of security services for HPP
Djerdap is worthy of analysis because it contains some interesting procedural improvements from
the previous procurement cycle. In particular, in the section of the documentation161 relating to
the cost of services, the contracting authority HPP Djerdap provided that the price could be ad-
justed every 6 months, depending on the increase of the minimum wage.
Previously, the budget that had been accorded to G4S in 2014 as part of their contract with HPP
Djerdap was unrealistically low: amounting to RSD 293 per hour. Djerdap services previously oper-
ated for a similar, even lower amount. It is not possible to invest less than RSD 330 per hour in the
training and licensing of staff. Consequently, according to one of our interlocutors, “If we wanted
to truly respect the standards, our economy would not be able to pay for security.”162
During the contract with G4S in 2014, the Serbian Government (specifically the Socio-economic
Council of the Government) increased the minimum hourly wage from RSD 115 to RSD 121. As a
result, a procedure to adjust the price during the contract life was included in the new contract,
which was a procedural novelty. In addition, the contracting authority defined an uncommonly
low price as a price “insufficient to pay a minimum monthly salary with mandatory contributions,”
and stressed that such offers would not be considered. This represented a rare example of respon-
sible procurement behaviour in the market for private security services.
Employees’ hourly wages were also increased in the new contract: under the 2014 contract em-
ployees (of G4S) were paid RSD 293 per hour of work, while under the new contract wages in-
creased to RSD 344 per hour (for employees of G4S, Djerdap Services and VIP). Additionally, the
tender documentation provided for a process of determination of “the most economically ad-
vantageous offer” through the following weighted assessment:163 the price (85 points), the com-
ders.
160 The price was formed based on one working hour in RSD. This, however, was not the salary that ordinary
security personnel received, as the hourly price had to cover the costs of purchase and installment of technical
equipment, mid and senior managerial salaries, and daily costs (food, fuel, mobile phones, etc).
161 Tender documentation for the high-value public procurement of security services for BE ”HPP Djerdap”
B-33/15, p. 29.
162 Statement of an interviewee: Manager of one of the companies providing security to HPP Djerdap
163 Amendment to the tender for the high-value public procurement of security services for BE “HPP Djerdap”
B-33/15, No. 10-28/1-33-4-1, 18 May 2015.
mencement of services (5 points), the possibility of installing a set of technical security equipment
(5 points), and the possibility of installing an electronic access verification system (5 points). This
was an improvement beyond simply assessing the lowest price.
Protection of Critical Infrastructure

The legal framework in Serbia does not clearly prescribe security requirements for critical infra-
structure, therefore it is not clear if private security can or should play a role in the protection of
this infrastructure. For example, private security personnel are not explicitly named on the list of
trained legal persons of importance for protection and rescue services in the Law on Emergency
Situations.164 The Law on Private Security165 (the “Private Security Law” hereafter) does, however,
include a chapter on “compulsory secured facilities” (Article 4 and 5), in which it describes the
duties of the persons or entities legally responsible for running sites which are of strategic impor-
tance for the Republic of Serbia, the damage or destruction of which could cause serious conse-
quences to the lives and health of the people, or which are of interest to national defence. The
Private Security Law mentions procedures that must be followed when either a private security
company or an in-house security service are tasked with securing these facilities.166 The Govern-
ment was expected to detail the criteria for identification of critical infrastructure facilities by May
2014, but has failed to do so to date.
The Decision on the Identification of Large Technical Systems of Importance for Defence is the
only Act that specifies what the relevant critical infrastructure facilities are.167 This Decision also
lists the actors that are significant for defence, specifically in the areas of transport, energy, the
production of coal, water supply and other defence-related areas. It lays down the obligation to
report to the Ministry of Defence regarding the compliance of technical protection measures with
legal standards, and it references the Defence Plan and the associated Decision on the Identifica-
tion of Large Technical Systems of Importance for Defence for the purpose of prescribing the man-
ner and procedure required to plan defence preparation. It specifies that if critical infrastructure
facilities hire security services, this must be achieved through public procurement.168
The Roles of Different Security Services in HPP Djerdap – A Critical Analysis

The case of HPP Djerdap showcases the different roles that in-house and private security compa-
nies can take on. The following section examines in greater detail the advantages and disadvan-
tages of the security provision roles attributed to each of these actors.
164 Law on Emergency Situations (Official Gazette of RS No. 111/09 i 92/11), Article 16.
165 Law on Private Security, Official Gazette of RS No. 104/13
166 Ibid., Article 5. See also Article 45 of the same Law, which describes in more detail the requirements for in-
house security (of any type of facility).
167 Decision on the Identification of Large Technical Systems of Importance for the Defence, Official Gazette of RS
No. 15/2009, 54/2010, 4/2011 and 58/2011.
168 Articles 4-6 of the Decree.
The In-house Security of HPP Djerdap - Relic or Necessity?
In-house security staff at HPP Djerdap usually supervises technical protection systems. It is not
clear why, when HPP Djerdap started to dismantle security and other services from the main com-
pany, it was decided not to fully privatise all security staff functions into the new company Djer-
dap Services. One reason to keep directly employing certain in-house staff may be their specialist
technical knowledge. However, given that it has been two years since HPP Djerdap last purchased
a new technical protection system, it is questionable whether in-house personnel will stay up-
to-date with the latest developments in the protection of critical infrastructure. Also, among the
assessments of the quality of security services in Djerdap presented by interviewees, the dominat-
ing view was that those with the ‘best connections’ in Elektroprivreda Srbije – the Serbian Power
Company- 169 work in HPP Djerdap’s in-house security. Accordingly, it seems that the in-house
personnel are not necessarily recruited for the quality of their professional skills.
As mentioned above (see section on Protection of Critical Infrastructure), the Private Security Law
does not explicitly require or forbid the use of external PSCs rather than in-house security services
in critical infrastructure facilities.170 It is not clear to the authors what the advantage is, in particular
regarding the quality of security provision, of HPP Djerdap hiring security personnel directly and
not through an external company.
It is clear, however, that all in-house staff (as well as former in-house staff now working for Djer-
dap Services) live in nearby communities, and there is pressure from local politicians to avoid
laying-off local people. This dynamic is described in more detail below in the discussion regarding
Djerdap Services.
“Djerdap Services AD” - The Challenge of Transforming Service Activities
Because Djerdap Services grew out of HPP Djerdap’s in-house security service, it retained most of
its original staff, many of which were from the nearby town of Kladovo. Indeed, Djerdap Services
employs half of the total number of employed persons in Kladovo, and is one of the few employ-
ers in Kladovo (where 2,300 inhabitants of approximately 9,500 are unemployed).171 This afforded
Djerdap Services a reputation for being a “company of kin,” and there is strong pressure on Djerdap
Services from local politicians (afraid of losing their voters’ support) to hire their staff from Kladovo.
169 Statements of several interviewees during research conducted during the period December 2015 – February
2016.
170 In fact, the Law on Private Security implicitly acknowledges that both in-house and external PSCs can be hired
to provide security at objects of critical importance: it describes the duty of those in charge of such objects to
secure the objects with either in-house and/or external PSCs (Articles 4 and 5).
171 Daily newspaper “Politika“ 25 June 2012. “The Danube oasis turns to tourism.” Around 4000 people are em-
ployed, and 2300 unemployed, together with 5300 retired persons. Former industries are no longer functional,
and enterprises that ceased to exist in this town include ”Ključ“, “Napredak“, “Gradac“, “Galenika“, “Termovent“,
“Metalac“, and fishing pond “Djerdap.“ The only operational entities are Djerdap Usluge AD (1050 employees),
Shipyard “Dunav-Rajna-Dunav“ (200 employees) and HPP Djerdap (around 1000 employees). This structure of
employment creates significant pressure on the remaining companies, of which two employ half of the active
workforce in the city.
Djerdap Services is economically stronger than many other local PSCs, because it does not only
provide security services. This is another legacy of being a privatised former national company;
when Djerdap Services was founded as a company separate from HPP Djerdap, other former in-
house services, including re-cultivation of terrain, shoreline maintenance and catering, were inte-
grated into this one company. This was crucial when Djerdap Services suffered financial losses as a
result of the low prices paid for security services at HPP Djerdap.172 The company was able to invest
somewhat in professionalising internally,173 largely due to the profit it had made from its other ac-
tivities. Other state-owned companies in Serbia which are currently considering splitting security
and other former in-house services from the main company may follow this example, and group
several of the former in-house services in one company to make it more commercially viable (as
HPP Djerdap did with Djerdap Services).
G4S: The Winner in a Time of Transition
G4S is one of the two largest multinational private security corporations174 operating in Serbia. The
company employs a total of approximately 3,600 people in Serbia and has numerous contracts
with the state, various public enterprises and the private sector (including banks). Having been
awarded the contract with HPP Djerdap for the first time in 2014, G4S won the contract again in
2015, this time in cooperation with two smaller companies.175 Following their initial tender success
in 2014, G4S took over the job gradually. In line with the tender’s requirements, G4S aimed to: a)
do no harm, and b) improve the working procedures and terms in place.176
G4S has ample experience in securing critical infrastructure in other countries, and transferred this
knowledge to HPP Djerdap. When working for private clients, G4S typically develops new working
procedures. However, when doing business with the Serbian state, the state establishes the pro-
cedures which must be followed. A thorough security needs assessment, conducted by G4S upon
receipt of the contract, concluded that it was important to improve the technical security provi-
sion at HPP Djerdap as compared to the physical security at the plant. It was therefore decided to
purchase modern surveillance equipment because the old equipment had not been replaced nor
upgraded for years. For the first time, the purchase was completed through a public procurement
process, as required by law. G4S won the contract for the annual maintenance of video surveil-
172 See section above entitled “The Outsourcing of Security at HPP Djerdap” for more information on the unreal-
istically low prices that HPP Djerdap have allowed in their contracts with Djerdap Services in the years up to
2013. A more detailed explanation of unrealistically low prices and exploitative practices is also described in
Milošević, Marko and Petrović, Predrag, “The Case of Serbia”, in F. Klopfer, N. Van Amstel (eds.) A Force for Good?
Mapping the Private Security Landscape in Southeast Europe, DCAF 2015, p.94-99.
173 Djerdap Services received the SRPS A.L2.002 quality standard for the physical protection of public gatherings,
and the SRPS A.L2.002 standard for situation management from the control centre with the use of patrol
teams. It also possesses information security standard ISO/IEC 27001.
174 Worldwide, G4S employs approximately 500,000 people, and secures a wide range of facilities including critical
infrastructure, airports, power plants, government and international institutions, 36 nuclear power plants, the
border between the United States and Mexico, and NATO Headquarters. Statement of an interviewee.
175 High-value public procurement of security services for BE “HPP Djerdap“ B-33/15, 13 July 2015.
176 As stated by an interviewee.
lance systems,177 together with a company named “Tesla Systems d.o.o.”. As part of HPP Djerdap’s
continued modernisation agenda, these two companies also won the contract for the purchase
of goods178 ̶ including video surveillance systems in the HPP Djerdap lots ̶ for individual dams
which make up the HPP Djerdap system.179 Since the arrival of G4S, important steps have thus
been taken to improve the technical security infrastructure at HPP Djerdap.
Compared to technical security, it was more difficult for G4S to prove that it was as good as (or bet-
ter than) local companies at providing physical security. As an ‘outsider’ company G4S did not hire
its entire security staff locally, unlike HPP Djerdap’s in-house security and Djerdap Services. When
G4S took over the contract for security services from Djerdap Services for the first time in 2014, it
integrated some of the former staff of Djerdap Services, but only about 30%. In addition, all of the
leadership were hired externally. This helped to increase discipline.180 Nepotism and “chumminess”
– which had posed a possible risk of security breaches in the past – were reduced.181 However,
as Djerdap Services had been one of the main employers in Kladovo (as described earlier), the
fact that G4S mainly hired external employees had a significant impact on the community. This
pressure also had a bearing on local politicians, who felt obliged to promise their voters that they
would get their jobs back. It is possible that as a consequence of the negative image that G4S
has earned for being a ‘foreign company,’ it was also subjected to various types of inspection “five
times a year, while other companies usually undergo an inspection only once in a year.”182
Outstanding Challenges
At first glance, it may seem that (despite a number of initial problems) all three security providers
– the HPP Djerdap’s in-house services, the former in-house company Djerdap Services, and the
new international provider, G4S – each bring expertise and advantages to security provision at
the power plant. A closer look reveals, however, that a number of challenges persist. These chal-
lenges are caused by the practical difficulties associated with three highly diverse entities working
together to provide security at HPP Djerdap.
An important source of friction has been the difference in pay between in-house and private se-
curity staff. Private security companies pay their employees the sum that had been agreed in the
public procurement contract, while those working in the in-house section receive their salaries
from the plant’s budget. When Djerdap Services first started operating as a separate private enter-
177 High-value public procurement of annual video surveillance maintenance services for BE “HPP Djerdap”
B-240/15, 23 December 2015.
178 High-value public procurement of goods: video surveillance equipment, PP/2000/0004/2015, 9 February 2016.
179 The procurement of services relating to the main design for video surveillance of HPP Vlasina has been an-
nounced and is still in progress (Tender documentation for the high-value public procurement of services: the
main design of video surveillance in Vlasina power plants, B-276/15, 27 November 2015).
180 Interviewee Statement: “There is plenty of strictness but no quality.”
181 Interviewee Statement: “There are many relatives and neighbours here; certainly they cannot be expected to
control each other.” The statements in this footnote and the previous footnote are from two different PSC man-
agers, reflecting how “stricter discipline was introduced.”
182 Statement of interviewed Security Manager.
prise, the salary of the in-house staff was 10% higher than that of Djerdap Services’ employees. At
the time of writing, their average salaries are twice as high, and in some job positions up to three
times higher.183 Unsurprisingly, such differences in salaries negatively affect the motivation of the
external private security employees, who are performing the same duties while earning lower
salaries.
Other challenges can be observed in the communication (or lack thereof ) between the diversified
security elements. In this specific case, when the contracted companies work together with the in-
house security personnel, and jointly have to cooperate with the border police, they all have to be
included in the secured communication system TETRA184 and Service 112.185 At the time of writing,
this was not the case at HPP Djerdap. Also, there is no clear division of responsibility among the
different actors in the field: it is unclear how to differentiate the responsibilities of the in-house
security from the responsibilities of the contracted companies. Furthermore, currently three PSCs
are contracted, and their division of responsibilities can only be determined by the contract.186
Also, there is a lack of control exercised by HPP Djerdap over contracted PSCs187 such that irreg-
ularities or deficiencies are not reported promptly (and sometimes not at all), and HPP Djerdap
does not closely monitor188 the fulfilment of contractual obligations.189 Employees at lower levels
do not communicate problems to those at higher levels, while those employed at higher levels do
not communicate them to the contracted security companies.
In addition to this, HPP Djerdap does not punctually plan or announce public procurement exer-
cises for private security services, and this poses a risk of corruption. Specifically, at least twice HPP
Djerdap made agreements with PSCs to prolong their contracted activities beyond the agreed
timeframe.190 This is not uncommon in the Serbian market,191 but it demonstrates a lack of ac-
countable planning.
183 Interviewee Statement: in December 2015 the average salary of personnel in in-house security was RSD
57,000, while in the contracting company it was RSD 25,000 (G4S, Djerdap Services and VIP).
184 TETRA is a European Telecommunications Standards Institute standard, specifically designed for use by
government agencies, emergency services (i.e. police forces, fire departments, ambulance) for public safety
networks, rail transport staff (for train radios), transport services, and the military.
185 112 is the European telephone number for emergencies. It is used to contact emergency services (emergency
medical services, fire and police) in any country of the European Union as well as many others.
186 The authors were not given insight into contract provisions, so they were not able to determine how the con-
tracting parties defined the division of duties and responsibilities.
188 Poor control over outsourced private security was described in F. Klopfer, N. Van Amstel (eds.) A Force for Good?
Mapping the Private Security Landscape in Southeast Europe, DCAF 2015, p. 92-93.
189 It has been noted in a response from HPP Djerdap (act No 50000-E.01.01.-72188/3-2016) that, for instance, the
initial contract with G4S from 2013 was prolonged by amendment, i.e. “services will be provided for 365 days
from its signature, or until planned assets are spent.” This is an unclear timeframe. G4S won the contract from
20.2.2015-20.2.2015, and the time lapse from 20.2.2015 until 13.7.2015 (new public procurement) was justified
with reference to this amendment.
190 Agreement between HPP Djerdap and Djerdap Services, 10-6/305-13, 2.10.2013, and Agreement between HPP
Djerdap and G4S, 10-28/297, 21.5.2015.
191 Interviewee Statement:, Licensed Public Procurement Officer.
However, some positive elements can also be identified within this privatised and diverse securi-
ty construct. The public procurement procedures have prompted professionalization within the
security market; the quality level of services is elevated by the presence of an international player
like G4S. However, with the present cost of labour (which is determined through the public pro-
curement tender and by a potential annual increase of up to 10%),192 the replacement of equip-
ment and investment on a greater scale is not financially feasible.
Below is a brief overview of the main benefits and disadvantages of outsourcing security at HPP
Djerdap:
Table 1. Main benefits and disadvantages of outsourcing security at HPP Djerdap
Benefits Disadvantages
Increasingly professional services The division between the in-house security and
contracted companies, and resulting unclear
division of responsibilities and accountability
Better formulated tender requirements Difference in salaries
Procurement of equipment for technical Difficult communication – not included in the
protection TETRA system
Reduced nepotism Difficult communication between all the actors
–
in-house security and contract firms
Transformation of the company “Djerdap Short contractual terms (one year); as a result,
Services AD” from a state-owned to a joint the possible new supplier needs time to adjust
stock company, as a pattern for other potential to the new job
private security companies
Reduced impact of local politics on employment Inability to control the quality of contracted/
provided security services, and problems with
respecting scheduled deadlines for public
procurement cycles
Public-Private Partnerships
The Law on Public-Private Partnership193 offers an opportunity to improve cooperation between
the private security sector, the state, and public companies. It guarantees (in Article 18) that con-
tracts may last from 5 to 50 years, which justifies long-term investments. The Serbian Law on Public
Procurement,194 on the other hand, limits public procurement contracts between state companies
and private companies to one year. However, investment in equipment, training and procedures
192 See the section above entitled “Protection of Critical Infrastructure” for detail on the relevant legislative frame-
work.
193 Law on Public-Private Partnership, Official Gazette of RS No. 88/11.
194 Law on Public Procurement, Official Gazette of RS No. 124/2012.
cannot become cost-effective in one year (the standard contract length), so there is typically no
investment in improving services. Also, the Law on Public-Private Partnership specifies the obliga-
tion to submit annual reports as a measure of contract monitoring, and provides the conditions
required for termination of a public-private partnership.
The privatisation transformation detailed in this case study could have progressed more smoothly
if HPP Djerdap had decided to hire private security services in the framework of a public-private
partnership. If HPP Djerdap had set up a public-private partnership with its security service pro-
viders, the contractor (G4S and Djerdap Services in this case) would be motivated to invest in new
equipment as, in the long run, it would pay off, given the longer contract lengths permitted by the
Law on Public-Private Partnerships.195
The Law on Public-Private Partnership also specifies that the private service provider must submit
annual reports to the public client and provides the conditions required for termination of a pub-
lic-private partnership. This way, the public client can retain close control over a contractor even
under a multi-year contract. The only disadvantage of such long-term contracting may be the risk
of forfeiting fair competition and efficiency. Also, as the example of HPP Djerdap shows, public pri-
vate-partnership contracts should only be used to procure services; all new equipment should still
be obtained through the public procurement process to ensure that all potential service providers
are allowed to compete (rather than solely the PSCs already under contract).
Conclusion
Having assessed the transition of security in the case of HPP Djerdap, it is possible to draw conclu-
sions transferable to other critical infrastructure assets in Serbia with regard to their acquisition of
private security. Several branches of EPS (e.g. Kostolac coal production, Kolubara coal production,
and Obrenovac thermal power plant) are might soon hire security services from private security
companies instead of the “daughter companies” that previously guarded them. The challenge is
twofold: on the one hand, a new company with new employees, standards and procedures will
have to adapt its standards to a new context, and this will involve the acquisition of new equip-
ment, the imposition of new standards and procedures, and training for personnel. On the other
hand, “daughter companies” will have to adapt and improve to compete in new market environ-
ments. Some surveyed data196 indicates that they are most likely to transform into a local compa-
ny. Full privatization will be a challenge however, as apart from Djerdap Services, all other “service”
companies are still state-owned. Djerdap Services has paved the way – managing to survive in the
open market – and this recipe could be replicated by other companies. The main systemic prob-
lems blocking the path to privatisation are the limitations of public procurement exercises, which

196 Interviews conducted in late 2014 and early 2015, published in Milošević, Marko and Petrović, Predrag, “Serbia”,
in F. Klopfer, N. Van Amstel (eds.) A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security Landscape in Southeast Europe,
DCAF (Belgrade and Geneva)2015, 88-89.
hamper investments in the long run by mandating short one year contract terms. This challenge
could be overcome if public-private partnerships were established as an alternative model.
List of Interviewees
Manager, PSC that won the contract P1

Deputy Manager, Service PSC P2
Consultant for Service PSC P3
Licensed Public Procurement Officer P4
Answers from HPP Djerdap, 5000-E.01.01.-72188/3-2016, received 15.3.2016.
Bibliography
Books
Klopfer, Franziska and Nelleke Van Amstel eds., A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security
Landscape in Southeast Europe, Belgrade/Geneva: DCAF, 2015.
Legal Documents
Decision on the Identification of Large Technical Systems of Importance for the Defence,
Official Gazette of RS No. 15/2009, 54/2010, 4/2011 and 58/2011
Decree on the Process and Manner of Restructuring of Enterprises and Other Legal Entities,
Official Gazette of RS No. 1/2002
Directive 2008/114/EC, Council of Europe, available at: http://eur

lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:345:0075:0082:EN:PDF
Law on Budget System, Official Gazette of RS No. 54/2009, 73/2010, 101/2010, 101/2011,
93/2012, 62/2013, 63/2013 and 108/2013
Law on Emergency Situations, Official Gazette of RS No. 111/09 i 92/11
Law on Private Security, Official Gazette of RS No. 104/13
Law on Privatisation, Official Gazette of RS No. 38/2001, 18/2003 and 45/2005
Law on Public Procurement, Official Gazette of RS No. 124/2012
Law on Public-Private Partnership, Official Gazette of RS No. 88/11
Procurement Documentation
Agreement between HPP Djerdap and Djerdap usluge, 10-6/305-13, 2.10.2013.
Agreement between HPP Djerdap and G4S, 10-28/297, 21.5.2015.

Amendment to the tender for the high-value public procurement of security services for PC
“HPP Djerdap PC “HPP Djerdap” B-33/15, No. 10-28/1-33-4-1, 18 May 2015.
High-value public procurement of annual video surveillance maintenance services for PD

“HPP Djerdap” B-240/15, 23 December 2015.
High-value public procurement of goods: video surveillance equipment, PP/2000/0004/2015,

9 February 2016.
High-value public procurement of security services for PC “HPP Djerdap” B-75/13, 20 Febru-
ary 2014.
High-value public procurement of security services for PC “HPP Djerdap“ B-33/15, 13 July
2015.
Tender documentation for the high-value public procurement of security services for PC
“HPP Djerdap“ B-33/15.
Tender documentation for the high-value public procurement of services: the main design
of video surveillance in Vlasina power plants, B-276/15, 27 November 2015.

“The Danube Oasis Turns to Tourism” 25 June 2012, “Politika“ Daily Newspaper.
Websites
HPP Djerdap Website, available at: www.djerdap.rs
Serbian Public Procurement Portal, available at: http://portal.ujn.gov.rs/default.aspx


The succession of different security services at the hydroelectric power plant (HPP) Djerdap in
Serbia demonstrates that labels such as ‘private,’ ‘in-house,’ and/or ‘state’ do not necessarily deter-
mine a service’s professionalism and reliability. The case study sets out how professionalism – and
as a consequence, one can assume, the quality of security provision – increased at HPP Djerdap
after the partial outsourcing of security (first from the in-house service to the privatized in-house
service and subsequently to a completely external PSC). Unlike G4S, the international company
which later won the tender contract, the in-house services and local PSC Djerdap Services did not
have the political independence and major financial reserves required to hire more qualified staff
and employ the latest technologies.
It is important to note, however, that this case study does not compare private and public security.
Being employed by a state-owned company to provide security services, does not make the in-
house guards part of the state security sector, just like none of the staff at the power plant is a state
representative, as ‘state-owned’ does not equal ‘representing the state’. Instead, the case study
demonstrates that professionalism (and hence increased security) depends not on the degree
of the security provider’s affiliation to the state, but instead on their level of expertise, financial
solvency (which is usually a precondition for expertise) and political independence. A clear con-
tractual description of tasks and control over the delivery of these tasks are similarly important, as
Kojouharov and Dzhekova also find in the case study regarding CIP in Bulgaria.
However, a comprehensive regulatory framework is not enough to ensure effective security provi-
sion. The Bulgarian case demonstrates that even with adequate regulation, PSCs protecting critical
infrastructure can still avoid accountability. Even though legislation sets out detailed provisions
determining how managers of critical infrastructure assets must identify and manage security
risks, a legal loophole means that it is possible for owners of critical infrastructure to avoid these
requirements.
Moving forward, an awareness of and commitment to the importance of monitoring security pro-
vision at critical infrastructure assets is needed on behalf of the state. This should include reforms
to seriously address the problem of inexperienced or corrupt public procurement officials who fail
to award contracts to the most qualified PSC, and fail to ensure that the contracted PSC meets the
contract standards.
PSCs should also work with realistic budgets so as to provide good quality services. To this end,
Milošević and Petrović argue that PSCs at the HPP Djerdap should not be hired under one-year
public procurement contracts, but rather under public-private partnership agreements which al-
low for a multi-year commitment. This would enable PSCs to make long-term investments in the
training and equipment that are necessary to adequately secure a critical infrastructure asset such
as the HPP Djerdap.
Some of the underlying problems identified in the case studies are harder to overcome: in an aus-
tere economic situation, clients of PSCs are often unwilling or unable to offer high budgets for se-
curity services. In Southeast Europe, the market for PSCs is usually crowded, such that competition
for contracts is fierce and companies are willing to outbid each other, even if this means having
to accept contracts which will not provide them with the budget they need to offer quality ser-
vices.197 Genuine political commitment to enforcing CIP regulations and to eliminating corruption
in the awarding of security contracts is therefore a crucial – if difficult – first step for policy makers.
In sum, when considering the regulation of security provision at critical infrastructure assets, pol-
icy makers should consider the following questions:
• Given that PSCs as commercial enterprises need to make investments financially worthwhile,
is it possible to make CIP contracts profitable for PSCs? When are the procurement require-
ments for CIP too restrictive, such that investing in CIP becomes unprofitable for PSCs?
• Which kind of monitoring mechanisms can ensure that contractual security standards are met?
• What can be done to avoid overlapping or unclear control mechanisms for security at critical
infrastructures?
• Should the national-level importance of CIP mean that security can never be delivered by pri-
vate providers? Should there be extra state scrutiny in CIP contracting procedures, such as
controls on vetting processes of hired personnel, background checks, and training?
197 See the volume A Force for Good? , cited above, for a more detailed discussion on how – particularly in an
economically weak country where it is relatively easy to establish a PSC (which is often one of the few viable
business and employment opportunities) – PSCs in an overcrowded market begin to out-bid each other for
contracts, undercutting each other’s prices usually at the expense of their employees’ wages.
PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
protectionofas aobjects
result
of deficiencies in the
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
PART 3:
The challenge
of quality and
sustainability
as a result of
deficiencies
in the public
procurement
processes
The public sector is one of the main clients of private security in Southeast Europe.198 The man-
ner in which public procurement contracts are handled therefore has considerable influence on
the activities of private security companies. Best practice requires firstly that public procurement
procedures for any type of services contracted by the government regulate the process by which
a company is contracted and determine the criteria and policies that the contracted company
should abide by, thereby forming an important regulatory tool. Secondly, public procurement
procedures should ensure that government contracts are equally open to bids from all interested
service providers, thereby facilitating fair competition, including equal opportunities to obtain
government contracts.
Tender selection criteria and the selection processes will determine which PSCs obtain much
sought-after public contracts. Tender specifications will then shape the specialisations and char-
acteristics of PSCs, since they may adapt the services they offer to the demands of public clients.
Tender specifications will also shape how PSCs carry out their work, in line with the security stan-
dards set and demanded by public clients. This means that the public procurement process pro-
vides an opportunity to insert incentives for PSCs to operate along higher standards. However, it
also creates the risk of influencing the market in a negative manner, particularly when public cli-
ents demand a certain level of service for an unrealistically low price, which PSCs can only deliver
by lowering quality and investment.
Public procurement procedures which are not in line with good practices are not solely a prob-
lem for the contractual relations that they concern directly; they generate several broader risks.
A lack of expertise in the process of assessing bids may result in security arrangements that are
insufficient or inappropriate for the object that is guarded, and this in turn can result in dangerous
situations both for the persons in the object’s vicinity and for the guards. To give another exam-
ple, tenders decided exclusively based on the lowest price are likely to result in extremely low
wages and little-to-no training for guards, which again in turn can cause dangerous situations for
the public at large and for the guards. Public tenders for security services should therefore have
precise specifications based on a thorough assessment of the secured object’s security needs. Im-
precise or unrealistic tenders and selection criteria generate a great risk that the best PSC will not
be selected for the job, or that the selected PSC will not be able to carry out their tasks adequately.
For example, many tenders are awarded to the cheapest provider, which later is not able to pay
staff an adequate salary because the tender budget was set unrealistically low. Thus to ensure the
efficient and accountable delivery of security services, good public procurement processes also
require contracts to set out, with precision, the tasks that will be required of the PSC. The public
sector client furthermore should regularly assess whether the targets defined in the contract are
being met and whether security is being provided as agreed.
198 F. Klopfer, N. Van Amstel (eds.) A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security Landscape in Southeast Europe,
DCAF 2015
PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
result
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
In past studies throughout the region, it has become clear that in different contexts, the underly-
ing causes of challenges within the public procurement process are remarkably similar.199 In other
cases reflected in this volume, it can be observed that a lack of clarity in the content of the pro-
curement tender, a lack of knowledge of security needs amongst those who write the tenders, and
a drive to keep costs as low as possible when managing security concerns, can result in a procure-
ment process which is both insufficiently tailored to the assets it aims to protect, and insufficiently
scrutinized by persons with relevant technical expertise. This can cause a dangerous situation for
many stakeholders if it results in insufficient security arrangements protecting critical infrastruc-
ture sites.200 The case study below will examine the procurement process in one Southeast Euro-
pean country, Albania, in greater detail, in order to allow identification of some of the root causes
of flawed procurement processes.
199 Ibid.
200 See Part 2, above.
The Impact of Public Procurement Practices on the Private

Security Sector in Albania – Analysing Public Procurement in
Tirana in 2015
Arjan Dyrmishi and Ola Çami
Introduction
It is widely acknowledged that public procurement practices in Albania do not always meet the
standards of transparency, accountability and efficiency required by international best practice or
national law.201 As such, Albania is no different from other countries in the Western Balkans, where,
despite efforts to improve public procurement, the practice still remains far from satisfactory.202
As previous research has shown, the public sector is one of the most important clients for private
security services in Albania.203 Private security companies (PSCs) are hired for various services; to
guard public buildings and their premises, critical infrastructure and to provide protection for
public gatherings. More than a quarter of the industry’s annual turnover arises from selling these
services to public clients. The manner in which public procurement contracts are awarded and
enforced will therefore have a significant impact on the quality of PSCs’ activities. As an influential
client, the public sector could demand that security services act within the law and ensure securi-
ty without negatively affecting the human rights of citizens. The manner in which public tenders
are formulated and awarded and the way in which contract conditions are enforced are therefore
very important for raising the standard of private security in Albania.
This case study focuses on the analysis of the public procurement of private security services in
Tirana during the calendar year 2015. It begins by exploring complaints from PSCs regarding the
public tendering of security service contracts, before examining how this is related to broader
problems in public procurement in Albania. It then moves to examine the consequences that
(alleged) irregularities in awarding contracts have on the private security industry as a whole – in
particular the risks and opportunities they pose or might pose to the professionalism, quality of
services and trust in the sector.
Methodology
The data collection for this study includes both an analysis of related documents released by pub-
lic institutions and interviews with key stakeholders. In order to gather qualitative information
201 Arjan Dyrmishi, Mariola Qesaraku and Bensik Baka, “Monitoring and evaluating the security sector governance
in Albania,” Tirana: Institute for Democracy and Mediation, 2014.
Ejona Bardhi, “Integrity in the Albanian Public Procurement. Principles and the fight against corruption,” Academic
Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 3, No. 4, 2014.
202 Ilaz Duli, Safet Hoxha and Mersad Mujovic, “Reforms of Public Procurement in the Western Balkans,” (paper
presented at the 5TH annual IPPC, 2012).
PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
result
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
about public procurement procedures in Albania the following were analysed: actors, revenues,
the number of complaints to the contracting authorities and 56 Public Procurement Agency (PPA)
weekly bulletins for the year of 2015 in Tirana. For more information about the number of appeals
against these complaints, 24 reports released by the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) were
examined.
In order to strengthen the quality of desk-research findings and understand the issues regarding
public procurement in more depth, interviews with managers and employees of PSCs and repre-
sentatives from regulating and controlling institutions were conducted.
Legal and Regulatory Framework

In the field of private security, public procurement is regulated through a complex legal frame-
work. On the one hand, laws exist to regulate the activities of PSCs as security providers, while on
the other, a number of market regulations aim to stimulate economic activity while ensuring fair
competition among PSCs. The basic legal framework which regulates the procurement of services
by the public sector is Law 9643/2006 “On Public Procurement, changed” (hereafter Law on Public
Procurement) and the sub-legal act of the Council of Ministers nr.1, date 10.01.2007 “On public
procurement rules”. Both instruments have been amended in the last decade, with the most re-
cent amendment in 2014. However, the legal base has not changed.
According to a recent assessment by the European Commission, “…the Law on Public Procure-
ment is largely in line with the EU directives on classical and utilities procurement and is harmon-
ised with relevant administrative and budget provisions […]. Albania’s legislation is not yet in line
with Directive 2009/81/EC on defence and sensitive security procurement.”204
204 European Commission, Albanian Progress Report 2015. Brussels, 10 November 2015. Available at http://ec.eu-
ropa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2015/20151110_report_albania.pdf, 34.
Table 1. Regulation of Public Procurement in the Private Security Sector
The laws regulating Public Procurement in Regulating and monitoring institutions

the Private Security Sector
- Law 9643/2006 “On Public Procurement, - Public Procurement Agency (PPA)
changed”
- Public Procurement Commission (PPC)
- Sub-legal act of the Council of Ministers
- Competition Authority (CA)
decision nr.1, date 10.01.2007 “On Public
Procurement Rules” - Public Procurement Units by the contracting
authority (PPU)
- Law 125/2013 “On concessions and public-
private partnerships” - Labour Inspectorate (LI)
- Law 75/2014 “On Private Physical Security

Service”
- Law 10053/2008 “Code of Labour”
- Law 9121/2003 “On the Protection of

Competition”
As seen in Table 2 below, a tender process goes through seven stages. If none of the bidders make
a complaint to the contracting authority, the contract is signed and executed by the winning bid-
der. The duty of the Public Procurement Agency is to prepare proposals for public procurement
rules and guidance, monitor the compliance of public procurement systems, verify the implemen-
tation of public procurement procedures and draft and issue Public Procurement Bulletins.205 To-
gether with the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), it monitors the Public Procurement Units
(PPU) of the contracting authority and investigates and decides on violations. The Competition
Authority and the Labour Inspectorate are responsible for monitoring the execution of the PSCs
contracts.
205 “Main tasks,” Public Procurement Agency, https://www.app.gov.al/ep/DetyratKryesore.aspx

PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
result
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
Table 2. Stages of contracting a service
Stages of contracting a service: Details:

Request for offers and the application (online) Contracting authorities define the procedure
from the companies interested used and criteria needed to successfully secure
a contract. The PSCs then apply electronically
Processing information for the selection of The offers which do not fulfil the necessary
winners criteria are disqualified and casting a lot for the
remaining PSCs
Announcing the winner The winner is announced in the Newsletter of
the PPA
Dissatisfied bidders make a complaint to the The complaint should be made within 7 days of
contracting authority the announcement of the winner
The contracting authority rejects or accepts the The PPUs review the complaint within 7 days
complaint
The bidders have the right to appeal to the This requires a payment of 0.5% of the
Public Procurement Commission (PCC) predefined limit fund
PPC replies by rejecting or cancelling the tender If the complaint is rejected, the contract with
the winner is signed
Source: Law 9643/2006, Sub-legal act decision nr.1, date 10.01.2007206
If a bidder disagrees with the allocation of a contract, it can first complain to the public body that
awarded that contract (contracting authority); this process is free of charge. If the bidder does not
agree with the reply from the contracting authority it can then submit a complaint directly to the
PPC.207
Complaints and Lack of Accountability

In 2015, all but 14 out of 124 decisions on public procurement of security services in Tirana (open
procedures) were appealed against by bidders; 110 appeals alone were made in Tirana. Contract-
ing authorities rejected almost 80% of these appeals. Most complaints to the PPC were related
to unfair disqualification of bidders.208 This is hardly surprising given that on average 7 out of 10
bidders were disqualified in public tendering processes in 2015.209
206 Law 9643/2006 “On Public Procurement, changed”; Sub-legal act of the Council of Ministers decision nr.1, date
10.01.2007 “On Public Procurement Rules”.
207 For this, PSCs have to pay a tariff of 0.5% of the limit fund to the PCC. The limit fund is a pre-defined allocation
of the government budget for the procurement of a specific service for a certain institution which should not
be surpassed. The bidders are provided with this information beforehand and take it into consideration when
making offers.
208 Public Procurement Bulletins January-November 2015 https://www.app.gov.al/ep/2015_Arkiva_e_Buletineve.
aspx
aspx
Complaints about the award of tenders for the provision of security services were disproportion-
ally common. In the previous year, in 2014, the PPC received 480 complaints related to guarding
services. This means that almost 60% of all complaints to the PPC were from private security com-
panies, even though only 15% of public contracts are related to the sector. This percentage rose
even further in 2015, accounting for nearly 70% of all cases (see table 3).
Table 3. Number of cases reviewed by PPC in 2015
Month Complaints in Complaints Complaints in Complaints

total (2014) related to PSCs total (2015) related to PSCs
(2014) (2015)
Total 834 480 1139 770
Percentage (58%) (67%)

related to total
Increase in
36% 60%
percentage from
the following
year
Source: PPC (2014, 2015)210
In its decisions for 2014, the Public Procurement Commission found many irregularities, especially
with regards to decisions by contracting authorities to disqualify bidders. The PCC noted that con-
tracting authorities lack transparency when giving reasons for a qualification or disqualification
of a bidder.211 As a result, the PCC cancelled decisions in 20% of cases where complaints had been
brought forward by PSCs (116 out of 480 complaints were approved, with corrective measures
taken).212 At the same time, no contracting authority was fined in 2014 for irregularities in their
tendering decisions for security contracts.213
210 Public Procurement Commission, “Complaints in Process,” http://www.kpp.gov.al/ppadv/Complaints_in_Pro-

cess.aspx
aspx
212 Public Procurement Commission, “Annual Report 2014”.
213 In total, a contracting agency was only fined in one case out of 478 complaints that the PCC received in 2014.
This case was not related to an institution contracting PSC’s services. Respublica, “Impunity in Public Procure-
ment, ” 2015, https://www.osfa.al/sites/default/files/libri_kpp_per_web_ok_0.pdf
PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
result
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
Graph 1. Stages of a case from complaint to fining, and figures for cases handled by the PCC in 2014
Source: Respublica (2015)214

214
Source: Respublica (2015)
At first, the fact that almost all tendering decisions on public contracting of private security in
2014 were contested by PSCs seems alarming. However, an interviewee from a PSC informed the
At first, the fact that almost all tendering decisions on public contracting of private security in 2014
were contested by PSCs seems alarming. However, an interviewee from a PSC informed the authors
authors that most PSCs complain to the PPC with the hope that the PPC will cancel the procedure
that most PSCs complain to the PPC with the hope that the PPC will cancel the procedure and re‐hold
and re-hold the tender.215 Therefore, submitting complaints to the PPC can be seen as an auto-
the tender.215 Therefore, submitting complaints to the PPC can be seen as an automatic step that
matic step that PSCs take in the hope of getting a second chance to bid for the contract. Indeed it
PSCs take in the hope of getting a second chance to bid for the contract. Indeed it seems that many
seems that many of these complaints have little merit as the PPC only found irregularities in 20%
of these complaints have little merit as the PPC only found irregularities in 20% of those submitted in
2014.
of those submitted in 2014.
However, since almost all public tenders for security services were contested, the 20% where
However, were
irregularities sinceidentified
almost all public tenders
constitute for security
almost 20% services
of all public were
tenders. contested,
The the 20%
fact that tenders for where ir-
guarding services
regularities are identified
were disproportionately
constitute represented
almost 20% in of
the allcases
publicbrought
tenders.to The
the fact
PPC that
further
tenders for
indicates
guardingthat services
public bodies seem to have problems
are disproportionately carrying
represented in out
the tenders for security
cases brought to the services.
PPC further in-
Furthermore, given that none of these public bodies were fined for irregularities, a feeling of
dicates that public bodies seem to have problems carrying out tenders for security services. Fur-
impunity results, making it easier for contracting authorities to systematically break tendering rules.
thermore, given that none of these public bodies were fined for irregularities, a feeling of impunity

results, making it easier for contracting authorities to systematically break tendering rules.
Winning Companies and Revenue Distribution
Winning Companies and Revenue Distribution
A closer look at the public contracts awarded for providing security services does indeed give rise for
concern. In recent years, the market for public tenders for security services in Albania has become
A closer look at the public contracts awarded for providing security services does indeed give
extremely polarised. In 2013 and 2014, five companies consistently won tenders and received 10% of
rise for concern. In recent years, the market for public tenders for security services in216Albania
the total revenue of all public contracts related to the procurement of private security services. In has
2015, the number
become of companies
extremely polarised.narrowed to only
In 2013 and 2014,three
fivePSCs (servicing
companies over 30 institutions
consistently and and re-
won tenders
receiving 25% of the total revenue). The remaining tenders were won by a number of companies that
ceived 10% of the total revenue of all public contracts related to the procurement of private se-
curity services.216 In 2015, the number of companies narrowed to only three PSCs (servicing over
214 Ibid.
214
Ibid.
215 PSC3 telephone interview with authors, 10 February 2016.
215
PSC3 telephone interview with authors, 10 February 2016.
216
Arjan Dyrmishi and Gentiola Madhi “Albania,” in A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security Landscape
in Southeast Europe, eds. Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke Van Amstel. (Belgrade and Geneva: DCAF, 2015), 7‐29.
69
30 institutions and receiving 25% of the total revenue). The remaining tenders were won by a
number of companies that only guard between 1 or 2 institutions each. These companies make
minimal or no (ALL 0.1217) profit from these public contracts.
Table 4. Relevant information and statistics on PSCs in Albania
Total Nr. Of PSCs who have won at least one 40

tender
Total number of Contracting Authorities who 86
have tendered at least once
Average number of buildings guarded by one 2
PSC
Average time a building is tendered in a year 4 (every three months)
Total revenue from public procurement for 915,743,128.63
guarding services only
Estimated sum needed for the payment of 14,190,000
guards based on minimum wage
Difference 901,553,128.63 (83% of the revenues)
Source: PPA (2015)218
There could be many reasons why contracting agencies repeatedly choose the same PSCs when
selecting winning bids in tender processes. However, there is a widespread belief amongst PSCs
in Tirana that these decisions are the result of corruption. This belief is often based on the direct
experience of companies. Technical directors of a number of PSCs in Tirana have told the authors
that it is impossible to win a tender without paying bribes, having connections with high level
politicians, or both.219 As contracting authorities are solely responsible for the selection of the
winning bid, having a connection with the director of the procuring public institution often deter-
mines the winner.220
Criteria and Selection Process

In its report on public procurement in Tirana in 2015, the PPC never directly refers to the issue of
corruption. However, the fact that it found irregularities in 20% of all contested tendering deci-
sions regarding PSCs (corresponding to nearly 21% of all contested tendering decisions221) indi-
cates that more needs to be done to avoid deliberate or accidental misuse of public procurement
217 PSC1-PSC4 10 interview with authors, November 2015 - 20 January 2016.
aspx
219 PSC1-PSC4 interview with authors, 10 November 2015 - 20 January 2016.
220 PSC1-PSC4 interview with authors, 10 November 2015 - 20 January 2016
221 Public Procurement Commission, Annual Report 2015
PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
result
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
procedures. As the PPC mentions in its report, transparency is one of the issues that needs to be
addressed.222
Box 1.1 Example of lack of transparency

In 2015, two private security companies were excluded from bidding in all the procurement
tenders: one PSC was excluded in September 2015 for a period of 3 years and the second PSC
was allowed to bid again only in October 2015. On the PPA website the excluded companies
are published only by name, without justification of the PPA’s decision; therefore lacking public
transparency and not providing reasons behind their exclusion.
Although e-procurement has helped to increase the transparency of many of the procedures, pub-
lic procurement processes using a “negotiated procedure without prior publication” 223 are carried
out with minimal transparency. In 2015, the negotiated procedure was the most commonly used
procurement process in public tenders for security services. 224 Compared to other procedures,
however, this procedure has much less stringent requirements as regards to the openness and
transparency of the tendering process.225 Even though the Law on Public Procurement states that
the preferred procurement procedure should be an “open procedure”226 and that the “negotiated
procedure without prior publication” should be applied only in exceptional cases,227 in 2015, 42%
of all contracts for security procurement (144 contracts out of 241) were awarded through the “ne-
gotiated procedure without prior publication”.228 The “open procedure” was only used for 40 out of
241 contracts. According to the PPA’s annual report of 2015, the contracting authorities justified
the use of the procedure as “an emergency”, necessary to fulfil immediate needs or as a result of
multiple failed public procurement tender procedures.229 Although the PPA has acknowledged
222 Ibid.
223 The Law “On Public Procurement, amended” 9643/2006 prescribes seven public procurement procedures:
Open procedure; Request for Proposals; Negotiated Procedure without prior publication; Negotiated Proce-
dure with prior publication; Restricted Procedure; Design Competition; Consulting Services. (Law 9643/2006
“On Public Procurement, changed”, art 33).
224 Public Procurement Agency Newsletter, 2015, https://www.app.gov.al/ep/2015_Arkiva_e_Buletineve.aspx
225 Unlike the “Open Procedure”, which does not impose limits on the number of bidders, the “Negotiated proce-
dure without prior publication” is carried out with at least three bidders which are selected by the contracting
authorities to take part in the bidding process. (Law 9643/2006 “On Public Procurement, changed”, art 38).
The “Negotiated procedure without prior publication” is the only procedure where the open and transparent
online application portal is not used. (Under all other six procedures, interested operators apply electronically
via an online portal on the official website of PPA, which enables transparency of the process to bidders and
the public).
226 Law 9643/2006 “On Public Procurement, changed”, article 29.
227 The Law specifies this as cases of “urgent need” or to meet the needs of the beginning of the year until the
opening of the bidding process in March of each year. (Law 9643/2006 “On Public Procurement, changed”, art
33).
aspx
229 Public Procurement Agency, Annual Report 2015.
the frequent use of the “negotiated procedure” as a problem and has included its reduction in its
list of priorities, nothing significant has so far been done to reduce its use.230
Distribution
Distribution of
tenders and fundsDistribution
Graph 2: Distribution ofof of
Tenders By Distribution
by procedure
of
Tenders
Distribution Byof Tenders Funds
Funds by
by
Distribution of Funds
Procedure
ProcedureBy Procedure Procedure
by Procedure
Open Procedure
Open Procedure
Procedure
Open Procedure
Request for Proposals Open Procedure
Request for Proposals Request for Proposals
Negotiated Procedure Request for Proposals
Negotiated Procedure Negotiated Procedure
Negotiated Procedure
16%
16%
37%
41% 37%
24% 41%
60% 24%
60%
22%
22%
231
Source: PPA (2015)
Source: PPA (2015)231
231

Source: PPA (2015)
In addition, a lack of precision in procurement procedures makes it relatively easy for contract-

In addition,
ing agenciesa to lack of precision
avoid providingin procurement
detailed procedures
justifications for themakes it relatively
selection of successful easy bidders.
for contracting
The
In addition, a lack of precision in procurement procedures makes it relatively
agencies to avoid providing detailed justifications for the selection of successful bidders. The Law on easy for contracting
Law on Public Procurement and the Procurement Regulations prescribe two ways of selecting a
agencies to avoid providing detailed justifications for the selection of successful bidders. The Law on
Public Procurement and the Procurement Regulations prescribe two ways bid. of selecting
successful
Public bid: the lowest
Procurement and price
the and the most
Procurement economically
Regulations advantageous
prescribe two ways of Accordinga
selecting a
successful
to the
successful
bid: the lowest price and the most economically advantageous bid. According to the limited data
limited
bid: the data available
lowest price for 2015,
232 and the
232
most only 3 successfuladvantageous
economically bids were selected
bid. on the basis
According to of the
the mostdata
limited
available for 2015,232 only 3 successful bids were selected on the basis of the most economically
available
economicallyfor 2015, only 3 bid
advantageous successful
versus 39bids were
that wereselected
selectedon the basis
based on theof
advantageous bid versus 39 that were selected based on the lowest price. In practice, the use of the the most
lowest price.economically
In prac-
advantageous bid versus 39 that were selected based on the lowest price. In practice, the use of the
tice, the use of the “lowest price criteria” has not brought benefits to the state budget (as intended
“lowest price criteria” has not brought benefits to the state budget (as intended by the use of that
“lowest price criteria” has not brought benefits to the state budget (as intended by the use of that
by the use of that criterion). For all procurements in 2015 in Tirana, the allocated fund limit was
criterion). For all procurements in 2015 in Tirana, the allocated fund limit was ALL 845’056’960.30,
criterion). For all procurements in 2015 in Tirana, the allocated fund limit was ALL 845’056’960.30,
considering the value considering
ALL 845’056’960.30, of contracts theawarded
value of(ALL 915’743’128.63)
contracts awarded (ALL this results in a difference
915’743’128.63) of ALL
this results
considering
70’686’168.33, the value
paid of
from contracts
the extra awarded
funds (ALL 915’743’128.63)
allocations, with the this
state results
having in a
exceeded difference
its of ALL
allocated
in a difference of ALL 70’686’168.33, paid from the extra funds allocations, with the state having
70’686’168.33, paid from the extra funds allocations, with the state having exceeded its allocated
budget. It seems necessary to re‐assess the current method used by the state, since using the lowest
exceeded its allocated budget. It seems necessary to re-assess the current method used by the
budget. It seems necessary to re‐assess the current method used by the state, since using the lowest
price
state,criteria
price criteria
for selecting
since using
for the lowest
selecting
winning
winning
bidders
price criteria for–
bidders –
with the winning
selecting
with the
aim of bidders
aim of
saving funds
saving – with–
funds –
seems
the aim of
seems
to saving
to
be highly
be highly
inefficient.
funds – seems
inefficient. to be highly inefficient.
One reason why so few bids are selected by determining which is the most economically
One reason why
advantageous so the
is that few bids are
selection selected
criteria by overly
remain determining
complex which is the to
and difficult most economically
measure. Bylaws
advantageous is that the selection criteria remain overly complex and difficult to measure.
entitle contracting authorities to establish criteria on the "quality" of the product and to request Bylaws
entitle contracting
230 Public Procurement authorities to establish
Agency, Annual criteria
Report 2015; on the
CA02, PPA01 "quality"
interview with of the product and to request
authors.
supporting documentation and implementation from the PSCs. The authors were not able to find any
supporting documentation and implementation from the PSCs. The authors were not able to find any
manual or instruction for contracting authorities regarding the definition and rules for defining the
aspx
manual or instruction for contracting authorities regarding the definition and rules for defining the
"quality of service". This certainly makes the process of selection according to the most economically
232 These figures are based only on a quarter of tender processes because 77% of announcements did not provide
"quality of service". This certainly makes the process of selection according to the most economically
advantageous bid vulnerable to misuse or abuse, as the PPC has noted in a recent report. It found
information about the selection criteria as the law does not require that this information is included.
advantageous bid vulnerable to misuse or abuse, as the PPC has noted in a recent report. It found
PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
result
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
One reason why so few bids are selected by determining which is the most economically ad-
vantageous is that the selection criteria remain overly complex and difficult to measure. Bylaws
entitle contracting authorities to establish criteria on the “quality” of the product and to request
supporting documentation and implementation from the PSCs. The authors were not able to find
any manual or instruction for contracting authorities regarding the definition and rules for de-
fining the “quality of service”. This certainly makes the process of selection according to the most
economically advantageous bid vulnerable to misuse or abuse, as the PPC has noted in a recent
report. It found irregularities in connection with contracting authorities, specifically concerning
the determination of those criteria which are in conflict with the law on public procurement.233
The lack of criteria on selecting the most economically advantageous bid opens the possibility of
favouritism, whereby institutions opening bids list criteria fitting only one PSC in order to award
the tender to this PSC. Since it is not possible to measure the quality of security provision as there
are no specific guidelines, the institutions tend to abuse the system.
Effect on the sound development of the market
The –monopoly that a few big companies have on the market has had an overwhelming negative
effect on the private security industry and has had knock-on consequences for employees of PSCs
and the quality of PSC services.
As demonstrated in Table 4 above, the average revenues from the public sector contracts are high.
Such turnover could allow for investment and development in the private security sector. In real-
ity, however, only a small number of companies profit from it – those that are awarded the most
contracts. The other PSCs, who are usually only awarded one or two contracts, struggle to make
ends meet and often cannot afford to pay their guards the minimum wage. The division of con-
tracts into lots234 further favours larger companies over smaller ones.235
As it is impossible to cover the costs of operation, those companies which lose contracts are ei-
ther forced to reallocate money from the contracts with their private sector clients in order to
stay competitive or change the conditions of employment of their guards by, for example, paying
less than the minimum wage, enforcing longer shifts or denying the right to paid leave.236, 237 In
233 Public Procurement Commission, Annual Report 2015.

234 A contracting authority contracts private security for more than one location or institution at the same time. In
this case the contract is divided into “lots” representing the locations or institutions. Law 9643/2006 “On Public
Procurement” Article 47/3
235 The division of the contracts into “lots” does not enable economic operators to submit an individual bid, but
obliges them to participate in the tender only with unity (partnership with other PSCs), bringing restriction of
competition and preventing economic operators to enter these procedures as individual bidders. This kind of
division into lots of the contract constitutes a barrier to market entry service procurement and maintenance
of physical security in terms of the Law “On the Protection of Competition”. (Competition Authority (2013),
“Assessment of the impacts of regulation on competition”)
236 PSC1-PSC4 interview with authors, 10 November 2015 - 20 January 2016.
237 During our research we have encountered the following trend: PSCs do not pay a wage to the guards which
monitor public institution with a high traffic of people. The guards survive on the tips that are given to them or
some cases, PSCs have even been known to assign less guards than requested by the Ministry of
Interior (or defined in the contract) in order to cover the costs.238 On the other hand, the dominat-
ing companies take advantage of the revenues of the public market, lowering the prices in the
private market; thus making it difficult for other companies to cover operational costs. Therefore,
the general quality of services provided by PSCs under public contracts is low. This is compounded
by the fact that contracting authorities rarely reprimand PSCs for not fulfilling their contractual
obligations.
Failure of quality control

There are three main institutions responsible for regulating and monitoring public procurement
and 49 people who, in practice, manage all seven stages of the procurement and more than 4,000
procedures per year.239 The PSCs and public institutions argue that the number of employed civil
servants is sufficient to maintain a healthy procurement process.240
even forced on them by the visitors. At night some of them make money by renting out parking spaces of the
government building parking lot. (PSC02, CA01, CA02 interviews with authors).
238 PSC1, PSC3, interviews with authors, 10 November 2015 and 22 December 2015
239 Public Procurement Agency, Annual Report 2014.
240 PSC02, interviews with authors, 22 January 2016; PSC04, interviews with authors, 15 November 2015; PPA01,
interviews with authors, 19 February 2016; CA02, interviews with authors, 18 February 2016.
PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
result
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
Table 5. Capacities of the Regulating and Monitoring Institutions
Institutions Duties Number of people

Public Procurement Unit - Administration of the 3 per institution (1 lawyer)
selection process
- Management of complaints
Public Procurement Agency - Preparation of proposals for 28
public procurement rules,
development of Standard
Tender Documents and the
issuance of guidelines;
- Verification of the
implementation of public
procurement procedures,
phase after signing the
contract and in case of
violations of the laws and
regulations, fines or proposal
of any administrative
measures;
- Monitoring the performance
of the system of public
procurement, and the
implementation of measures
and activities in order to
achieve and maintain a fully
transparent and efficient
system of concession /
public private partnerships;
- Drafting and issuance of the
Bulletin of Public Notices;
- Exclusion of economic
operators from participating
in public procurement.
Public Procurement Oversees the legality 5 commissioners (3 lawyers)
Commission of public procurement
procedures, taking decisions (1 chairman
on complaints relating 1deputy)
to public procurement
procedures. And 13*(2014) civil servants in
the institution
Total 49
Source: PPA (2016), PPC (2016), Law 9643/2006

The PPA is a well-established institution. However, its role remains diminished due to a lack of
cooperation between the PPA and other key institutions. The mechanisms for coordination be-
tween the PPA and institutions such as the PPC, the Labour Inspectorate, the Competition Author-
ity and public procurement departments located inside the contracting authorities (that aid in
the efficiency of PPA) are lacking; resulting in a failure to efficiently award and implement tenders.
Following the establishment of new local government units resulting from recent territorial ad-
ministrative reforms, the capacity of local employees assigned to public procurement issues need
to be adjusted to the change.241
On the other hand, the PPC has struggled in areas concerning the selection and retention of its
members. By law, the PPC should be composed of 5 people, 3 of whom are lawyers, elected by the
Council of Ministers for a five year mandate.242 In fact, no one from this commission was able to
finish their five year mandate and in only one year, 2014, 10 people took over this role and left it.243
The commission was left with 3-4 members throughout this time and without a deputy, which, by
law, is crucial in the functioning of the commission. As it is not possible to make decisions, proce-
dures are thus suspended.244
The Labour Inspectorate and the Competition Authority only organize a limited number of in-
spections during the year, mostly concerning the presence of a required number of guards on
duty, proper documentation, wages received by employees and overall working conditions. In
most cases, the inspections are announced and the PSCs manage to arrange the documents and
guards beforehand. The Competition Authority is the only public institution which is allowed to
conduct unannounced inspections and reports a high number of abuses. However, fines are the
only mechanism used to sanction the PSCs and deal with irregularities.245
Outcomes and Recommendations

The private security industry has played an important role in the provision of security in Albania.
Despite their role as one of the key security providers, PSCs have remained small and underdevel-
oped. This case study has observed trends in the execution of contracts in the public market and
pointed to the poor implementation of labour legislation with respect to the employees’ rights.
The latter has a negative impact on the motivation of guards to join and stay in the market, on the
quality of services and on the desire to further professionalise the sector.
241 Since June 2015, Albania has undergone a rearrangement of its territory, moving from more than 300 admin-
istrative units to only 61, which requires an adaptation of the number of local inspectors and employees, and
the introduction of new, more efficient mechanisms. As of now, the PPA has not managed to do this. Euro-
pean Commission, “Albanian Progress Report 2015,” 2016, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_docu-
ments/2015/20151110_report_albania.pdf
242 Law 9643/2006 “On Public Procurement, changed”,
243 Respublica, “Impunity in Public Procurement, ” Tirana: Expo Vision Albania, 2015, https://www.osfa.al/sites/de-
fault/files/libri_kpp_per_web_ok_0.pdf.
244 Ibid.
245 CA01, CA02, interview with authors, 16 February 2016 and 18 February 2016.
PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
result
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
In general, the market remains distorted due to the dominating position of a small number of
PSCs, who in turn benefit from favouritism and the inefficiency of public procurement procedures
in acquiring bids. Problems concerning the transparency of the public procurement process and
the sentiment that the acquisition of tenders is unfair have resulted in a high number of com-
plaints by PSCs. Despite this however, the incentives for change remain low as reform is not in the
interest of those obtaining the contracts.
The fact that non-delivery of contract obligations are not sanctioned further confirms the widely
held view that quality in private security services is not considered important for gaining or keep-
ing contracts. Few investments in the quality of services are therefore made – market profits are
not allocated to increase the human and physical capital of the enterprise but rather absorbed by
the owners.
The lack of control over the public procurement of security services has also resulted in a lack of
concern in regards to fulfilling the contract obligations to public sector clients. An improvement
in the monitoring of procurement procedures and in the awarding of contracts would allow for
oversight and control institutions to move beyond merely assessing compliance with the law, to a
full assessment of practices. This would require the PPA to further increase its capacity to monitor
the e-procurement system and to increase the transparency of their concession procedures and
plans.246 Increasing the cooperation between oversight and control institutions, such as the PPA
and the Labour Inspectorate, could result in better enforcement of contract obligations and pro-
vide an incentive for PSCs to invest and offer better quality services to their clients. Furthermore,
these trends call for a need to adjust procurement regulations and guidelines in order to award
contracts based on a measure of quality ̶ and less on the lowest price. This would allow for fair
tendering processes and better auditing by controlling institutions and further act to discourage
corrupt practices.
Coding of Sources
Occupation of the interviewee Coding
Technical Director of PSC1 PSC1
Civilian Employee in a Public Institution which has contracted PSCs CEP1
Civilian Employee in a Public Institution which has contracted PSCs CEP2
Civilian Employee in Competition Authority public institution CA01
Civilian Employee in Competition Authority public institution CA02
Civilian Employee in Public Procurement Agency PPA01
246 European Commission, “Albanian Progress Report 2015”.

Bibliography
Books
Dyrmishi, Arjan and Gentiola Madhi “Albania,” in A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Se-
curity Landscape in Southeast Europe, eds. Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke Van Amstel. )Belgrade and
Geneva: DCAF, 2015).
Journal Articles
Bardhi, Ejona “Integrity in the Albanian Public Procurement. Principles and the fight against
corruption,” Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 3, No. 4, 2014.
Legal Documents
Law 9643/2006 “On Public Procurement, changed”;
Law 125/2013 “On concessions and public-private partnerships”
Law 75/2014 “On Private Physical Security Service”
Law 10053/2008 “Code of Labour”
Law 9121/2003 “On the Protection of Competition”
Sub-legal act of the Council of Ministers decision nr.1, date 10.01.2007 “On Public Procure-
ment Rules”.
Websites
“Main tasks,” Public Procurement Agency, https://www.app.gov.al/ep/DetyratKryesore.aspx
Public Procurement Commission Webpage, accessed on 10 March 2016
http://kpp.gov.al/ppadv/Personnel.aspx
Reports
Dyrmishi, Arjan Mariola Qesaraku and Bensik Baka, “Monitoring and evaluating the security
sector governance in Albania,” Tirana: Institute for Democracy and Mediation, 2014.
European Commission, Albanian Progress Report 2015. Brussels, 10 November 2015. Available at
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2015/20151110_report_albania.pdf,
34.
Duli, Ilaz Safet Hoxha and Mersad Mujovic, “Reforms of Public Procurement in the Western
Balkans” (paper presented at the 5TH annual IPPC), 2012.
Public Procurement Bulletins January-November 2015

https://www.app.gov.al/ep/2015_Arkiva_e_Buletineve.aspx
PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
result
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
Public Procurement Commission, “Complaints in Process,”

http://www.kpp.gov.al/ppadv/Complaints_in_Process.aspx
Respublica, “Impunity in Public Procurement, ” Tirana: Expo Vision Albania, 2015,

https://www.osfa.al/sites/default/files/libri_kpp_per_web_ok_0.pdf

The main problems highlighted in the above case study on public procurement of private security
in Tirana in 2015 did not stem from a lack of regulation or laws, but rather from a lack of imple-
mentation of existing regulations and a lack of resources. The main causes of the flawed public
procurement of private security in Tirana in 2015 show to be a lack of transparency in the proce-
dures on the one hand, and a lack of oversight of the implementation of these procedures on the
other. The lack of transparency throughout the procurement process makes it difficult to review
the fairness of contract-award decisions and therefore frustrates competing participants, while at
the same time creating opportunities for corruption and nepotism. If the reasons for appointing
the same company repeatedly are unclear, the assumption of those rejected will quickly be that
there is unfair bias or corruption. Indeed, there can be no independent control of how procure-
ment procedures are conducted if there is no transparent publication of which procedures were
used and to what result. Equally important, a lack of oversight means that even when there are
policies geared towards preventing favouritism and corruption (e.g. an open tender process with
the opportunity for all to participate), these are not implemented. This was observed in the Tirana
case study, where the “negotiated procedure without prior publication” was used preferentially
instead of as an exception.
In the latter stages of the public procurement procedure (i.e. the execution and monitoring of the
execution of the contract), the implementation of policies regarding monitoring are also lacking.
Monitoring bodies have few resources, and in the Tirana case described above a high turnover of
the personnel performing monitoring roles was observed. This meant that capacities and exper-
tise were frequently lost. Also, as is the case for other states in the region, responsibilities for con-
tract oversight lie with several bodies in Albania, and these bodies do not exchange information
nor communicate between each other.
These procurement flaws have several effects on the market. Fierce competition for contracts
which are awarded based on the criteria of lowest price leads to a race-to-the-bottom of ten-
der application budgets. This often means that employees are paid below minimum wage, and
too few employees are allocated to one task. Due to these tender awards for very little money,
once a company wins a contract, there is no budgetary space for investment in company equip-
ment, training and innovation, and quality consequently suffers. This contract performance issue
is paired with an absence of review of how contracts are being executed; thereby allowing the
companies that bid below cost-price to operate more cheaply than is required by the terms of the
contract for which they are responsible (e.g. allocated too few guards to a site). Finally, the lack of
transparency in the procurement process may mean that certain companies receive preferential
treatment, leading to a few companies obtaining most contracts with little consideration given to
the quality of the service they deliver.
PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
result
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
Efforts to ensure quality of PSC services, for example by allowing tenders to be awarded based on
the most economically advantageous offer instead of merely on the lowest price, are not taken up
because of a lack of knowledge within the relevant procurement departments. This knowledge is
needed to judge complex PSC offers with important technical aspects, and to understand how to
measure quality against bidding criteria.
Currently, the notion that public procurement procedures can influence the functioning of a mar-
ket and the level of professionalism of services has taken root and garnered attention at the inter-
national level. States can induce professionalism, by setting quality criteria within their contracts,
thereby encouraging good practices, and setting an example for market performance. It is one
way for states to implement their obligations to ensure respect for human rights by business ac-
tors. Several initiatives aimed at different business sectors have attempted to make states aware
of the good practices that exist in this regard, which could be replicated throughout different
business sectors and by different states.247 Good practices at all stages of the public procurement
process have also been identified specifically for the private security industry.248 It is therefore im-
perative, given the role the state plays as a regulator and as a client of PSCs, that they consider and
recognise the challenges and opportunities the procurement process offers them, and according-
ly adapt their policies in light of these.
In sum, when considering the regulation of public procurement of private security services, policy
makers should consider the following questions:
• What level of caution and regulation is warranted if a state contracts out an essential service
such as security?
• How far does the responsibility of the state go when it comes to ensuring – through its public
procurement procedures – that companies are in compliance with requirements based on
human rights standards, including labour policies, minimum wages, and appropriate training
to prevent excessive use of force?
• How can the state, through solid procurement policies, best exercise oversight to monitor
whether the operations of private security providers are in line with the quality criteria set in
contracts?
• How can local practices be best adapted to international best standards?249
247 See, for example, the International Learning Lab on Public Procurement and Human Rights, available at: http://
www.hrprocurementlab.org/
248 Boddi, E., Burdzy, A., van Amstel, N. Putting Private Security Regulation into Practice: Sharing Good Practices
on Procurement and Contracting 2015- 2016 – A Scoping Study, DCAF, 2016, available at: http://www.dcaf.ch/
News/DCAF-Study-on-Procurement-of-Private-Security-is-published
249 Ibid.
• Do the different state bodies in charge of overseeing the execution of contracts and compli-
ance with contract criteria coordinate their work and streamline their activities, in order to
ensure effective oversight? If not, should they?
• How can the state ensure that the correct knowledge and resources are allocated to guarantee
the implementation of its public procurement procedures?
PART3 The challenge
PART 2: The role
of quality
of PSCsand
in the
sustainability
result
ofpublic
national
procurement
security importance
processes
PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
of deficiencies in theofpublic
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
PART 4:
The Challenge
of Ensuring
Professionalism
amongst PSC
Staff
National legislation and industry standards in Southeast European countries define the role and
duties of private security companies and their staff. Further detail on what is required of PSC staff
is then set out in the contracts that PSCs conclude with their clients. Thus ‘professional’ PSC staff
deliver security as set out in service contracts, delineated by law, and defined in the expectations
that the industry sets itself (for example through industry codes of conduct). Yet despite this regu-
latory framework, previous case studies in this volume as well as past research on private security
in Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Serbia250 have illustrated frequent allegations of a lack of profes-
sionalism amongst PSC staff. Complaints describe staff who fail to perform tasks as expected, who
are lacking in motivation, or who actively break the law.
The following two case studies approach the question of professionalism in private security from
two angles. The first case study on conflict of interest in the Serbian private security training system
examines the idea that obligatory training of PSC staff ensures their professionalism. This study
assesses whether a new training and accreditation system (as was recently set up in Serbia) can
improve PSC staff’s skills, knowledge and professionalism once they undergo training and pass an
accreditation exam. The case looks not only at the practical feasibility of the training curriculum in
Serbia, but also at how wider problems of integrity amongst the staff and public officials in charge
of training and accreditation can impact the success of the training scheme.
The second case study of Part 4 describes how a security guard working in a shopping mall in Pr-
ishtina, Kosovo, paid with his life when he acted beyond his assigned tasks and rights. It considers
how it was possible for the guard to place himself in unnecessary danger and how training, mana-
gerial control and improved regulation could ensure better future protection of guards and of the
people they come into contact with. The case study also looks into how employment structures
and working conditions conspire to make it possible for PSC staff to act with negligence or over-
zealously, thereby endangering themselves and others.
250 Klopfer, Franziska and Nelleke Van Amstel eds A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security Landscape in
Southeast Europe, (Belgrade and Geneva: DCAF, 2015).
PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
Conflicts of Interest – Former and Acting Police in the

Business of Private Security in Serbia
Introduction
The Serbian Law on Private Security, adopted towards the end of 2013, stipulates that all new as
well as existing personnel in the Serbian private security sector (estimated at around 30,000 to
50,000 staff ) will be required to undergo mandatory training and licensing. The legislation aims to
increase the professionalism of private security staff in Serbia, a goal which will only be reached if
the training schedule is adequate, the quality of the training is satisfactory and the examination
process is both objective and rigorous. To complete the required training, private security compa-
nies (PSCs) can enrol their staff in one of the many newly established private training centres. The
licensing exam is administered by the Serbian Ministry of the Interior.
The following case study focuses on one of the main training centres for private security, Eduka-
tor MK. The centre was established by the former Chief of the Police Directorate of the Republic
of Serbia, Mladen Kuribak, shortly after his retirement from the police service. Indeed, there is a
long-standing tradition in Serbia whereby acting or former police officers transition to work with
or in private security: officers ‘moonlight’ in private security after their day shift in the police ser-
vice; police employees act as private security consultants; or former police work for or even set up
their own private security company or private security training centre, as in the case of Mladen
Kuribak and Edukator MK.
This case study describes how the blurring of roles between police and private security personnel
has an impact on the rigorousness of the training and exam process, and therefore on the profes-
sionalism of current and future private security staff in Serbia. The fact that current legislation in
Serbia does not regulate conflicts of interest between the police and the private security sector
is of particular importance in this context; the irregularities and risks of corruption attached to
this situation are explained in detail in the following study. Factors facilitating anomalies in the
licensing process are analysed, and recommendations are offered as to how best to address these
problems and minimise risks.
Methodology
Both desk research and interviews with stakeholders informed this case study. Special attention
was paid to legal provisions addressing corruption risks, as well as to a set of by-laws prescribing
curricula for private security trainings and regulating the examination process. To obtain informa-
tion from the Ministry of the Interior (MoI) regarding licensed training centres, as well as regarding
members of the MoI’s exam commission, wo questionnaires were sent to the MoI evoking the
Freedom Information Act.
Initial findings obtained through desk-based research were checked, broadened and strength-
ened through a series of interviews with stakeholders, some conducted specifically for this re-
search purpose and some over the course of two previous studies: Novi-stari izazovi privatnog
sektora bezbednosti u Srbiji [New-Old Challenges of the Private Security Sector in Serbia] and A
Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security Landscape in Southeast Europe. Private security
managers and guards provided both employers’ and workers’ views on and expectations of the
licensing and training process, while representatives of the Association of Private Security and of
the Commission for Public-Private Partnerships in Security offered broader perspective on the
system and the major flaws creating opportunities for corruption.
Earnings Amounting to EUR 3 Million

When the National Assembly of Serbia adopted both the Law on Private Security251 and the Law
on Detective Activity252 in 2013, it ended the twenty years during which private security had not
been regulated by a specific law in Serbia.253 The two new laws prescribe the requirements that
private security companies and detectives, as well as their employees, must meet in order to oper-
ate legally. Among other things, the Laws make vocational training254 a compulsory requirement
for companies, security personnel, and detectives seeking work permits (often called “licenses”).255
With between 30’000 and 50’000 private security guards currently employed in Serbia, and with
the price of courses starting at RSD 12’000,256 training is potentially a very lucrative business. Be-
tween them, training centres can expect to earn at least RSD 360 million – approximately EUR 3
million.
As of 28 January 2016, the Serbian Ministry of the Interior had approved 84 private security train-
ing centres.257 The total estimated value of the training and the large number of accredited centres
indicate that competition within the training market will be fierce. However, fierce competition will
not necessarily yield lower prices and better value-for-money within the training business. Rather,
251 Zakon o privatnom obezbeđenju [Law on Private Security], “Sl. glasnik RS”, br. 104/2013 i 42/2015 [Official Ga-
zette RS 104/2013 and 42/2015 ]. Hereafter: “Law on Private Security”
252 Zakon o detektivskoj delatnosti [Law on Detective Activity], “Sl. glasnik RS” , br. 104/2013 [Official Gazette RS
104/2013]. Hereafter: “Law on Detective Activity”
253 The Law on Social Self-Protection of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Official Gazette RS 14/96
ceased to apply after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
254 The law stipulates that vocational training of private security personnel may be carried out by individuals
and legal entities - accredited by the Ministry - that meet the financial, technical, professional and staffing
requirements for conducting such training. Detailed requirements to be met by the training centres have been
prescribed in the MoI’s Rulebook on Detailed Requirements for Legal Entities and Individuals Who Wish to
Conduct Vocational Private Security Training.
255 Law on Private Security Articles 12-14; Law on Detective Activity Articles 4-9
256 At first, the cost of individual training rose to RSD 25,000; however, the prices later dropped due to competi-
tion.
257 MoI’s response to BCSP’s questionnaire, 3 February 2016.
PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
existing research findings suggest that such conditions in the private security market (in the ab-
sence of effective controlling institutions) may facilitate irregularities and even corruption.258
Training Flaws: Opening the Door to Irregularities

The training programme for private security personnel envisages 101 hours of training: 66 hours
of theoretical lectures and 35 hours of practice, lasting a total of 18 days. In order to receive a cer-
tificate stating that the training has been completed, one is not allowed to miss a single lecture.
Research on the implementation of the Law on Private Security, conducted by the Belgrade Cen-
tre for Security Policy (BCSP) in 2014 and 2015,259 found that both private security managers and
personnel believe that the programme is unrealistic, as attendees are already working in private
security and are unlikely to be able to miss work in order to attend the full scope of the training.
Accordingly, private security guards indicate that their choice of training centre depends on which
centre offers the easiest course of training combined with the most certain prospect of passing
the exams before the MoI Commission. In short, they expect to be awarded certificates of compe-
tence without having to attend all of the classes, and they expect the centre which provided their
training to “fix it” such that they can successfully pass the exam before the MoI Commission, even
though they might not possess the required knowledge (in particular due to their absence from
lectures).
These expectations are based on three facts. First, the monitoring of training is the responsibility
of the training centre itself, not an external instance. Second, candidates are allowed to submit
their examination applications through the training centre. This makes it easier for training cen-
tres to bribe examiners because the latter can easily identify – and favour – the candidates from
the training centre in question. Finally, examinations can be held in the training centres them-
selves, which suggests that centres may have the opportunity to tamper with the exams.
Private security companies have similar expectations to their employees, especially since it has
been ascertained that they will bear the costs of training and licensing of their employees. Many
security companies are already in discussions with training centres, hoping to negotiate better
prices and terms.260 Private security companies are interested not only in obtaining a good price
for the training, but also in ensuring that the training infringes as little as possible on the op-
258 For additional information about the functioning of the security sector in Serbia, see: Franziska Klopfer and
Nelleke van Amstel (eds.), A Force for Good: Mapping the Private Security Landscape in Southeast Europe, (Bel-
grade and Geneva: DCAF), 2015, pp. 83-107, and Predrag Petrović and Marko Milošević (eds.), Novi-stari izazovi
privatnog sektora bezbednosti u Srbiji [New-Old Challenges of the Private Security Sector in Serbia], BCBP,
Beograd, 2015.
259 For additional information on this research, see: Predrag Petrović and Marko Milošević (eds.), Novi-stari izazovi
privatnog sektora bezbednosti u Srbiji [New-Old Challenges of the Private Security Sector in Serbia], BCBP, Beograd,
2015.
260 The authors identified this during their interviews with security managers conducted for the purpose of the
publication titled Novi-stari izazovi privatnog sektora bezbednosti u Srbiji [New-Old Challenges of the Private Secu-
rity Sector in Serbia] (cited above) - either through the testimony of the interviewees, or by way of the fact that
interviewees had meetings with representatives of training centres scheduled immediately after the interview.
erations of the company (whether through the absence of their employees or the fact that an
employee, having failed the exam, would be obliged to re-take it).261 The market pressure and
corresponding need for economic efficiencies may be such that managers could foreseeably re-
quest “that [a security guard] be in the protected facility, while being simultaneously registered as
having attended training in the training centre on a specific day.”262
Companies try to corrupt the training process more often than individuals. One reason for this is
that companies must bear the cost of their employees’ training. Furthermore, so far the training
has not proceeded as scheduled and only 665 candidates out of an estimated 30’000-50’000 se-
curity guards have been trained to date. As the licensing must be completed by January 2017,
this is likely to create considerable pressure on companies scrambling to comply with industry
standards. Finally, unlike individuals, security companies have significant bargaining power when
negotiating with the training centres: they can pressure a training centre to accept their requests
(e.g. in terms of permitted absence from lectures) by threatening to train their employees in one
of the 83 alternative training centres.
Edukator MK: A Training Centre in a Hotel

Edukator MK was the first centre to receive accreditation to train private security personnel. Ac-
cording to data from the Business Registers Agency, Mladen Kuribak founded Edukator MK263 on
6 November 2014,264 receiving the license to train private security personnel according to Pro-
grammes 1 and 2265 on 2 February 2015. Educator MK organises its trainings in the premises of
Hotel ‘MK Star,’ Trstenička St. 2, in the Belgrade suburb of Borča where the seat of Educator MK is
also located. Hotel MK Star also shares Edukator MK’s landline telephone number.266
261 When bylaws regulating training were being drafted by the MoI, a group of PSCs, among which were big com-
panies, advocated for distance learning to be incorporated into the programme. The first version of the bylaws
allowed for distance learning, but this option was excluded from the final version. According to some private
security managers, distance learning was excluded from the bylaw due to strong pressure from the “police”
lobby, which consisted of a group of former and current police officers. Information based on interviews with
two private security managers, 22 September 2015 and 23 January 2016.
262 Predrag Petrović and Marko Milošević (eds.) Novi-stari izazovi privatnog sektora bezbednosti u Srbiji [New-Old
Challenges of the Private Security Sector in Serbia]. BCBP, Beograd, 2015 p. 24.
263 The “MK” abbreviation within the company name is derived from the first letters of the first name and surname
of Mladen Kuribak.
264 Serbian Business Register Agency, available online at: http://pretraga2.apr.gov.rs/EnterprisePublicSearch/de-
tails/EnterpriseBusinessName/7248118?code=B419BBBB18A3F5D2E44C54E6BD969FED1AAEBE6E, accessed 3
April 2016.
265 Four vocational training programmes for private security exist: 1. Training for risk assessment in protecting
individuals, property and businesses; 2. Training for physical-technical protection of individuals and property,
as well as for maintaining order at sports events, rallies and other places of people’s gatherings; 3. Training for
planning and designing of the technical systems of protection; 4. Training for installation, putting into oper-
ation and maintenance of the technical systems of protection. (Pravilnik o programima i načinu sprovođenјa
obuke za vršenјe poslova privatnog obezbeđenјa [Rulebook on Programmes and Ways of Realizing Trainings
for Private Security],”Sl. glasnik RS”, br. 117/2014 [Official Gazette, No. 117/2014 ]).
266 According to data from the Business Registers Agency, MK Star Hotel is registered as a hospitality facility
owned by entrepreneur Jasmina Stojic. The hotel was founded on 26 December 2005. The website of ‘MK Star’
Hotel: http://www.hotelmkstar.com/rs/o-nama.php, accessed 12 December 2015.
PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
By 28 January 2016, Educator MK had received authorisation to open eight additional training
centre branches in cities throughout Serbia.267 Consequently, this company now covers almost
all of Serbia, and is the firm with the highest number of branches in Serbia. Educator MK ranks
second-highest with regard to the number of people trained to date. Of the 665 candidates who
had passed the certification exam by 28 January 2016, 122 completed the training through this
company. The Faculty of Engineering Management is the only institution which trained slightly
more candidates (125).
Table 1. Private Security Training Centres and Number of Candidates
Number of trained Number of candidates

Training Centre candidates who have passed the
certification exam
FAKULTET ZA INŽINJERIJSKI MENADŽMENT 125 85
[Faculty of Engineering Management]
EDUKATOR MK 122 87
VARNOST FITEP 118 88
PATROL PLUS 85 68
SECUT 66 56
RPD-FTO 58 55
INEX PLUS 23 19
CPK 20 4
DOO ZAŠTITA PLUS [Protection Plus] 17 17
KMD 11 8
SECURITAS 2 2
Conflict of Interest Risks

Although conflicts of interest268 are only a possibility, if left unregulated they are likely to lead to
corruption or, at best, to a deterioration of the reputation of institutions and the individuals who
work in them. Having recognised this as a serious problem, some EU countries have stipulated in
their legislation that former police officers are prohibited from working in private security compa-
nies for the first five years after the termination of their service in the police force.
267 Edukator MK’s local training centres and their opening dates: Šimanovci and Pećinci - 5 May 2015; Vranje - 29
May 2015; Novi Pazar – 19 June 2015; Kragujevac – 2 July 2015; Niš – 3 July 2015; Novi Sad – 14 July 2015;
Požarevac – 21 August 2015; Leskovac – 16 December 2015.
268 A conflict of interest involves a conflict between the public duty and private interests of a public servant;
where the interests of the public servant as a private citizen may improperly influence the performance of
his/her public duties and responsibilities. Notably, if public servants find themselves in a situation involving a
conflict of interest, this does not necessarily mean that they are corrupt; corruption would require them to use
their public authority to acquire a benefit for themselves or someone else. Thus, a conflict of interest signifies a
risk which may lead to corruption.
In Serbia, the practice of police officers taking on a second job outside of their police duties has
long been tolerated, despite repeated concerns voiced even by those working within the Serbian
police.269 Regarding regulation of this practice, the Law on the Police merely briefly stipulates that
police officers are not allowed to engage in “activities that are incompatible with official duty.” It,
however, does not specify which activities are “incompatible,” instead leaving it to the Minister of
the Interior to provide, in a by-law, a more precise definition of “incompatible” duties and activities
as well as the terms for conducting activities outside of regular business hours. This by-law has not
been enacted to date.270
There are therefore no laws prohibiting former police from working for or setting up a private
security company or private security training centre. Nor does the law impose a certain period
during which former police cannot be engaged in the private security sector, so as to avoid the
use of personal connections to the relevant company’s advantage. Yet the temptation to use
connections with former police colleagues, especially for individuals who recently occupied very
important roles in the Serbian police, is considerable. As mentioned above, Mladen Kuribak, the
owner and director of Edukator MK, immediately founded his training centre after he had left the
police. His former colleagues in the police were concurrently regulating and organising the exams
for the (aspiring) private security employees who pay Kuribak’s company to prepare them to pass
the licensing exam.
A particular area of concern is the composition of the licensing certification body. It is likely that
the Ministry of Interior Commission in charge of the certification exam271 will mostly be composed
of employees from the Police Directorate.272 The Police Directorate also includes a recently-estab-
269 In 2010, the Chief of the Internal Affairs Sector at the time, Dragoljub Radović, commented that the fact that
some police officers carry out independent economic or other activities in addition to their police work rep-
resents a major problem for the police. An example of these independent activities is the provision of security
services to affluent clients. Available online at: http://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/150493/Unutrasnja-kontro-
la-zavodi-red-u-MUP-u, accessed 28 April 2016.
270 There are also practical and socio-economic reasons explaining why moonlighting is not usually reprimanded.
First, it is very difficult to prove that a police officer is moonlighting as a private security guard, as this would
involve extensive investigative work including the implementation of special measures (e.g. wire-tapping): for
example, when caught moonlighting as private security guards at a club, police officers usually claim that they
simply came to the establishment for a drink. The second reason is socio-economic in nature: police salaries
are very low, such that police managers tolerate their colleagues’ extra work. The third reason is the most im-
portant and the most problematic: police managers are at times the organisers responsible for police officers’
moonlighting activities. They can be, in fact, the ones who establish direct contact with e.g. club owners, and
who arrange contracts for jobs. Such jobs often grow into racketeering and extortion scams, as those who do
not wish to hire police protection are soon faced with a series of checks and raids. Available online at: http://
www.cins.rs/srpski/news/article/policajci-koji-rade-kao-obezbedjenje-osumnjiceni-za-nasilje-i-korupciju,
accessed 28 April 2016.
271 In particular, the examinations based on Programme 1 (which covers vocational training for duties related to
risk assessment in the protection of persons, property and business operations), and Programme 2 (which
covers vocational training for duties of physical and technical protection of persons and property, and for the
maintenance of order at sporting events and public gatherings).
272 This is likely because employees of the Police Directorate have the most knowledge and experience in these
areas: employees from the private security sector will be acquiring licenses to carry out the specialised duties
of security personnel with and without the use of weapons.
PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
lished Department which is tasked with the monitoring and supervision of the activities of detec-
tives and those working in private security.
It is probable that Kuribak, for example, still has close connections to the Police Directorate, not
least because his former deputy, Zoran Alimpić, is now the Chief of the Police Directorate. In a
country like Serbia, where corruption is not uncommon such relationships can very easily create
the perception of corruption amongst trainees who might suspect that the licensing exam will be
made easier for students at MK Edukator because the owner has connections to the MoI. Trainees
can then easily lose faith in the integrity of the licensing exam and the importance of the training
process.
The MoI’s Lack of Awareness of Employee Involvement in Training Centres

In the course of their research, the authors have also heard about other cases of acting police of-
ficers working for private security training centres in Serbia. To investigate further, in September
2015 information was requested from the MoI273 regarding the names of the relevant training
centres, the number of employees of the MoI and the police who founded or work in them, and
whether the employees had requested the consent of the MoI for their engagement in such activ-
ities. The MoI replied that it did not possess a document which contained such information. This
suggests that the MoI does not keep track of whether its employees have second jobs in private
training centres, nor whether such work could adversely affect the performance of police duties
and damage the image of the institution.
Possible Consequences
This particular case points to several possible negative consequences. First, the professionaliza-
tion of private security – one of the main purposes of the Law on Private Security – will not be
achieved, or at least will be undermined, if training requirements are compromised. Turning a
blind eye to weak exam candidates will mean that poor training remains the norm. This will pro-
duce poor performance of private security duties, which may in turn result in below-standard
protection of clients’ property as well as human rights abuses. Second, this sends the message
to yet un-licensed private security guards that they can pass the exam with ease, regardless of
their knowledge, if they undergo training at the “right” centre. Other training centres may then
resort to similar illegitimate practices in order to stay in the market. The end result will not be a
value-for-money system usually present in open markets with a healthy competition. Third, this
indicates to the police force that persistent conflicts of interest can continue unsanctioned, and
promotes the perception that private security businesses are more legitimate when run by for-
mer state security officers. BCSP’s latest research confirms that police forces generally do not trust
private security companies, viewing them instead as criminals and amateurish security experts,
unless the PSC is run by former police officers.274
273 MoI’s response to BCSP’s questionnaire No. 8922/15-2, 26 August 2015.
274 For a detailed account of the obstacles to achieving effective cooperation between public and private security
Conclusion: Addressing the Problems at the MoI

There is a need to determine whether any of the employees of the MoI and the police work in
accredited training centres, and whether any of these employees are members of the Commis-
sion in charge of the certification exam. The Law on Civil Servants stipulates that a civil servant
can perform additional work only if this work does not present a conflict of interest with his main
job, only out of working hours, and only with the formal permission of his superior. This provision,
along with provisions on risk assessment within the Police Law, provide a solid legal basis which
could be used by police managers to start checking if police officers are working for the private
security sector.
It is also necessary to address the factors that facilitate irregularities in the training process, which
could ultimately transform conflicts of interest into corruption. The bylaw specifying the required
training programme should be amended to reflect the real training needs of private security
guards. The training programme should be more practical; focusing more on real-life situations
and incorporating lessons drawn from private security practice. Training hours need to be reduced
to enable PSC guards to attend classes alongside their regular job. The bylaw should also enable
PSC guards to be absent from some (theoretical) classes, and should oblige training centres to or-
ganize additional (catch-up) classes for those who could not attend previous classes. These mea-
sures would relieve the pressure currently on PSC guards (who would no longer need to learn as
much heavy content), and PSC managers (for whom trainings would no longer be an obstruction
to employees’ regular work). This would all together reduce the conflict of interest risks described
herein.
Though training and licensing should be completed by the end of 2016, it is estimated that only
2% of PSC guards will be licensed by the envisaged deadline; the whole process has been notably
sluggish.275 Yet this delay presents an opportunity to meaningfully improve the process, in line
with the above-described set of measures.
see: Predrag Petrović and Marko Milošević (eds.), Novi-stari izazovi privatnog sektora bezbednosti u Srbiji [New-
Old Challenges of the Private Security Sector in Serbia], BCBP, Beograd, 2015, pp. 79-90.
275 Dragiša Jovanović, Stanje u procesu licenciranja [Overview of the licensing], Svet bezbednosti [World of Securi-
ty], 31 March 2016, available online at: http://www.svet-bezbednosti.rs/sr/novosti/stanje-u-procesu-licenciran-
ja,18800.html, accessed 4 April 2016.
PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
Interviews and Coding of Sources

Interviewee Date of interview Coding
Manager, Multinational PSC January 2016 MM1
Manager, Local PSC February 2015 ML1
Manager, Local PSC March 2015 ML2
Manager, Local PSC April 2015 ML3
Manager, Local PSC November 2015 ML2
Manager, Belgrade PSC October 2015 MB1
Manager, Belgrade PSC October 2015 MB2
Manager, Belgrade PSC September 2015 MB3
Chamber of Commerce October 2015 Ch1
Representative
Representative of the Group October 2015 Ch2
for Physical Security
President of the Commission February 2016 PPP1
for Public Private Partnerships
Employee, Local PSC February 2015 EL1
Employee, Local PSC March 2015 EL2
Employee, Local PSC April 2015 EL3
Employee, Local PSC November 2015 EL4
Employee, Local PSC May 2016 EL5
Employee, Belgrade PSC December 2015 EB1
Employee, Belgrade PSC January 2016 EB2
Employee, Belgrade PSC May 2016 EB3
Employee, Multinational PSC December 2015 EM1
Bibliography
Books
Klopfer, Franziska and Nelleke Van Amstel (eds.). A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Secu-
rity Landscape in Southeast Europe, Geneva and Belgrade: DCAF, 2015.
Petrović, Predrag and Marko Milošević (eds.). Novi-stari izazovi privatnog sektora bezbednosti
u Srbiji [New-Old Challenges of the Private Security Sector in Serbia], Beograd: BCBP, 2015.
Stojanović, Sonja et. al. Private Security Companies in Serbia: Friend or a Foe?, Center for Civil
Military Relations, Belgrade, 2008.
Online Articles and Publications

Jeremić, Ivana and Milica Stojanović. “Obezbeđenje divlja, građani stradaju, država posma-
tra” [Private Security Guards Rampaging, People Get Hurt, State Watches], CINS, 2016, available
online at: https://www.cins.rs/srpski/news/article/obezbedjenje-divlja-gradjani-stradaju
drzava-posmatra-901, accessed 4 April 2016.
Jovanović, Dragiša. “Stanje u procesu licenciranja” [Overview of the licensing], Svet bezbed-
nosti [World of Security], 31 March 2016, available online at: http://www.svet
bezbednosti.rs/sr/novosti/stanje-u-procesu-licenciranja,18800.html, accessed 4 April 2016.
Milošević, Marko Izmene Zakona o privatnom obezbeđenju – otaljavanje obuke? [Private Secu-
rity Law Changes-Scamping the Trainings?], BCBP, 2015, available online at:
http://www.bezbednost.org/Bezbednost/5794/Izmene-Zakona-o-privatnom
obezbedjenju.shtml accessed 4 October 2016.
Legal Documents
The Law on Social Self-Protection of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Official Ga-
zette RS 14/96.
Zakon o detektivskoj delatnosti [Law on Detective Activity], "Sl. glasnik RS" , br. 104/2013
[Official Gazette RS 104/2013].
Zakon o privatnom obezbeđenju [Law on Private Security], “Sl. glasnik RS", br. 104/2013 i
42/2015 [Official Gazette RS 104/2013 and 42/2015].
Bylaws
Pravilnik o bližim uslovima koje moraju da ispune pravna i fizička lica za sprovođenje stručne
obukeza vršenje poslova privatnog obezbeđenja [Rulebook on Detailed Requirements for Legal
Entities and Individuals who are to Conduct Vocational Private Security Training], "Sl. Glasnik
RS", br. 117/2014 [Official Gazette, No. 117/2014 ].
Pravilnik o načinu polaganja stručnog ispita za vršenje poslova privatnog obezbeđenja, visi-
ni troškova organizovanja i sprovođenja ispita i sadržini i načinu vođenja evidencija [Rulebook on
the Ways of Conducting Private Security Exams, their Prices and Content and Methods of Keeping
Exam Records], "Sl. glasnik RS" , br. 104/13 [Official Gazette, No. 104/13].
Pravilnik o programima i načinu sprovođenјa obuke za vršenјe poslova privatnog obez-

beđenјa [Rulebook on Programmes and Ways of Realizing Trainings for Private Security], "Sl. Glas-
nik RS", br. 117/2014 [Official Gazette, No. 117/2014 ].
Rešenje o obrazovanju Komisije za polaganje stručnog ispita za vršenje poslova privatnog

obezbeđenja [Decision on Setting Up the Exam Commission for Private Security].
Freedom of Information Act Documents

MoI’s response to BCSP’s questionnaire, 25 February 2016.
MoI’s response to BCSP’s questionnaire, 3 February 2016.

PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
Identifying Patters of Private Security Sector Shortcomings

in Kosovo – The Albi Mall Case
Introduction
The private security sector in Kosovo is ever increasing, their services range from physical pro-
tection of private and public properties, protection of VIPs, safeguarding ‘properties of strategic
importance’, and providing security at sports and entertainment events.276 Despite their growing
presence within the security sector, and the adoption of the Law on Private Security Services in
2011, the regulation of private security companies (PSCs) in Kosovo is still a challenge. The status
of private security guards and in-house security guards, the quality of their training and the hier-
archical structures of PSCs are often questioned, especially when violent incidents occur involving
employees of this sector.
This case study examines one such instance which occurred in one of the largest shopping malls
in Kosovo, Albi Mall, and resulted in the murder of a private security guard who was guarding
the premises. This case study will identify some of the challenges of licensed in-house security
services, where owners of a premise do not hire an external PSC but employ their own security
guards directly. This study will highlight patterns among in-house licensed operators and unli-
censed operators, including the lack of a clear management structure and of proper training of
security guards.
Additionally, this case study advocates for the strengthening of the capacities of the Division for
Private Security Companies (DPSC) within the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MoIA), in order to pre-
vent incidents which may put private security guards in dangerous situations due to the lack of
adequate preparations on how to respond to an imminent threat, and how to behave in accor-
dance with their mandate.
Methodology
This case study was informed by qualitative desk research and extensive analysis of existing le-
gal texts. Additionally research was conducted using news and media reports. Research and data
collected was further supported with structured and semi-structured interviews with key stake-
holders in the private security sector, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, police officers and the Data
Protection Agency. Focus group meetings were held with a variety of representatives from the
aforementioned institutions and sectors in order to gain a better understanding of the manage-
ment structure within PSCs, the trainings provided to security guards and the shortcomings with-
in these. One focus group meeting was held in January 2016 with Kosovo Police representatives,
while the second focus group brought together PSC representatives in March 2016.
276 Florian Qehaja et al. Assessment of Private Security Companies in Kosovo, Prishtina: KCSS, 2009, 9.
Detailed Description of the Case

On Monday, 30 March 2015 at approximately 3 o’clock in the morning, three armed and masked
individuals entered the Albi Mall in Pristina, located just one kilometre outside of the city. As they
entered the shopping mall, the burglars were spotted by the on duty security guard. Following an
altercation between the security guard and the burglars, the security guard was shot and died at
the scene. By the time that the police was informed and arrived at the crime scene, the burglars
had already fled.277
On 10 April 2015, the Police announced they had arrested four suspects for their involvement in
the crime. One of the suspects was a 20 year-old male, accused of fatally shooting the security
guard. The suspect was an employee working as a waiter at the cafeteria where the burglary took
place and immediately confessed the crime.278
At the indictment reading session which took place on the 31 March 2016 in front of the Pristina
Basic Court, the prosecutor explained that on the night of the crime, three of the suspects used a
hidden passage to enter the third floor of the shopping mall. To divert the attention of the guard
on duty the fourth suspect – the waiter at the cafeteria who was waiting in the car –– called the
guard on the phone asking him to bring down the wallet he intentionally left in the bar of one
of the cafeterias where he worked at. Assured by this plan, the three other suspects began their
search for the safe box. However, the guard noticed or heard something on the upper level and
immediately went to check. He approached the burglars, and in panic one of them (the suspect
who later admitted the crime) shot him. Although injured and threatened by a weapon, the guard
refused to retreat from the scene. Instead he approached the armed burglar and started a physical
confrontation with him. During this confrontation the guard was fatally shot.279
Analysis of the Case

In Kosovo, incidents like this one, where the lives of security guards are at risk, are not isolated.
There have been other cases in the past which have had similar, serious consequences. Some of
the issues which trigger these incidents are closely related to the regulation of the private security
sector in Kosovo as well as the functioning of the existing supervision mechanisms.
Within this context, the above case raises several questions. First of all, is the private security em-
ployee supposed to intervene in the case of an armed robbery? Does the professional training en-
able the private security employee to deal with situations like this? Additionally, what is the level
of supervision and support available to private security employees who, like the guard in the Albi
277 Kosova-Info, News Portail “Vritet Punetori i Sigurimit në Albi Mall” [A Security Guard shot dead in Albi Mall)”,
30th March 2015 http://kosova-info.com/vritet-puntori-i-sigurimit-n-albi-mall/
278 “L. Sadiku, i dyshuari kryesor për vrasjen e rojës në Albi Mall” [L. Sadiku, the main suspects for killing of the
Guard in the Albi Mall ], Kosova Press, 10 April 2015, http://www.kosovapress.com/sq/siguri/l-sadiku-i-dyshua-
ri-kryesor-per-vrasjen-e-rojes-ne-albi-mall-39736/
279 Video footage of Indictment Session recorded by “Kallxo.com” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Jiz6b-
VZQA
PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
Mall, are employed directly as in-house security under the management of the shopping mall?
Could the weaknesses of the guarding system in the Albi Mall have motivated further the burglars
to commit the crime? Answers to these questions will also point to whether this is an isolated in-
cident or if such a situation could materialise again given similar circumstances.
Analysing the duties of the private security guard
The victim of this tragic incident was a licensed basic security guard. According to current legis-
lation, a basic security guard is a licensed person who exercises static guarding and mobile pa-
trolling for the physical protection of property or a secure area.280 His/her role is to monitor only
and immediately report any incident to the supervisor and the police.281 A basic security guard is
not obliged to risk their life by directly confronting the perpetrators in order to prevent material
damage of the area which they are tasked to protect. According to the Law on Private Security
Services (hereafter LPSS) basic security guards are not authorized to carry weapons.282 The guard
at the Albi Mall was just a basic security guard and therefore unarmed and unable to prevent the
armed attack on his own.
In the basic security training for private security guards, responding to an incident is one of the
main training modules.283 However, as PSC managers admit,284 those trainings are very short and
highly inadequate to be able to prepare a security guard for a potential incident. Indeed, accord-
ing to PSCs owners only less than two percent fail to pass the examination run by DPSC.285 This
shows that there are no proper curricular criteria for licensing basic security guards. Passing the
exam may not guarantee that private security guards fully understand their duties. Often, wearing
the uniform of a private security guard alone and being seen as a person with authority influences
the guards’ behaviour.286 Guards tend to act as if they have greater powers and are stronger than
they actually are. Therefore, in order to ensure that security guards are reminded of their role and
duties, the LPSS has foreseen a subordination structure within the PSCs which includes: a Respon-
sible Person (legal representative) 287 and a Security Manager.288,289
280 Law on Private Security Services, (Assembly of Kosovo 2011/04-L-004) [hereafter: Law on Private Security Ser-
vices or LPSS], April 2011, Art. 2.
281 PSC Owner A & B interview with author, April 2016.
282 Law on Private Security Services, Article 28.
283 MoIA and DPSC Official interview with author, April 2016.
284 PSC Owner A & B interview with author, April 2016.
285 PSC Owner A, B & C interview with author, April 2016.
286 PSC Owner B interview with author, April 2016.
287 According to Article 2, paragraph 1.26 of the Law on Private Security Services, a Responsible Person is “an indi-
vidual who is at least 21 years old, who has three years’ experience in the security field and who is, according to
this Law held responsible for the activities of an Applicant Entity, a Private Security Company and its employ-
ees, including Security Workers”.
288 According to Article 2, paragraph 1.33 of the Law on Private Security Services, the Security Manager is “a Spe-
cialist Security Worker who is responsible for managing the operations of a Private Security Company”.
289 Law on Private Security Services, Article 12.
Larger PSCs may be capable of imposing a strict hierarchical control, including supervisors and
other managerial positions. However, as will be elaborated in the following section, smaller PSCs,
especially in-house services (despite the fact that they are licensed) often lack functional hierar-
chical structures, which in turn affects how their guards perform their duties and how they react
in difficult situations.
In the Albi Mall incident, several factors might have led the private security guard to take the un-
warranted risk of trying to stop the armed burglars. Potentially, the guard was not entirely aware
of his duty and responsibilities as a basic security guard and acted beyond his mandate. Addition-
ally, he might not have been able to properly judge the risks involved and may have acted out of
fear of losing his job.
Employer’s Position in the Incident
The company for which the security guard worked is a licensed in-house security service, estab-
lished by the Albi Shopping Mall owners to provide services for internal needs only.
The operations of in-house security services are controversial. They are not referred to in the Law
on Private Security Services and until recently it has been questioned whether businesses should
be licensed to provide in-house private security services. Mainstream PSCs have been strongly
against allowing in-house security services to be licensed. Their argument is that unlike regular
PSCs which are obliged to respect a wide range of strict criteria in order to maintain their license,
these criteria do not apply to in-house services. In addition, the in-house security services do not
have any contractual relation with their clients. Because in-house security are usually small in size
it is less likely that the state control body for private security, the Division for Private Security Com-
panies (DPSC), which already lacks in capacities290, will not supervise them. This means that on
the practical level in-house security services are not obliged by anyone to increase professional
capacities of their workers and to engage security managers to supervise their security workers.
Therefore, while economically it is more convenient for a certain business to license its own in-
house security service from the service quality point of view, licensing such companies may pose
risks, in particular to the safety of employees and third parties involved.291
Yet, despite these dilemmas raised by PSC owners, in 2014 the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a
decision which allows these business operators to obtain a license for their in-house security ser-
vices.292 The decision to allow businesses to license their in-house security services has resulted
in both positive and negative outcomes. Positive aspects include the prospect of higher salaries
and, in some cases, better treatment of security guards when it comes to labour rights.293 How-
290 DPSC only has four inspectors.

291 PSC Owner A & B interviews with author, April 2016.
292 Ibid.
293 Impression collected from anonymous random interviews with private security guards working for both in-
house and mainstream licensed PSCs.
PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
ever, the negative aspect is that, as owners of mainstream PSCs pointed out, businesses usually
lack the commercial interest to develop internal professional capacities of their in-house PSCs.294
Hence, compared with the mainstream PSCs, the incentives of these businesses to invest in pro-
fessionalization of their in-house security services remain much lower, since they are not estab-
lished to sell services for third parties, and therefore lack professionalism. In addition, considering
these businesses provide security services only for their own needs, they do not have contractual
obligations towards third parties which would oblige them to develop clear hierarchic and man-
agement structures, security protocols, and define security parameters.295 Considering that they
only cover their in-house needs, these businesses are not obliged to predefine the number of
employees required to cover the protected area of any third party, to have a supervisory staff, or
to define the mechanisms of assistance in case of an incident. This means the obligations of these
businesses regarding their services are only towards DPSC. Considering the limited capacities that
DPSC has, and the high number of larger PSCs operating in Kosovo, in practice the possibility of
these businesses to be penalized for not respecting the parameters set by Law on Private Security
Services or administrative instructions remains extremely low.
In-house security services are found to lack the proper hierarchical structures which larger main-
stream PSCs usually have. Very often, their guards serve alone on duty; they may also be required
to cover a very large area without following any logical security parameters. :In addition, in the
case of the Albi Mall security and other similar in-house security services, clear job descriptions
and regular training were lacking, which would otherwise enable guards to have better capacities
to deal with difficult situations.
Trends and Prevention Measures

In Kosovo, incidents involving private security guards have appeared at all levels of private se-
curity service providers, including PSCs, in-house based security providers, and within the grey
market of this sector.296
The problems regarding mainstream PSCs remain mainly related to violations of labour rights,
which occasionally result in guards who are caught stealing in the areas they are hired to protect,
often because they are not paid enough or at all by their employer.297 When it comes to in-house
based private security, the main problems remain the lack of investment by the business in the
professional capacities and the lack of security management structure.298 Similar problems exist
when it comes to the grey market.
294 PSC Owner J interview with author, April 2016.

295 Ibid.
296 KP Deputy Director interview with author, February 2016.
297 Ibid.
298 PSC Owner A interview with author, April 2016.
Security guards employed by night clubs, discos, pubs, restaurants, and casinos are usually paid in
cash at a daily rate (much higher than licensed basic security guards).299 Their employers usually
ask a high degree of loyalty from them, otherwise they may not be rehired the following day.300 In
many cases they are required to show aggressiveness, disproportional authority towards custom-
ers, and sometimes even to use force, which may lead to violence.
Another incident shows how the lack of training and management that goes with the activities of
such unlicensed guards, can put the safety of both customers and the security personnel them-
selves at risk. The incident in question, which led to the death of a security guard, took place in
the Café Restaurant Bon Vivant which is a busy cafe in the centre of Pristina on 13 October 2014 at
around four o’clock in the afternoon.301
This altercation began when the waitress asked a group of customers to leave the table arguing
that it was already reserved. The customers refused to leave the table, and a guard, who was not
in uniform at the time, intervened by telling the customers to leave. The customers felt offend-
ed by the treatment and refused to comply with the request of the security guard to leave the
restaurant. After a short physical confrontation the guard forced the two customers to leave. A
few minutes later, they returned to the restaurant with a loaded gun, shooting the security guard
in broad daylight.302
In this case, it is difficult to assess whether the behaviour of the security guard was in accordance
with what the situation demanded. Unlike in the Albi Mall case, the guard in the Bon Vivant restau-
rant was not licensed. Nevertheless, the similarity between both cases is that in order for any pri-
vate entity to be able to deliver private security services properly, it is crucial for the guard to have
clear subordination structures in accordance with the Law on Private Security Services.
Lessons Learned
Despite the fact that criminal acts such as armed burglaries are very difficult to prevent, incidents
such as the one in Albi Shopping Mall or in Bon Vivant café could have been responded to without
resorting to violence. In both cases the guards became victims of the crime; this raises questions
of the professionalism of their behaviour.
The main question arising from the Albi Mall case is whether security guards should have phys-
ically confronted the armed burglars while alone on duty. This alsoalso questions the terms of
engagement and the duties that the guard had, as well as his training on dealing with such situ-
ations.
299 Common impression collected through informal discussions with various individuals working as unlicensed
private security guards in pubs, discos, restaurants and night clubs during the period January – April 2016
300 KP Deputy Director interview with author, February 2016.
301 “Ndërron jetë i plagosuri në Prishtinë [video]” [Dies wounded in Pristina], Koha.net, 13 October 2014, http://
koha.net/?id=3&l=29180
302 Ibid.
PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
Additionally, it is necessary to significantly increase the frequency of DPSC inspections, in partic-

ular to prevent incidents with unlicensed guards, as in the second case.303 Indeed, the decision of
DPSC to authorize private businesses to license in-house security services may be considered as
positive, enabling a break from the potential monopoly by bigger PSCs. Such a decision should be
necessarily followed with a significant increase of institutional capacities of DPSC, in order to have
effective supervision over these companies, to ensure that newly licensed in-house guards are not
struggling with similar problems as the ‘grey market guards’ in the lack of hierarchy, training, and
professionalism.
In both cases, similar lessons can be drawn. CurriculaC for basic security training should be more
in-depth, providing an employee with sufficient insight when it comes to their response to inci-
dents. Equally, DPSC should ensure that all private security entities contain functional hierarchical
structures in accordance with the Law on Private Security Services. In order to ensure the response
of their guards during incidents is proportional to the risks, private security entities should contin-
uously invest in professionalizing their personnel. Providing private security employees with de-
tailed terms of reference and employee responsibilities in case of an incident could further prevent
guards from putting themselves or others in unnecessary danger. Taken together, these measures
could establish a safe working environment for the employees of private security agencies and
demand more responsibility of these firms in the provision of adequate security to their clientele.
303 PSC Owner A interview with author, April 2016.

Interviews and Coding of Sources

Position/Title of Interviewee Coding
Deputy Director of the Agency Data Protection Agency Official, 2016
PSC owner and Executive Director of a small PSC Executive Director A
company in the Dukagjini Region
PSC Executive Director of one of the largest PSC Executive Director G, March 2016
companies in Kosovo
Owner of a small company offering CCTV PSC Owner and Security Expert D
services to small businesses.
Deputy Director of the KP working in the KP Deputy Director
Region of Prishtina
Two representatives from the MoIA – Public MoIA and DPSC Officials
Safety Division
Police Officer from the Dukagjini Region Police Officer D
Police Officer from the Prishtina Region Police Officer E
Police Officer from the Anamorava Region Police Officer F
Police Officer from the Prishtina Region – Police Officer H
Operational Department
Owner of a medium company offering CCTV PSC Owner H
services only
Owner of a PSC operating in Prishtina only PSC Owner A
Former Police Officer, Owner of a small PSC Owner and Security Expert
PSC providing services to international
organizations in Kosovo and Security Expert
Owner of a PSC operating in Peja PSC Owner J
Security Manager working in the PSC offering PSC representative and security expert F
CCTV services only
Bibliography
Books
Emini, Donika and M. Vrajolli “Kosovo“. In A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security
Landscape in Southeast Europe, edited by Franziska Klopfer, Nelleke Van Amstel, 31-60.
Belgrade and Geneva: DCAF, 2015.
Vrajolli, Mentor and Sofije Kryeziu, Kosovar Security Barometer. 5th edition. Prishtina: KCSS,
2015.
Florian Qehaja et al. Assessment of Private Security Companies in Kosovo, Prishtina: KCSS, 2009,
9.
PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
Legal Documents
Law on Private Security Services, Assembly of Kosovo 2011/04-L-004, April 2011.

“Ndërron jetë i plagosuri në Prishtinë [video]” [Wounded dies in Pristina], Koha.net,
13 October 2014, http://koha.net/?id=3&l=29180
“L. Sadiku, i dyshuari kryesor për vrasjen e rojës në Albi Mall” [L. Sadiku, the
main suspects for killing of the Guard in the Albi Mall], Kosova Press, 10 April 2015,
http://www.kosovapress.com/sq/siguri/l-sadiku-i-dyshuari-kryesor-per-vrasjen-e-rojes-ne
albi-mall-39736/
Kosova-Info, News Portail “Vritet Punetori i Sigurimit në Albi Mall” [A Security Guard shot
dead in Albi Mall]”, 30th March 2015 http://kosova-info.com/vritet-puntori-i-sigurimit-n-albi-mall/
Video footage of Indictment Session recorded by “Kallxo.com”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Jiz6bVZQA
Official Statistics
Official Statistics of the Kosovo Police, 2016
Official Statistics of the Kosovo Police, March 2016
Officials Statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2016


The conditions necessary to achieve real professionalism amongst PSC staff are complex. The les-
son that can be drawn from the case study on PSC training in Serbia is that the establishment of
a new training and accreditation system is not enough to ensure the professionalism of private
security staff in Serbia. Much needs to be done to make this system effective, including setting
appropriate training goals and ensuring that staff will be able to meet these goals by the end of
the training.
The Serbian case describes how – when the new Serbian law on private security required all PSC
staff to undergo training and pass an examination for accreditation – the private security industry
was reluctant to send their staff to the training.304 Set against this context, Milošević and Petrović
describe how close interpersonal links between staff at the Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) examination
office and the commercial private security training centres create a risk of fraud in the examina-
tion process. The authors argue that if this conflict of interest is not addressed, the functioning of
the training and accreditation system will lose credibility and risk the development of fraudulent
practices.
It is clear that clients need to demand more professionalism so that PSC managers do not see
training as a pure burden but as an investment. At the moment the trend in Serbia and other
countries in the region goes in the opposite direction; clients (especially public sector clients) rare-
ly set or enforce quality standards for PSCs. The private security industry and the state should also
consider reviewing the private security training system. To this end, it is important to incorporate
the opinion of private security professionals on the relevance and pragmatic usefulness of specific
training modules.
The death of the Albi Mall private security guard at the hands of the burglar he was attempting to
apprehend in the Part 4’s second case study is an extreme, and luckily not common, example of
the consequences of a lack of professionalism. As Emini and Vrajolli show, the guard went beyond
his assigned role by continuing to pursue an armed burglar because he lacked sufficient training.
Emini and Vrajolli explain that the guard was placed at risk because he was employed directly as
an in-house guard and had considerably less managerial control and support than if he had been
employed through a private security company. Managers of in-house staff are not obliged to pre-
define the number of employees required to deliver effective security, to have supervisory staff, or
to define the mechanisms of assistance in the case of an incident – by contrast these practices are
common in contracts between PSCs and their clients.
The case therefore testifies to the importance of well-functioning managerial control in a private
security structure, and to the importance of a clear definition of PSC staff tasks, rights and respon-
304 They considered many of the lessons irrelevant for the performance of their job. They also felt that the training
was too expensive and time-consuming, and were dissatisfied that they had to release their staff from their
duties to allow them to attend training.
PART3 The challenge
PART
PART2:4:The
Therole
of
Challenge
quality
of PSCsand
of
in Ensuring
the
sustainability
protectionof
Professionalism
as aobjects
result
national
procurement
security
amongst importance
processes
PSC Staff
sibilities. It also makes a case for considering how PSC staff employment conditions affect their
professional behaviour. It is argued that a precarious employment situation may have caused the
Albi Mall guard to be afraid of losing his job if he did not do everything possible to apprehend the
burglars. This may have motivated him to take unnecessary risks.
In sum, when considering the regulation of private security professionalism, training and accredi-
tation, policy makers should consider the following questions:
• What skills and knowledge do private security staff need to carry out the tasks assigned to
them within the limits of the law, and how can these be ensured by obligatory basic training?
In this vein, how can industry representatives be consulted so as to profit from their knowl-
edge on standards of professionalism and training needs?
• How can the professionalism of training institutions and examination centres be ensured so as
to make sure that training is indeed conducted properly? For example, what anti-corruption or
conflict of interest measures could be put in place? What kind of oversight is needed?
• Which measures are necessary to ensure proper managerial control and responsibility over all
private security staff? Which support and control structures are necessary to make sure that
the staff know their tasks, rights and obligations, have opportunities to receive guidance, and
are held accountable to industry standards?
132
Policy Suggestions for

Improving Private Security
Governance in Southeast
Europe
The aim of this book is to explore and explain the impact that private security has on human rights
protection, the democratic order of a country and the state’s and people’s security.
The eight case studies confirmed that private security plays an increasingly important role in the
security sector in all four target countries: in Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo and in Serbia. However, an
increase in private security did not necessarily lead to an increase in security. On the contrary, the
case studies show that in many instances, insecurity was merely shifted from one social group to
another and that often security is provided at the expense of human rights protection. The fact
that existing regulation is often not enforced or controlled or that the state or state officials do not
set clear limits to the role of private security actors, shows that there is an overall lack of awareness
of the impact that private security does or should have. It also means that opportunities for pri-
vate security to contribute to an increase in security are not seized because not enough is being
done to ensure that private security can act in a professional and accountable manner.
Privatization of security must not lead to the state abdicating its duty to en-
sure the safety of the state and all citizens
Several case studies in this volume tell the story of an increasing privatisation of security services
that were previously delivered by state security.305 If large sections of security provision, in partic-
ular security priority setting, are privatised, then the state abdicates its duty to ensure the basic
security all citizens need to enjoy their human rights. The state is obliged to guarantee all citizens
all human rights equally and has to provide the security that is necessary to this end.306 In the
absence of effective security, human rights – such as the right to life, the prohibition of torture or
the prohibition of slavery and forced labour – cannot be guaranteed. All rights are at peril if the
state institutions that are responsible for ensuring these rights are not preserved and protected.
For in a privatised security market, security priorities have to match market demands. A commer-
cial security provider will offer the security their clients demand and can pay for. These priorities
305 See in particular Part 1 of this volume.

306 Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1713 (2005) Democratic oversight of the security
sector in member states.
might coincide with a security agenda that aims to ensure the protection of citizens’ human rights,
but it does not necessarily have to. Therefore security that is offered commercially can only ever
complement but not replace the state duty to provide the basic security necessary to ensure every
individual’s human rights.
In addition, a state that abdicates its priority to provide and set the priorities for the majority of
security offered in the country also deprives its citizens from their right to self-determination.
American scholar David Alan Sklansky has noted that in countries where large parts of security are
ensured by private providers, it is the PSCs and their clients and not the citizens and their elected
representatives in parliament and government who determine the security agenda.307
The Vidin case study in Part 1 in which a private security company de facto assumed the role of po-
lice in the Bulgarian region is a pertinent example in this context. It shows that clear limits need to
be set to the privatisation of security to avoid that the state fails in its human rights obligations. In
this case, a Bulgarian PSC, with the support of the local mayor, was able to provide protection from
burglars for a large part of the local community. However, the PSC did not provide other kinds of
security – for example security for vulnerable groups such as victims of domestic abuse – because
it was not hired to do so. Another limit to the privatisation of security should also be set when pri-
vatisation leads to greater social and economic inequality. Security enables active participation in
social and economic life.308 Citizens who do not feel secure enough to freely engage in social and
economic activities will accordingly be less well-placed to seize such opportunities.309 The PSCs
providing security in Vidin, Bulgaria and Vaqarr, Albania, (Part 1) had to downscale or cease their
activities when they lost clients and therefore funding, leaving a security void in their wake which
police struggled to fill on short notice. This illustrates how the provision of security (and hence
equal access to human rights and social and economic opportunities) is at a risk of becoming both
unequal and inconstant if it is linked to the the profitability of PSC operations and the financial sol-
vency of PSCs. The PSC and their clients’ solvency may increase or decrease, but security certainly
will not be provided as an undeniable right to all citizens.
Outsourcing of security decreases security sector accountability310

Many security measures employed by the state such as stop and search, interrogations or deten-
tion, can limit an individual’s basic rights. To make sure that unlawful limitations to these rights are
307 Sklansky, David Alan, Private Policing and Human Rights. Law & Ethics of Human Rights, Vol. 5, Issue 1, Ar-
ticle 3, 2011; UC Berkeley Public Law Research Paper No. 1792651. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/ab-
stract=1792651
308 Strange, Susan, States and Markets, 2nd Edition. 45. Strange argues: “By exercising this power, the providers
of security may incidentally acquire for themselves special advantages in the production, or consumption of
wealth and special rights or privileges in social relations. Thus the security structure inevitably has an impact
on the who-gets-what of the economy.”
309 Recommendation Rec(2001)10 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the European Code of
Police Ethics.
310 Much of this argument was developed together with Paulo Costa, Police Programme Manager, Southeast
Europe Division, DCAF.
134
brought to justice or avoided altogether, state security actors have to be accountable and trans-
parent. When the state outsources such activities to a PSC it becomes more difficult to ensure
accountability.
In the good governance of state security accountability is established at several levels: individual
accountability of the professional, direct control of the manager and the hierarchy chain, internal
control mechanisms and external control and oversight. Of central importance is the behaviour of
the individual professional and the direct management who through their professional conduct
in line with legal and constitutional requirements avoid any misconduct or violation of laws from
occurring. The same level of control and oversight would have to be applied to private security ac-
tors acting on behalf of state security, which would first of all require serious commitment to train-
ing PSC staff, especially on human rights standards. This is not evident, especially in the four target
countries examined in this volume; where training standards are generally low (see below). Even
with the adequate training which can ensure the professionalism of the individual PSC employee,
real accountability would mean that staff is not only under the control of their direct manager but
also a representative of the state body on whose behalf they act, such as the local head of police.
Unlike a state security employee, the PSC employee has not committed themselves to working for
the state and is not a legitimate representative of the state. As was discussed at the closing of Part
1, adding additional layers of management and control might raise costs and decrease transpar-
ency and accountability or the control system.311
Corruption, bad economic policies, weakened rule of law severely limit the
efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of private security
A clear lesson from the case studies is that often wider systemic social, political or economic prob-
lems are the causes behind a lack of professionalism by private security. Wide-spread economic
or political corruption, a struggling and badly regulated economy or the lack of rule of law can
be important obstacles to efficient, effective and accountable private security. As long as these
contextual problems cannot be addressed, policy makers should be careful if and to which extent
they allow the privatisation or outsourcing of state security to private security providers.
A common theme throughout the case studies is the inability of PSCs to pay their staff adequately
or on time, because the prices for private security services are so low that PSC managers struggle
to cover staff costs. As a consequence, staff are unmotivated and may act unprofessionally. At the
same time their labour rights are violated. The authors of the case studies all consider that the
fierce competition of the many PSCs who tend to outbid each other with unrealistically low offers
in order to win contracts. The case study on public procurement practices in Tirana, Albania (Part
3) showed that the private security market in Albania is replete with companies which are obvi-
311 See also: Bieri, Matthias (2015) ‘Beständiger Aufstieg: Private Sicherheitsunternehmen in der Schweiz’, in: Nün-
list, Christian; Thränert, Oliver (eds.) Bulletin 2015 on Swiss Security Policy, Center for Security Studies (CSS),
ETH Zurich, pp. 63-86.
ously lacking the capital to be economically viable and which systematically underpay their staff.
The state does not seem to prevent these unviable businesses to be set up and continue to exist.
The employees, on the other hand, faced with the same dire economic situation, are willing to put
up with this because they know that living in a country with a very high unemployment rate, it
might be better to stay in a job, even if the salary is only paid occasionally. The lack of choices and
desperation forcing PSC employees to accept mistreatment by their employers is also evoked in
the Albi Mall case (Part 4). The Djerdap hydropower plant case study (Part 2) demonstrates how a
PSC’s solvency links to the professionalism of private security services. In the case study an inter-
national PSC was able to provide much better services than because unlike the local PSC which
had previously held the contract it had concluded a contract with a realistic budget with its clients
and it was able to rely on a vast pool of expertise and financial resources.
In many countries with a weak economy, where few private businesses or individuals can pay
for private security services, the contracts that PSCs manage to make with state institutions con-
stitute a the source of a large part of overall PSC revenue. For PSCs in Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo
and Serbia, the state is a major client and the terms set by state bodies in public procurement
contracts have a great impact on PSCs’ professional practices. Simultaneously, public bodies in
these countries are notoriously inefficient and lacking in transparency and are often accused of
corruption. It is therefore not surprising that public procurement practices seldom follow interna-
tional standards. The Tirana public procurement case study in Part 3 is a case in point. The lack of
professional standards specified either in tender selection criteria and the lack of control by public
clients on whether the security services have been delivered as required, means that PSCs see
little incentive to work professionally and improve the quality of their services.
Systemic corruption can affect every aspect of PSC activities, especially those which are meant
to improve and maintain the professionalism of its services. Unfortunately, both economic and
political corruption is still very prevalent in Southeast Europe. The case study on the new PSC
training scheme in Serbia (Part 4) showed that even with a new detailed training curriculum and
clear accreditation requirements for private security staff, the credibility of the PSC training and
examination is jeopardized if it cannot be assured that all conflict of interest and corruption risks
are removed in the training system. When the state-owned hydropower plant in the Djerdap case
study (Part 2) hired a PSC, local politicians used their power to compel the PSC’s management to
employ only staff from the surrounding municipalities. These were not necessarily the most qual-
ified employees but it seems that the PSC had no choice but to yield to the pressure even if this
might mean compromising their professionalism.
Policy suggestions
To conclude this chapter, a set of policy suggestions to different actors in the private security
landscape are proposed below. The suggestions touch on many issues covered in the case studies
136
of this book. Some are direct answers to the open questions that were raised at the end of Parts 1
to 4.
Legislator: When considering increased privatisation of security, bear in mind that the
state has the duty to provide security consistently, reliably and equally to
all citizens; this means clearly establishing that it is the role of the state to
provide security that is needed to protect citizens’ human rights and equal
access to social, political and economic opportunities.
Legislation on the privatization of security and the outsourcing of state

security has to take into account the limits that external factors like sys-
temic corruption, feeble control mechanism and a weak economy pose to
the good functioning of private security. Private security regulation should
be informed by this reflection and either (a) set in place policy measures
to remove these systemic obstacles that do not allow private security to
provide quality services or (b) limit the services that private security are
allowed to provide.
State security: State security activities outsourced to private security need to be thor-
oughly examined as to the ways in which they could potentially limit hu-
man rights; great caution should be taken when outsourcing activities
which can limit people’s rights.
Only staff trained in professionally carrying out security services on behalf

of the state in line with human rights obligations should be allowed to car-
ry out these tasks.
Managerial control and accountability has to be ensured by the state ac-

tor over outsourced security activities; if the accountability that is required
from the state security actor cannot be ensured for the private security pro-
vider, the task should not be outsourced.
State agencies
purchasing security: Detailed and transparent public procurement processes with regard to
selection and result delivery monitoring are essential not only to ensure
effective public procurement of security services but also to raise the pro-
fessional standards of private security in general.
State clients of security services have to ensure that effective mechanisms

are set in place and applied to control the effective, efficient and account-
able delivery of security
State control and

accreditation: The legal framework clearly has to set out the areas that need state control
and oversight; in particular those areas where private security can limit cit-
izens’ human rights.
State control should also look into causes that limit the professionalism
of private security, including the rights and working conditions of private
security workers.
To ensure the professionalism of the sector training and accreditation of

private security companies and private security professionals have to be
transparent, relevant and effective.
Parliamentary oversight /
independent oversight bodies:
The professional delivery of security by private security sector should be
considered as an important contribution to good governance of the secu-
rity sector and (to some extent) the protection of state and human security
as well as the protection of human rights and the state’s democratic order;
oversight bodies responsible for these issues should also oversee the pro-
fessional functioning of the private security sector.
PSC industry: PSCs should be aware of the importance of support for private security
employees the need for adequate managerial control and support.
The private security industry should pro-actively develop and adhere to

self-regulatory standards of professionalism that reflect their importance
in the country’s security landscape and that contributes to efficient, effec-
tive and accountable security provision.
Professional standards should be discussed in industry associations

through which the industry can also advocate with the government for a
regulatory framework that is necessary as a precondition for private securi-
ty professionalism.
138
List of Contributors
Ola Çami was a researcher at the Center for European and Security Affairs at the Institute for De-
mocracy and Mediation (IDM), Tirana, Albania. She holds an MSc in economics from the University
of Bonn, Germany.
Arjan Dyrmishi is Head of the Center for European and Security Affairs at the Institute for Democ-
racy and Mediation (IDM), Tirana, Albania. His research at the IDM includes national and regional
security, security sector governance, institutional reform and capacity building, police corruption
and integrity, diplomatic practice, intelligence, and counter terrorism. He hold and MA in Political
Sciences from the University of Siena, Italy.
Rositsa Dzhekova is Coordinator of the Security Program at the Center for the Study of Democ-
racy (CSD). Her research at CSD is related to crime, corruption, informal and under-ground econ-
omies, asset forfeiture, law enforcement, border security and radicalisation. She hold and MA in
Social Research from the University of Sheffield and a BA in Political Science from the Free Univer-
sity Berlin.
Donika Emini currently holds the position of Researcher at the Kosovar Centre for Security Stud-
ies (KCSS). She holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Willy Brandt School of Public
Policy at the University of Erfurt. Her fields of expertise include international peace and security,
minorities and human rights in the security sector, regional security initiatives, as well as gender
and security sector reform.
Franziska Klopfer is Project Coordinator in the Operations Southeast Europe Division of the Ge-
neva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), where she is working for the
Division’s civil society cooperation programme.
Anton Kojouharev is an analyst on criminological and sociological research. His current work fo-
cuses on financial crime, corruption, money laundering, and fraud. Prior to joining the Centre for
the Study of Democracy (CSD) he worked as an expert in Crown Agents’“Programme for the Mod-
ernisation of the Bulgarian Financial Administration” with a remit in institutional capacity building
in AML and financial fraud, inter-agency intelligence and information exchange, and corruption
risk management. Anton has experience in the private sector as an Information Security and Risk
Manager with an emphasis on online and mobile payment platforms. He holds a BA in Political
Science and a BA in International Affairs from the University of Nevada, Reno. He has trained in
“Information Security Management” at the University
Marko Milošević works as Researcher at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP). He holds a
BA and MA in sociology and is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University
of Belgrade. His research interests are privatisation of security, transparency, peace operations,
terrorism, arms transfers and the military in general. He has published a number of articles in Ser-
bian and foreign journals and publications.
Predrag Petrović is Executive Director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP). Mr Petro-
vić is a graduate of the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Belgrade where he also
completed his MPhil on the subject of Privatisation of Security in Weak States: The Case of Serbia.
His master’s thesis was subsequently published by a Belgrade publisher, Čigoja. He started at the
Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) working on projects covering accountability, integrity
and corruption in the security sector, as well as privatisation of security and intelligence reform
focusing on developing research methodologies that suited to Serbian political and economic
context. He has authored a number of works that have been published in Serbian and foreign
journals and publications.
Nelleke van Amstel is a Project Coordinator for the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of
Armed Forces (DCAF) on the topic of private security governance and regulation, mainly working
on enhancing the implementation of the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Ser-
vice Providers (the ICoC), along with the promotion of other international and national standards
to increase oversight and accountability of the private security sector.
Mentor Vrajolli currently holds the position of Senior Researcher and at the same time is also
the Secretary of the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS). He has a legal study background
and by the end of 2008 had started working as a researcher for KCSS. Since then, Mr. Vrajolli is
engaged in different research and advocacy projects implemented by KCSS, exercising an import-
ant role both in the field of research and project management. He is an author and co-author of
numerous publications that cover different areas of the security sector and private security sector
development in Kosovo.
140
PPROJECT PARTNERS
ROJECT PARTNERS
Project partners
The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control
The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control
The Geneva Centre of Armed Forces (DCAF) is one of the world’s
of Armed Forces (DCAF) is one of the world’s
for the Democratic Control of
leading institutions in the areas of security
Armed Forces (DCAF) is one of the world’s leading insti-
sector reform and security sector governance.
tutions in the areas PROJECT PARTNERS
of security sector reform and security
DCAF provides in‐country advisory support and
DCAFThe Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control
practical assistance programmes, develops and
sector governance. provides in-country advisory
of Armed Forces (DCAF) is one of the world’s
promotes appropriate democratic norms at the
support and practical assistance programmes, develops
international and national levels, advocates
and promotes appropriate democratic norms at the in-
good practices and conducts policy‐related
research to ensure effective democratic
ternational and national levels, advocates good practices and conducts policy-related research to
governance of the security sector.
ensure effectivewww.dcaf.ch
democratic
www.dcaf.ch governance of the security sector.
www.dcaf.ch The The Center
Center for the Study of of Democracy
for the Study Democracy (CSD)
(CSD) is is
an an
interdisciplinary
interdisciplinary public policy
public policy institute
institute founded
founded in in
1990 www.dcaf.ch
1990 dedicated
dedicated to to the
the values
values of of democracy
democracy and and

market economy.
market economy. CSD
CSD is is a a non‐partisan,
non‐partisan,
The Center for the Study The
independent
independent
Center for the (CSD)
of Democracy Study of
organisation fostering
organisation fostering isDemocracy
anthe (CSD) is an
interdisciplinary
the reform
reform
interdisciplinary public policy institute founded in
process in Bulgaria through impact on policy and civil
public policy institute founded in 1990 dedicated
process in Bulgaria through impact on policy and civil
1990 dedicated to the values to of
thedemocracy
values ofand de-
society.
society. market economy.
mocracy and market economy. CSD is a non-partisan, independent CSD is a non‐partisan,
www.csd.bg
www.csd.bg independent organisation fostering the reform
organisation fostering
theprocess in Bulgaria through impact on policy and civil
reform process in Bulgaria through impact
society.society.
on policy and civil
www.csd.bg

www.csd.bg

The Institute for Democracy and Mediation

The Institute for (IDM) is an independent, non‐governmental
(IDM) is an independent, non‐governmental
Democracy and Mediation (IDM)
organisation, founded in November 1999 in
is an independent, non-governmental organisation,
Tirana, Albania. It works to strengthen the
(IDM) is an independent, non‐governmental
founded in November 1999 in Tirana, Albania. It works to
Albanian civil society, to monitor, analyse
and facilitate the Euro‐Atlantic integration
strengthen the Albanian civil society, to monitor, analyse
processes of the country and to help the
and facilitate the Euro-Atlantic integration processes of
consolidation of good governance and
the country andinclusive policy making. IDM carries on its
to help the consolidation of good gov-
inclusive policy making. IDM carries on its
objectives through expertise, innovative
ernance and inclusive policy making. IDM carries on its
policy research, analysis and assessment‐
objectives through expertise, innovative policy research,
based policy options.
analysis and assessment-based
www.idmalbania.org policy options.
www.idmalbania.org
www.idmalbania.org
www.idmalbania.org
The Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
is is a a non‐governmental
non‐governmental and non‐profit
and non‐profit think think
is a non‐governmental and non‐profit think
tank established in 2008 with the main aim of
developing
developing research studies
research
developing studies in
research in the
the security
studies in security
the security
sector.
sector. KCSS
KCSS conducts
conducts research
research and
and organises
organises
sector. KCSS conducts research and organises
conferences and seminars in the related fields
of of security
security of policy,
policy,
security rule
rule of of law,
policy, law, of
rule justice,
justice, and and
and
law, justice,
monitoring
monitoring monitoring
of of the of the sector.
the security
security security sector.
sector. KCSS KCSS activities
KCSS activities
activities contribute
contribute
contribute to strengthening
to to strengthening
strengthening the the
the principles of
principles
principles of
of
democratic oversight of security institutions in the Republic of Kosovo.
106
106
106
www.idmalbania.org

The Kosovar The Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Centre for Security Studies (KCSS) is a
is a non‐governmental and non‐profit think
non-governmental and non-profit think tank established
developing
in 2008 with the main aim research studies in
of developing the security
research studies
sector. KCSS conducts research and organises
in the security sector. KCSS conducts research and organ-
ises conferences and seminars
of security policy, in the
rule of related fieldsand
law, justice, of se-
monitoring
curity policy, rule of law,of the security
justice, sector. KCSS ofactivities
and monitoring contribute
the security to KCSS
sector. strengthening
activitiesthe principles of
contribute
to strengthening the principles of democratic oversight of security institutions in the Republic of
Kosovo. 106
www.qkss.org
The Belgrade Centre www.qkss.org

for Security Policy is an independent research

centre that devotes its efforts to improving the security of individual citi-
The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy is an independent research
centre that devotes its efforts to improving the security of individual
zens and society as a whole. The focus of the Centre’s interests are policies
citizens and society as a whole. The focus of the Centre’s interests
aimed at the improvement of human, national, regional, European and
are policies aimed at the improvement of human, national, regional,
European and global security. The Belgrade Centre for Security
global security. The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy realises its objec-
Policy realises its objectives through research, analysis and practical
tives through research, policy
analysis and practical
proposals, policy proposals,
advocacy, education, publishing and advocacy,
specialist
support for security sector reform in Serbia.
education, publishing and specialist support for security sector reform in
www.bezbednost.org
Serbia.

www.bezbednost.org

Private Security in Practice Case Studies From Southeast Europe

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Private Security in Practice Case Studies From Southeast Europe

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Private Security in Practice Case Studies From Southeast Europe

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Private Security in Practice:

Case studies from Southeast Europe

Editors: Franziska Klopfer and Nelleke van Amstel

Design and Layout: DTP Studio, Belgrade

All rights reserved

Geneva, November 2016

Understanding Private Security Governance in Southeast Europe

Policy Suggestions for Improving Private Security Governance

The Evolving Functions of Private Security in a Small

Data and Methodology

Security Issues 1991-2015

6 INSTAT GIS, accessed 05 February 2016, http://instatgis.gov.al/#!/l/prefectures/population/prefpop1 Indicating

Current opportunities and challenges regarding the efficiency of PSCs

Box 2. Example of informal cooperation among PSCs

30 Cf. Part 3, Public Procurement of 2015 in Tirana.

PSCs to the Rescue: The Role of PSCs in Deprived,

Data and Methodology

Table 11. Villages where PSCs provide specialised services.

Private Security Companies Place/Village/Coverage Service

The Northwest and Vidin region in numbers

Figure 1. Registered property crime per 10,000 inhabitants by regions in 201454

Figure 2. Identified perpetrators of crime in the Vidin Region55

PSC patrolling in villages – the model

Main characteristics of the model

63 BG-VN1, BG-NV-1, BG-NV2 interviews with authors, Vidin and Novoseltsi.

66 BG-VN2, BG-NV1, BG-NV2 interview with authors, Vidin and Novoseltsi.

Main challenges and shortcomings of the model

73 BG-VN1, BG-VN2 interview with authors, Vidin.

Discussion and Conclusion

76 VN-PS1 interview with authors, Vidin.

List of interviewed sources

“Kmetove ot pernishko poiskaha zhandarmeriya v selata” [Mayors from Pernik re-

“MVR prashta jandarmeriia na granicata s Turciia” [MoI sends the gendarmerie

“Naznachavat 400 bezrabotni za okhraniteli na selskostopanskata produktsiya vuv Vidinsko”

“Pozitsiya na nafots otnosno natsionalna programa sigurnost,” [NAFOTS position regarding

Tsvetkova, Parvoleta . “ Sela se otkazavat ot politsiyata, naemat chastni gardove” [Villages

Tomova, Ilona. Roma in the media. Sofia: Association Integro, 2014.

Cooperation between Private Security Companies and the

The Use of PSCs’ CCTV Footage by the KP

86 Interview with Kosovo Police Officer D, 2016.

The ECK Case: A Lack of Coordination and Cooperation

Arguments for a Different Model of Cooperation

95 Interview with PSC Owner and Security Expert D, March 2016.

Analysis and Examination of the Legal Aspects of Cooperation between the

99 Interview with PSC Executive Director D, March 2016.

Conclusion and Policy Recommendations

Belgrade/Geneva: DCAF, 2015.

Law of the Republic of Kosovo on the Police, Law No. 04/L-076

Official Statistics provided by the interviewees

Officials Statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2016

Newspaper on Online Articles

“Prishtina pa kamera sigurie në hapësirat publike” [Prishtina without security cameras in

Reflections and Questions

The role of PSCs

Mission Critical, Mission Impossible – The Role of PSCs in

Figure 1. Regulatory Framework for CIP in Bulgaria

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers

Protection of important facilities and activities and PSC

Issues with the CIP regime

Protection of facilities and activities of importance to national security