ACT! focuses its work and resources to the following three areas:

1. ENERGY

ACT! work in the energy sector dates back from its establishment when it started providing legal and administrative services to a private company operating in the energy sector; later expanded its services within two short-term donors funded assignments. The breakthrough happened in 2015 when ACT! was subcontracted by Winrock International to implement numerous activities within the Clean Energy Investment Project funded by USAID aimed at streamlining the RE project development and investment processes and to establish low emissions development planning processes in North Macedonia. Since then, ACT! is continuously subcontracted and involved in USAID funded energy-related projects implemented in North Macedonia and in the region.

Through these projects, ACT! is supporting the Government institutions in achieving its goals in the energy sector by creating all policy and legal prerequisites aligned with the Energy Community requirements and building capacities to key institutions to advance energy market development and regional integration. With all these projects implemented, ACT! gained experience and strengthened its capacities to implement donor funded projects in the energy sector, starting from short-term individual-expert-based assignments and moving to high-value, comprehensive and complex projects. At the same time, ACT! has established close and successful cooperation and strong partnership with some of the most renowned donor contractors and public institutions responsible for creating or implementing national energy policies. In parallel, many ACT! internal experts and close external associates have been individually contracted to perform tasks within many other donor funded projects in the energy sector.

In addition, ACT! is helping private investors in various energy related investment projects and activities in:

  • Initiating and going through administrative procedures for becoming strategic investor
  • Initiating and going through procedures for becoming and operating as privileged producer of electricity from renewable sources
  • Participating on tenders for becoming private partner to the municipalities in the reconstruction and operation of the municipal steet lighting (ESCO model)

The following are some of the recent significant ACT! activities implemented and/or outputs produced:

  • Drafted the 2018 North Macedonia Energy Law and its 2019 and 2022 amendments, fully harmonized with the EU Third Energy Package and EnC requirements.
  • In the period 2018-2022 drafted around 50 bylaws and / or amendments to the bylaws stemming from the 2018 Energy Law.
  • Supported the processes of certification of the electricity transmission system operator (MEPSO), merger of NER and GA-MA and appointment of the nominated electricity market operator (MEMO for NEMO).
  • ПDeveloped tender dossier and/or supported conducting of the tenders for selection of universal electricity supplier, RE off-taker and for awarding premiums in North Macedonia, and preparation of the first tender for awarding guaranteed purchase price in the Republic of Kosovo.
  • Developed Roadmap for streamlining the RE investment process, which made it possible to reduce the duration of the investment procedures from 36 to 24 months.
  • Conducted analysis on types of premiums and prices of electricity universal service supply, studies on green certificates and energy balance, as well as developed guides for designing tenders for premiums and for investments in different RE technologies.

2. PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

ACT! as a company and ACT!’s experts individually has been continuously included in in the field of public procurement and public-private partnership (PPP) through various roles and forms. Through engagements on donor funded projects or consulting clients from the public or private sectors, or even activities taken for its own needs, the expertise of ACT! in this area includes:

  • Writing regulations in the field of public procurement
  • Developing tender documents, technical specifications, and models of contracts for specific public procurement procedures and PPP
  • Assistance in undertaking all actions in public procurement and PPP procedures, including the use of the Electronic System for Public Procurement
  • Assistance in drafting bids and appeals for economic operators and in the overall communication with contracting authorities
  • Conducting analysis of national legislation implementation and comparative analyzes with with recommendations for improvements
  • Development of feasibility studies for justification of establishing a PPP
  • Conducting trainings and other types of educational events, including practical in-house trainings

More significant activities and deliverables of ACT and/or its experts in the field of public procurement and PPP are:

  • Organizing over 100 trainings and other types of educational events by certified public procurement trainers
  • Participation in the writing of part of the amendments and additions to the previous national laws on public procurement and on the by-laws for Electronic System for Public Procurement
  • Participation in the design, introduction, implementation, and upgrades of Electronic System for Public Procurement and in developing the manuals for its use
  • Developed overview of recent significant EU Court of Justice cases on public procurement presented in a way to be easily usable as support material for training and certification of public procurement officers in Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Provided assistance in the entire process of establishing PPP for the construction and operation of photovoltaic power plants in REK Oslomej, from the preparation of a feasibility study through the development of tender documentation and answering questions to the conclusion of the contract for the establishment of the PPP

2. PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION

ACT! and its experts are involved in providing consulting services in the field of personal data protection soon after the establishment of the first comprehensive national legal framework for the protection of personal data compliant with EU regulation. The services that ACT! provides in the field of personal data protection are adapted to customers and so far, these services have been used by entities that perform various activities such as: marketing agencies, employment mediation agencies, notary and law offices, tourism and hospitality activities, energy companies, etc.


Through the provided services, all customers have established a system with technical and organizational measures to secure secrecy and protection of personal data during its processing. Additionally, ACT! advises these entities before undertaking specific actions that include processing of personal data for specific purposes, in order to comply with the regulations.


The expertise and services of ACT! in this area include:

  • Screening of the legal entity for the degree of compliance with the personal data protection regulation
  • Developing a gap analysis for compliance with legal obligations for the protection of personal data
  • Assistance in the preparation of internal acts and procedures for the establishment of a system for the protection of personal data, technical and organizational measures in accordance with the Law on Personal Data Protection and its by-laws
  • Assistance to the personal data protection officers in carrying out periodic controls of compliance with the regulations for the protection of personal data by the controllers and
  • Provision of an external person as a personal data protection officer.

4. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM

ACT! and its experts are involved in the public administration reform by participating in the implementation of donor funded projects . In addition, ACT! actively participate in the working groups formed to prepare various regulations, strategies and action plans for public bodies or specific areas and/or to implement projects that aim to simplify administrative procedures and introduce a one-stop shop system.


Through involvement in donor projects, the expertise of ACT! in this area includes the following sub-areas:



4.1. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVANTS

More significant activities and deliverables of ACT! and/or its experts in this area are:

  • Provided support to the Ministry of Information Society and Administration for the improvement of the national training coordination system and implementation of the regulatory framework for public administration
  • Supported the creation of the Catalogue of job positions
  • Carried out a comprehensive review of existing mechanisms for ensuring the implementation of legal acts for administrative servants and public sector employees
  • Supported the completion of the legal framework for administrative servants and public sector employees by drafting part of the by-laws deriving from the Law on Administrative Servants and the Law on Public Sector Employees
  • Developed Administrative Law compendium in which the national legal framework on PA is presented in a well-organised and user-friendly manner.
  • Organizing educational events (trainings and counselings) for the implementation of regulations for administrative servants and public sector employees

4.2. INSPECTION SUPERVISION

Through the implementation of donor projects, ACT! and its experts expertise and services in this field include:

  • Implementation of functional analyzes of the inspection bodies in Macedonia, as well as an in-depth legal, institutional and regulatory analysis of certain aspects of the legislation related to the inspection system, including a comparative analysis
  • Participation in a working group for drafting the new Law on Inspection Supervision and other laws of importance for the inspection authorities
  • Creation of checklists for over 40 laws based on previously developed guidelines for creating checklists and templates
  • Reviewing and making proposals for harmonizing the misdemeanor provisions of the special laws with the new Law on Misdemeanors
  • Assistance in conducting an analysis of the software used by inspection authorities and preparing a design for a comprehensive e-inspector software solution

4.3. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

In the area of administrative procedures, ACT! and its experts are active through involvement in donor projects and activities in the field of education and publishing.Some of the most important activities and deliverables of ACT! in this area are:

  • Legal analyses, findings and recommendations in the field of administrative procedures
  • Re-engineering of existing administrative procedures
  • Assistance in implementation of administrative procedures for entities from the public and private sector
  • Drafting various legal acts and by-laws that regulate administrative procedures and operations in an electronic environment, including the regulations for electronic signatures and interoperability
  • Publishing academic literature
  • Organizing educational events (trainings and counselings) for the implementation of regulations in the field of administrative law

4.4. FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS

Portfolios of ACT! and its experts include assignments related to conducting functional analysis, and the following stand out as more significant:

  • Support for preparation of new methodology for functional analysis and preparation of improvement plans
  • Implementation of functional analyzes based on the new methodology and preparation of improvement plans for the Ministry of Information Society and Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Legislative Secretariat and several inspection authorities
  • Implementation of trainings for officials who will implement the methodology for functional analysis

To support the institutions from the public sector in the preparation of acts for internal organization and systematization based on the findings and recommendations of the functional analysis, the ACT!’s team performs functional analyzes in accordance with the bylaws on this subject matter, which include:

  • Development of an action plan for the implementation of a functional analysis
  • Collecting and analysing documents
  • Overview of the organization and filling of the jobs
  • Creation and filling matrix with an overview of competences
  • Carrying out activities related to completing a questionnaire for self-assessment and interviews of employees and
  • Analysis of data and documents and report preparation on the implemented functional analysis.

In addition to functional analyses, ACT! provides other services to assist in the process of changing the internal organizational structure and procedures such as drafting the acts for internal organization and systematization of posts, as well as through the application of quality management tools such as CAF (common framework for assessing the performance and delivery of services in the civil service) and customer satisfaction surveys.


4.5. Е-GOVERNMENT

ACT! and its experts were involved in the implementation of donor projects covering various e- Government areas (e-Procurement, e-Signature, e-Data, e-Invoicing, etc.).



More significant activities and services in the domestic and regional environment in this area are:

  • Development of technical specifications and action plans for t implementation of e-Government services
  • Analysis of the relevant legislation
  • Re-engineering of existing business processes and administrative procedures
  • Contribution to the preparation of the national Strategy for the development of e-Government 2010- 2012
  • Drafting of various laws and by-laws that regulate administrative procedures and operations in an electronic environment, including the regulations for electronic signatures and interoperability
  • User support and provision of other expertise on issues related to e-Government (copyrights, protection of personal data and access to information) in areas where e-Government services have been introduced such as: public procurement, import-export procedures, employment , ENER, etc.

For questions and offers regarding the areas of expertise and the services we offer, send us an e-mail to info@act.com.mk