City councils love PPP.

But not as much as their consultants.

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Inexperience politicians, public service teams with too much on their plate and not keen to sophistication other than excuses for leaving the desk for getting a 2 hours coffee break.

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With these elements… what can be wrong.

And still… all things that they could get done with proper guidance… but that’s for another day.

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Let’s focus on Macedonia… or Fruit Salad as it’s known in Spanish.

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Valandovo.

The guys wanted to be modern.

Efficient.

All that…

Maybe to get Greta’s attention.

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Who knows.

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A great, fantastic, unique – super red flag here – public lighting project.

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They launched the PPP contract around 2020, claiming a “win-win public-private synergies”… free translation from Fruitsaladish.

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Ambition and marketing over substance — the usual.

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So… very soon.

The collapse.

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The RFP?

Competitive… or so they said.

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Selection criteria?

Confidential.

Scoring?

Hidden. You don’t get legitimacy by stealth…

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Just the basics: Baseline assessments, technical specs, risk matrix — all patchy or absent.

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If your contract is built on guesswork, you might as well flip a coin.

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Then, mid-construction… Termination.

Fireworks.

Half the work done, half the money spent, and still nothing usable.

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Then, the usual game.

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Blame and Lawsuits.

Both sides of the table pointing fingers, digging through contract clauses.

Meanwhile, locals have broken lampposts or partial wiring but no lighting.

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I said many times and I say it now.

Invest money in the tender.

As with any construction in your hands… doing changes once that things start, at scale 1:1 is too costly.

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Always demand iron-clad transparency in the tender — no secret sauce, no hidden scoring, no pre-cooked games.

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And even if this seems a piece of cake, due diligence.

It’s not optional.

If your technical, financial, legal vetting is weak, you’re signing up for disaster.

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Define who carries which risk, and hold people accountable if they fail.

Include exit / cancel / clawback clauses that minimize damage — because yes, sometimes termination is inevitable.

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If you find yourself facing a PPP that smells too good—take this as your red flag.

Too fast… the same.

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I could continue… for hours… but you can learn much more by yourself in this link.

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​Don't get embarrassed - Get the basics in PPPs​

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