Alternative Service Delivery Arrangements at the Municipal Level in Slovenia and Croatia

There has been extensive development and rapid expansion of alternative forms of public service provision at the local level in Slovenia and Croatia over the last twenty years. During that time, the private sector began to be intensively involved in performing public service activities and in investment financing for the public infrastructure construction, i.e., by the gradual introduction of the new forms of cooperation between the public and private sectors. However, the new Public-Private Partnership Act, which came into force in Slovenia in 2007 and in Croatia in 2008, signified a milestone in the legal regulation of alternative forms of public service delivery. The Act introduces European comparable arrangements and forms of public-private partnerships that can be either contractual,or equity-based. Within public services, local public goods and services are mostly provided by public enterprises and institutions, and by awarding public service concessions. Other forms of public-private partnerships primarily include some forms of build-operate-transfer project financing.