Direct concessions are still the rule
The direct concession of procurements, services and projects remains the norm in Greece, as no more than 20 percent (in number, not value) of public contracts are conducted through tenders when amounts of more than 30,000 euros are concerned, according to the records of the Central Electronic Public Contracts Register.
As Stefanos Komninos, general secretary of commerce, admitted, there are several cases in which projects have been broken down to into several smaller contracts so that various state authorities can avoid having to proclaim a tender.
The recently introduced register has provided the general secretariat and the Single Independent Authority for Public Contracts with an additional monitoring tool to establish the legality of public contracts and see whether there are indications or evidence showing whether the process of direct concession has been wrongly selected.
In an effort to promote electronic public contracts, save public money and combat corruption, Komninos and the head of the Union of Hellenic Chambers, Constantinos Michalos, signed on Monday a cooperation agreement that will allow chambers to offer their members digital signatures, allowing them to participate in electronic tenders.
