Although last year ministries procured without disclosure less frequently than in 2011, they undertook to spend every seventh litas this way, as opposed to every twentieth in 2011.
The number of contracts awarded by way of undisclosed tenders fell during recent years, from 22 percent to 18 percent. At the same time, the portion representing the value of such contracts rose three times, from 5 to 15 percent. The Ministries that spent the most on undisclosed tenders were the Ministries of Finance (44 percent) and Energy (39 percent), while the largest amount of such contracts were concluded by the Ministries of Economy (51 percent) and Energy (38 percent.) The Ministries of National Defense, Education and Science, and Justice did not enter into any contract through undisclosed tenders in 2012.
Additionally, for the first time ever, TI Lithuania presents the 2006-2012 tendencies of two methods of undisclosed tenders – negotiations without the publication of a contract notice (negotiations without announcement) and requests for tenders from selected suppliers. The value of contracts signed by way of requests for tenders from suppliers grew four-fold – from 2 to 9 percent. The portion of funds spent this way has been growing since 2009, but the portion of procurement contracts concluded by Ministries by way of such tenders fell to less than half in the same period.
Last year contracts by way of requests for tenders from select suppliers were most often signed by the Ministries of Economy (51 percent) and Energy (37,5 percent). The largest portions of procurement funds allocated by way of requests for tenders belong to the Ministries of Finance (44 percent) and Energy (39 percent).
Meanwhile, the portion of negotiations without announcement was reduced nine-fold – from 35 percent in 2006 to 4 percent in 2012. The portion of funds spent after signing contracts following negotiations without announcement notice shrunk to one-fifth of its value in 2006. Ministries spent 6 percent of all public procurement funds by way of negotiations without the publication of a contract notice in 2012 and 3 percent in 2011; by way of comparison, nearly 33 percent were spent in 2006.
The institutions allocating funds by way of negotiations without announcement most often were the Ministry of Social Security and Labour (10,5 percent) and the Ministry of Health (8 percent). The largest portions of procurement funds allocated by way of negotiations without announcement belong to the Ministries of Environment (26 percent) and Foreign Affairs (11 percent).
“According to the data from 2011, Lithuania was among those EU countries in which of negotiations without the publication of a contract notice occurred most frequently in 2006-2010. It is disappointing that the level of transparency of Ministerial procurement in 2012 also fell, while the portion of funds allocated without disclosure essentially returned to 2009 levels. Ministries continue spending millions of litas by way of undisclosed tenders. For example, the Ministry for Finance signed an agreement for the provision of legal services worth 10 million litas in 2012 following a tender without disclosure, while the Ministry of Environment concluded a work services agreement worth nearly 7 million litas in similar circumstances,” said Sergejus Muravjovas, the executive director of Transparency International Lithuanian Chapter.
You may read the report here .