In 2023, public procurement reached record high value and record low competition over the last 10 years. The value of public procurement contracts awarded in 2023 amounted to 92 billion MKD, i.e. around 1.5 billion EUR, representing an increase by 35% compared to the previous year. Increased value of public procurement was accompanied by deteriorated competition in tender procedures. The average number of bids per tender procedure accounted for 2.7 bids. One third of all tender procedures were presented with only one bid each. Absence of competition is a consequence of favouring tender documents and loss of trust in fair competition among businesses. This increases the risk for tender procedures not to obtain the best value for the money spent.
The number of tender procedures presented with only one bid whose price is identical with the procurement’s estimated value is also increased. Such overlap in value raises concerns as the estimated value of these tender procedures was not published in advance and was enlisted only in public procurement decisions, which are not publicly available documents.
The research can be downloaded in Macedonian and English language
