Public procurements in Bulgaria leave opportunities for corruption and most local businesses teeter on the verge of the law in completing procedures, according to research by the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA).

The report, prepared in partnership with private cultural non-profit institution Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), also found that 70 per cent of all 3520 companies have encountered corruption and a further 85 per cent believe that public procurement procedures are unfair and corrupt.

Half the respondents said Bulgaria’s public procurement registry, maintained by the Public Procurement Agency (PPA), does not provide adequate information to businesses.

A check by Dnevnik found that the PPA’s portal is not available over the weekend. The body blamed this on technical issues.

A mere 10-20 per cent of all public procurements held in Bulgaria have been awarded to local companies, and the others are won by foreign organisations, said BIA chairman Bozhidar Danev.

In contrast, local businesses get 70-80 per cent of all contracts in other EU member countries such as the Czech Republic and Estonia.

The main obstacle for Bulgarian companies are the requirements outlined in the participation papers.

"Only 50 per cent of the requirements match the criteria for similar procurements in other countries, the others have been added artificially," Danev said.

Yosif Avramov, deputy chairman of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs and Craftsmen, said that a major challenge for Bulgarian businesses participating in public procurements is the mismatch between the requirements for low cost and high quality.

Avramov suggested that a register should be set up of the government’s entire overdue debt to businesses. "I think the real figure [of unpaid government debt] is 1.5 billion leva even though the official estimate is 700 million leva," he said.

Source: Dnevnik.bg