Electronic marketplace obligation limit increased to €5,000

Municipalities, regional authorities, hospitals and universities will be obligated to buy goods and services through the Electronic Contract System (EKS) a.k.a. 'the Electronic Marketplace' if the contract is worth over €5,000. This follows from an amendment to the Public Procurements Act that Parliament Okayed on Thursday, effectively overriding a veto by President Andrej Kiska going back to July. The piece of legislation, which was backed by 79 MPs the second time round, replaced the previous limit of €1,000. The change won't concern food purchases, however, for which a limit of €40,000 will apply. The amendment also extends the Electronic Marketplace to 'over-the-limit' contracts. The first test contracts could be carried out by the end of this year. The Electronic Marketplace was established on July 1 of last year. The first transaction carried out according to it took place on September 30, and it has been in full operation since February 1 of this year. The obligation to buy via EKS applies to the state, municipalities, regional authorities and also organisations related to them - established or linked via property - if the value of the goods, services or building work is over €1,000 with a maximum of €134,000 in the case of the state and €207,000 for other procurers. For building work the maximum limit is €5.186 million.