KŠB lawyers comment on public procurement changes in Hospodářské noviny

The amendment introduced an entirely new category for “major public contracts”, where the value threshold is CZK 300 million (CZK 50 million for municipalities and local governments) and where contracting authorities are required to have the justification of the contract approved. “The municipal government will be the authority in charge of approval for municipalities while the central government will be in charge for state agencies and authorities. Starting in 2014, any authorities or organizations wishing to open a tender will be required to submit an opposition statement, which should serve to review and assess the justification,” noted Martina Parusová Zímová.

In addition, contracting authorities will be required to present preliminary information on what tenders and public contracts they intend to open and award. “The amendment requires contracting authorities to disclose the preliminary notice either in its public profile, in the Czech Bulletin of Public Contracts, or even in the European Public Procurement Bulletin, depending on the type of contract,” said Jiří Horník.

Moreover, as the value thresholds of public contracts have also been changed, the Public Contracts Act now applies to many more tenders than ever before. Also, contracting authorities are no longer allowed to demand that candidates present quality certificates. Further updates on the issues related to the Public Contracts Act can be found on KŠB’s Law microsite available on Patria Online.