New public procurement legislation, signed into law by president Iohannis

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has signed into law a package of bills which bring major changes to the existing public procurement legislation.

Iohannis said the legislation package included the public procurement law, the sectorial procurement law, the law for the award of concession for constructions and services and the law for challenging public procurement contracts in court.

“Now we will have an assessment system of procurement contracts which is a little bit more complex, but which combines the price element with the quality aspect, and I find this to be good,” said the president on Thursday. He added the new laws transpose EU Directives in this field.

The president praised the MPs for approving the new public procurement package in just six months.

The new laws include the concept of “value for money” in the award criteria, which is designed to reduce the cost of public procurement on the long term.

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Under the newly approved legislation, the public authorities will be able to make direct acquisitions, without holding a tender, for products or services that are worth less than RON 66,259 without VAT or for construction works that are worth less than RON 265,038 without VAT.

The head of Romania’s anticorruption body, Laura Codruta Kovesi, had warned earlier this year that there are sectors in the public procurement field where “the corruption is generalized”.

Ovidiu Posirca