Public procurement is a procurement made by the state or a public authority following the rules of the public procurement procedure. Public procurements are carried out for procuring goods, services, or construction works.
Information on Estonian public procurements is published in the Estonian Public Procurement Register.
Contract notices can be published and tenders can be submitted electronically in the Public Procurement Register. Information about concluded contracts and disputes is also available in the register.
If contracting authorities wish, they can also publish information regarding contracts below the public procurement threshold in the register.
Tenders are generally submitted via the Public Procurement Register, but contracting authorities may also use other suitable platforms. The relevant information is provided in the contract notice.
Detailed documentation requirements are specified by the contracting authority in the procurement documents of the specific public procurement.
Digital signatures are not mandatory unless otherwise specified in the public procurement – the undertaking must submit their tender in the form required by the contracting authority.
User guides on the Public Procurement Register are available in the Register.
General and sectoral guidelines for public procurements can be found on the website of the Ministry of Finance.
Public procurement rules and procedures
The procedure for public procurement is based on the principle that companies from whom services or construction works are ordered or goods purchased are selected pursuant to specific criteria. All companies that can offer the state the required goods, services, or construction works must be given an equal opportunity to do so.
The procedure for public procurement is divided into multiple levels of complexity, depending on the cost of the procurement. The higher the amount of money spent on the procurement, the more regulated the procurement process, i.e. the more complex rules are applied for carrying out the procurement. In the case of smaller purchases, the public sector may provide the opportunity of submitting tenders within Estonia; however, in the case of larger purchases, the state has to issue a notice of a planned procurement on Tenders Electronic Daily, the online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union.
In order to organise a public procurement, the contracting authority selects one of the following types of procedures based on its needs and in accordance with the law: open procedure, restricted procedure, competitive procedure with negotiation, innovation partnership, competitive dialogue, negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice, simple procedure, specific procedure for social and specific services, concession award procedure, design contest.
In the case of open and restricted procedures, negotiations are forbidden. In a simple procedure, in a special procedure for social and specific services, and in a concession award procedure, the contracting authority can determine the procedure in the procurement documents.
The cases in which the contracting authority does not award a public contract and excludes a tenderer or a candidate from the procurement procedure can be read about from Section 95 of the Public Procurement Act. These clauses apply to procurement procedures that have commenced within 3 years of committing the specified act or the occurrence of grounds.
More detailed information about public procurements (including thresholds, planning public procurements, procedural rules) can be found on the website of the Ministry of Finance.
Organisation of public procurements is regulated by the Public Procurement Act and its implementing provisions.
Contesting of public procurements
A tenderer, an applicant, or a company interested in participating in a public procurement may contest the actions of the contracting authority by presenting a request for review to the Review Committee if it finds that the violation of the Public Procurement Act by the contracting authority violates its rights or damages its interests.
More information on the time limit for filing a request for review and the requirements for a request for compensating damage can be found on the website of the Ministry of Finance.
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