The number of “secret” tenders in 2022 has been revealed: 168 billion 963 million TL
Public Procurement Authority announced the 2022 Public Procurement Monitoring Report. The 21b negotiation method, which the AKP government has turned into a means of awarding the offer it wants with a special invitation to the company it wants, was once again among the most used methods.
According to the report, the total of 104 thousand 843 public contracts carried out within the scope of Law No. 4734 amounted to 563 thousand 253 million 124 thousand TL.
OPEN PROCEDURE WAS NOT PREFERRED IN 1 OF 3 BIDS
A total of 75,224 offers were made, for a value of 374,832 million liras, in the open method. The cost of open tenders remained at 66.5 percent of total purchases.
In 2022, 23 thousand 878 tenders were carried out with the Negotiation Procedure. The share of tenders worth TL 184.985 million carried out in this way in the total public procurement amounted to 32.84 percent.
141.3 BILLION LIRA CONSTRUCTION WORKS
Practically all of the tenders carried out with the Negotiation Method were carried out with the “21b Negotiation” method. A total of 10 thousand 82 tenders were carried out with 21b and the amount of tenders delivered to companies that were invited privately without being announced to anyone, amounted to 168 thousand 963 million liras.
Construction and construction works amounted to 141.3 billion lira, constituting a large part of the tenders carried out under the 21b method.
The amount of 102 bids duly made among certain bidders amounted to 3.435 billion TL.
The amount of expenses made through direct purchases amounted to 40 thousand 450 million liras.
THE PRESIDENCY DID NOT PREFER THE OPEN PROCEDURE
Among the State institutions, the purchases made by the Presidency drew attention. The Presidency held 753 tenders for a total of 891 million 566 thousand lire in 2022.
The Presidency preferred the “exception” method in high-cost tenders. The cost of 50 offers made by the Presidency with the exception method has reached 727 million 798 thousand TL. The relationship between the preferred exception method and the total purchase price was greater than 81 percent. The Presidency spent 18 million 644 thousand TL on purchases made through 627 direct purchases.
BIDDING LAW CHANGED 180 TIMES
The Public Procurement Law, which came into force in 2003 to increase transparency in the procurement of goods/services in the public sector, has been amended more than 180 times. The open bidding rate, which is set as the primary method in the law, has declined to 60 percent over the years. The exception clauses have been extended to exceed all letters of the alphabet.
Article 18 of the Public Procurement Law indicates three methods to be applied in public bidding for goods, services and works: Open Bidding, Bidding between Certain Bidders and Negotiation Procedure…
In accordance with the fifth article of the law, open bidding and bidding between certain bidders are determined as the main method. The negotiation procedure can only be used in special cases specified by law.
IT IS DONE WITHOUT ANNOUNCING ANYONE
However, in recent years, the AKP government prefers the 21b negotiation method instead of the open method that allows for competition, especially in large construction tenders.
There is no obligation to publish a tender notice in the negotiation procedure determined by law for emergency cases. The administration can complete the bidding process behind closed doors by sending special invitations to the companies of its choice.