New Public Procurement Law comes into force

RIGA - The new Public Procurement Law comes into force as of today, providing to a number of changes in procurement procedures, transposing the relevant European Union directives that deal with public procurement procedures.

The Public Procurement Law stipulates that procurement contracts worth up to EUR 10,000 for services and supplies, and worth up to EUR 20,000 for construction works would not be applied the procurement procedure. In the previous version of the law, these figures were EUR 4,000 and EUR 14,000 respectively, the Saeima press service reported.

Public procurement procedures will be eased for contracts worth up to EUR 42,000 for services and supplies, and worth up to EUR 170,000 for construction works.

The law was drafted in order to transpose the relevant European Union directives that deal with public procurement procedures for construction, supplies and services contracts. In addition, several provisions have been updated and revised in the new law to make it easier for small and medium-sized companies to compete for public procurement tenders.

Saeima adopted the Public Procurement Law in the final reading on December 15, 2016.