The number of competitive public procurement tenders in Slovakia decreased in 2007, allowing more space for corruption, according to Transparency International Slovensko (TIS), an NGO, in its latest assessment of public sector procurement. The TIS describes the situation as negative and is urging the government to adopt tangible steps to improve transparency in public procurement.
The index used to judge transparency dropped considerably, to 21 points, in 2007, the SITA newswire wrote. This is compared to 34 points in 2006, 37 in 2005 and 21 in 2004. The index indicates what percentage of funds spent on procurement by the public sector in each year was subject to a competitive public bidding procedure. Between 2004 and 2007, on average, one-third of funds that the public sector used to purchase goods and services were allocated through public tenders. Given the 13-percent decline for 2007, the TIS says in its report that it cannot detect any positive move towards increased transparency in the medium term. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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