PARLIAMENT rejected changes to the law aimed at strengthening controls on public procurement tenders, the Pravda daily wrote.
Zuzana Wienk from the non-governmental Fair Play Alliance said this was a "disappointment, because it was the first serious attempt to limit the use of the least transparent public procurement method".
Very often, ministries and other state bodies have been blamed for using the so-called "direct method" of selecting firms for public contracts.
Under this method, contracts are not put out for public tender and are therefore open to corrupt practices. Ministries often argue, however, that pressure of time means they have to use the direct selection process.
In 2003, as much as one half of all state orders, worth a total Sk30 billion (€790 million), were realized via the direct selection process.
