STATE administration institutions and organizations have already paid out more than Sk1 billion (€25.4 million) to suppliers this year, without putting the orders out for public tender, according to the Office for Public Tenders (ÚVO), the Hospodárske noviny daily reported.
Experts say that although the so-called "direct selection" method complies with existing law it is the least transparent way of purchasing public necessities.
"It is a problem and we will have to solve it," said Rudolf Kulma, the vice-chairman of ÚVO. According to Milan Benkovský, spokesman for the Supreme Audit Office, ministries and state institutions often abuse the direct selection method, depriving the state of hundreds of millions of crowns.
