Lithuania: Seimas adopts amendments to the Law on Public Procurement
Seimas adopts amendments to the Law on Public Procurement
The Lithuanian Parliament has recently adopted amendments to the Law on Public Procurement (the Law) the most significant of which relate to low-value purchases and more efficient procurement transparency and pre-control assurance.
Up to now low-value procurements were considered to be purchases the value of which did not exceed 100 000.00 LTL for goods and services. Amendments to the Law double the amount of low-value goods and services procurement i. e. from 1 January, 2014 low-value procurement will be considered to be a purchase of goods and services the value of which is less than 200 000.00 LTL (VAT excluded) or a purchase of works the value of which is less than 500 000.00 LTL (VAT excluded).
In order to ensure pre-control of procurements, the purchasing body’s obligation to publish information at the onset of procurement as well as the winners and contracts concluded on the purchasing body’s website will now also apply to low-value purchases. The amendments also set a new obligation for the purchasing body. That is, from 1 January, 2015 it will have to publish on the central procurement information system information on the tender of a successful tenderer as well as the contract concluded and amendments thereto. If this information contains data the disclosure of which would be contrary to the law or legitimate commercial interests of the suppliers or would impede free competition, then the information will not be published.
The amendments are expected to prevent corruption and irrational use of funds.
Source: Valstybės žinios, 2013, No. 112-5575.