The number of contracts attributed without a public tender increased by 73% between 2009 and 2015, according to statistics provided by Romania’s electronic public procurement system SEAP, reports local Mediafax.

The number of contract notices dropped by 37% during this period. The number of invitations for taking part in public tenders published on SEAP dramatically decreased during the seven years, from about 47,000 notices in 2009 to 13,700 in 2015.

“Very few tenders have been initiated this year,” said Laurentiu Plosceanu, president of the Romanian Construction Entrepreneurs Association (ARACO).

He expressed his concern about the plan of the state’s National Company of Road Infrastructure Administration (CNAIR) to carry out work in-house.

“This calls into question what kind of competition we want to have in Romania, namely whether we directly attribute contracts to our own firm. The competition will be distorted,” Plosceanu added.

He also said that the Prime Minister’s advisors said that the in-house work of CNAIR would not exceed 3% of the company’s budget, but that he was not convinced “that they would remain within this value”.

editor@romania-insider.com