BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The Government of Georgia spent a record high funds on the simplified acquisition procedures in 2020 and the sum amounted to 1.07 billion lari ($324.6 million), Trend reports via the State Procurement Agency.
As reported, the volume of simplified procurements was up by 132.6 million lari ($40.2 million) or 14.1 percent in 2020 compared to 2019.
In total, the government spent 5.14 billion lari ($1.5 billion) on procurements last year, so every 1 lari ($30 cents) out of 5 lari ($1.52) was issued through direct procurement without a tender.
Direct procurement is distinguished with increased risks of corruption because contracts are often made in negotiation with one person.
According to the State Procurement Agency, 399 million lari ($121.07 million) of the simplified procurement was spent on services directly related to COVID-19, including the procurement of quarantine zones. Some 98.6 million lari ($29.9 million) was spent on simplified agricultural procurements, of which the main expenditure accounted for grape subsidies. Some 572 million lari ($173.5 million) was spent on other types of simplified procurements.
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