TIRANA, April 1 – The Albanian government has suspended all procurement procedures due to the COVID-19 pandemic until further notice, excluding those directly related to the crisis. The decision was announced by the Public Procurement Agency on Wednesday in a press release.
“Contracting authorities should pursue the procurement process only for those procurement procedures that are closely related to the needs arising in the context of the situation caused by the Covid 19 pandemic and are considered necessary,” the PPA said.
The PPA added that institutions should also take measures to suspend procedures known as small purchases, as well as ongoing procedures.
“Additionally, all ongoing procurement procedures, the objects of which are not related to the situation caused by the pandemic, are to be suspended until a second notice.”
Last week, the government opened the call for bids for four tenders totaling 7 million dollars for the “urban rehabilitation” of city squares in Kavaja, Fier, Burrel andKamza, Kavaja.
The opposition criticized the decision and called for the cancellation of the new tenders, as well as the ones that do not directly concern the people’s current priorities: healthcare, aid for those in need, and wages for workers of businesses who were shut down due to the coronavirus measures.
Contracts granted through concessions over the years were worth a total of 5 billion euros, accounting for 36 percent of GDP, according to the previous 2020 draft budget. Earlier in March, the government made changes to the draft budget in line with the COVID-19 financial assistance plan, although it did not foresee lower investments for 2020.
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