Bidders From Several Countries Will Be Excluded From Public Procurement Tenders

Under recent amendments to the public procurement legislation introduced by Government Emergency Ordinance No. 25/2021, contracting authorities/entities will exclude from tenders any natural or legal person from non-EU countries or from states that have not concluded commercial or pre-accession agreements with the European Union.

The most relevant example of a country affected by this decision is China, at least until it ratifies the Agreement on Government Procurement of the World Trade Organisation. In fact, at a practical level, the new rules will have a major impact especially on Chinese bidders, given their active participation in public procurement tenders in Romania. Therefore, a number of Chinese companies that were declared the winners of a series of tenders in key areas in Romania (infrastructure, transportation, etc.) in recent years, will no longer be able to participate in similar future tenders.