The Government of Georgia spent a record high funds on the simplified acquisition procedures in 2020 and the sum amounted to 1.07 billion GEL. According to 2020 report of the State Procurement Agency shows that the volume of simplified procurements was up by 132.6 million GEL or 14.1% in 2020 compared to 2019.
In total, the government spent 5.14 billion GEL on procurements last year, so every 1 GEL out of 5 GEL 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 GEL of the simplified procurement was spent on services directly related to COVID-19, including the procurement of quarantine zones. 98.6 million GEL was spent on simplified agricultural procurements, of which the main expenditure accounted for grape subsidies. 572 million GEL was spent on other types of simplified procurements.
