Electronic contracting system

What it means

The electronic contracting system, EKS, is an electronic marketplace for public procurement of commonly available goods and services, such as office supplies, cleaning products, IT equipment or simple services. Public buyers post contracts there and suppliers submit bids.

The system is state-run, and the whole process from publication to contract is electronic. The main criterion is usually the lowest price, and the contract is concluded automatically with the winning supplier under terms published in advance, without negotiations.

For small firms EKS is an easy entry point to public contracts. Unlike large tenders, it does not require extensive documentation, only registration, meeting the participation conditions and a price bid within a short deadline.

How it works in practice

Suppliers must register in the system and prove they are authorised to do business. Submissions are authorised electronically, often with a qualified electronic signature or a chip ID card login, so access should be set up in advance.

For contracts above a certain value, the supplier must be entered in the register of public sector partners. Registration is handled by an authorised person such as a lawyer or bank and takes several days, so it should be arranged before the firm wins its first larger contract.

EKS contracts have standardised terms, including delivery deadlines, contractual penalties and complaints handling. Suppliers should read the description of the contract carefully before bidding, because once the contract is concluded there is no room for changes and failure to deliver is penalised.

What to watch out for

Competition is purely on price and pushes prices down. Suppliers must account for all costs, including transport, packaging and possible penalties, or they may win a loss-making contract. An underpriced bid cannot be raised later.

Repeated failure to perform EKS contracts can lead to sanctions and exclusion from future competitions. Public procurement is supervised by the Public Procurement Office, which also handles complaints about buyers' conduct.