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Czech companies often enter Slovak public procurement procedures with the feeling that they are operating in an environment they know well. Contracting authorities use similar terminology, the legislation is based on the same foundation, and many documents are linguistically understandable to a Czech supplier. Yet, it is precisely this proximity that can be deceptive.
"Many concepts are similar to the Czech environment, but their procedural setup, deadlines, form of submission, and practical consequences can differ significantly. A supplier who assesses a Slovak procurement procedure solely through a "Czech lens" may overlook conditions that are of fundamental importance in a specific contract," warns attorney Matej Šandor, addressing Czech companies. Matej Šandor.
One of the most important recommendations for a Czech supplier is a simple rule: a Slovak contract must be legally and commercially assessed immediately after its publication, not a few days before the deadline for submitting bids.
If a supplier learns about a Slovak tender procedure later or only begins to examine the tender documentation towards the end of the submission deadline, it may already be effectively too late for an effective procedural defense against discriminatory, unclear, or impossible tender conditions.
The procedural defense of a supplier in a Slovak tender procedure follows a different logic compared to the Czech environment.
Objections may be filed by a tenderer or candidate whose rights or legally protected interests have been or could be affected by the actions of the contracting authority or a participant.
The older Slovak model involved a request for remedy, but this procedure was abandoned following an amendment, and the defense mechanism was consolidated into objections.
"Slovak objections must contain the legally required particulars, including the identification of the public contract, the identification of the contested facts, a description of the decisive factual circumstances, evidence, and a proposed decision," says attorney Matej Šandor.
In objection proceedings, the ÚVO is bound by the scope of the factsagainst which the objections are directed and cannot rule beyond them. This increases the requirements for the precise formulation of objections.
It is also essential that Slovak law explicitly prohibits clearly unfounded objections. An objection is considered clearly unfounded if it is obviously intended to abuse rights, to exercise or obstruct rights in an arbitrary or futile manner, or if it leads to unjustified delays in the review proceedings.
The amount of the security deposit is 0.1% of the estimated value of the contract or concession, with a minimum of 2,000 EUR and a maximum of 10,000 EUR for objections against a notice, invitation, or tender specifications, and a maximum of 50,000 EUR for other objections.
For a Czech supplier, this means that the decision to pursue a legal defense in Slovakia has a financial impact from the very first stage. It is therefore necessary to quickly evaluate the importance of the contract, the chances of success, and the amount of the security deposit, much sooner than you would in the Czech Republic.
The decision to challenge tender specifications in Slovakia carries financial weight from the very first step. Before you pay the security deposit, it is worth taking a moment to calmly review your options. Get in touch with Matej via the form.
A request for clarification of tender specifications is also an important tool in Slovakia for clearing up ambiguities in the documentation or for alerting the contracting authority to a practical or legal issue.
The Slovak Public Procurement Act stipulates that the contracting authority shall provide clarification of information necessary for the preparation of a tender or for demonstrating compliance with participation requirements to all known interested parties without undue delay,but no later than 6 days before the deadline for the submission of tenders, provided that the interested party requested the clarification in sufficient time. In an accelerated procedure due to an urgent event, this period is 4 days.
"Although we are used to this from the Czech environment, in Slovakia, we cannot count on receiving an answer within a few working days when preparing a bid," says the attorney, Matej Šandor.
It is therefore advisable to submit queries as soon as possible, especially if the answer could affect the technical solution or price calculation. At the same time, it is necessary to keep in mind that submitting a query does not in itself stop the deadline for filing objections.
In Slovakia, communication with the contracting authority and the submission of bids in public procurement also take place generally electronically. The contracting authority specifies the electronic tool in the procurement documentation or notice, through which communication will take place and the bid will be submitted.
You must therefore register in this specific tool in good time and verify that you have functional access and the correct permissions set up.
Requirements for individual electronic tools may vary, for example in terms of registration methods, user authentication, setting user permissions, or the technical process for submitting a bid. It is best to handle registration and access verification immediately after deciding to participate in a tender.
In practice, in Slovakia, you may encounter the state-run Electronic Public Procurement Platform, as well as other electronic tools such as JOSEPHINE or ERANET.
Bids, proposals, and other documents and records in procurement procedures are commonly submitted in the official language in Slovakia, but they may also be submitted in Czech.
If a document or record is prepared in another language (not Czech or Slovak), it must be submitted along with an official translation into the official language (Slovak), unless the contracting authority has allowed for bids to be submitted in another language.
This can be practically important, especially for technical data sheets, certificates, foreign references, manufacturer documentation, insurance policies or documents from foreign subcontractors that are not in Slovak or Czech.
A significant specific feature of Slovak legislation is the Register of Public Sector Partners (RPVS). The contracting authority must not enter into a contract with a tenderer who is required to be registered in the RPVS but is not. The same applies to subcontractors who are required to be registered in the RPVS.
If a supplier is subject to a registration requirement, they must be registered in the RPVS under the Slovak Public Sector Partners Register Act (ZRPVS). Furthermore, the contracting authority may withdraw from the contract if it was concluded with a tenderer who was not registered in the RPVS at the time of signing, despite being required to do so, or if they have been removed from the RPVS.
The registering authority for the RPVS is the District Court of Žilina. A registration application cannot be submitted by the supplier themselves, but only by an authorized person.
An authorized person may be, among others, an attorney, notary, bank, auditor, or tax advisor who meets the conditions of the ZRPVS. The application must be submitted electronically and authorized by an authorized person, otherwise it will not be considered. If the application concerns the registration of a beneficial owner, a verification document must also be attached.
"In practice, this means that the RPVS is not a last-minute formality. For simple ownership structures, registration can be relatively quick; the law provides for a registration period of 5 working days from the delivery of the application, provided all conditions are met. However, for more complex groups, foreign holdings, fund structures, or multi-level ownership, the preparation of verification documents can take significantly longer," says the attorney, Matej Šandor.
The contracting authority is required to demand proof of "personal standing", while other conditions of participation, particularly financial and economic standing or technical and professional capability, may be set according to the specific contract.
Special attention must be paid to the status of a foreign supplier. Czech suppliers must always verify which countries they need to provide proof of personal standing for regarding each specific condition.
For certain conditions, the Public Procurement Act explicitly refers to both the Slovak Republic and the state where the supplier has its registered office, place of business, or habitual residence.
According to the methodology of the ÚVO, these conditions also take into account the foreign supplier's actual ties to Slovakia. For a supplier that does not operate in Slovakia and has no relevant activities there, it may be sufficient, depending on the specific condition, to provide the relevant documentation in relation to the state of their registered office.
An alternative to individual documents can be registration in the List of Economic Operators maintained by the ÚVO. This list is used to prove compliance with personal standing requirements, and registration is valid for every contracting authority. Registration is valid for 3 years. It can be particularly useful for Czech suppliers who intend to participate in Slovak tenders repeatedly.
Suppliers can also use the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), which can be used to provisionally replace the documents required to prove compliance with participation conditions. However, if a supplier uses the ESPD to replace documents, they must be prepared for the fact that the contracting authority may request them during the procurement process. Therefore, the ESPD is not a substitute for actually having the documents ready, but rather a tool to simplify their preliminary verification.
From a supplier's perspective, the Slovak regulation is in some respects more transparent than the Czech one. The contracting authority is required to allow all tenderers to attend the opening of tenders,who submitted a tender within the time limit.
If tenders are submitted electronically, participation in the opening is carried out by making the relevant data available via an electronic tool.
During the opening of tenders, the number of tenders submitted shall be disclosed and the proposals for the fulfillment of criteria,that can be expressed as a number. Other data from the tender, including the identification details of the tenderers, shall not be disclosed.
The contracting authority shall subsequently send the bid opening minutes containing the disclosed data to the tenderers no later than 5 working days from the date of the bid opening.
Key value data of the bid, such as price or other numerically expressed evaluation parameters, must be filled in correctly not only in the bid itself but also in the electronic form, if required by the tool.
An error in the electronic form can create an undesirable discrepancy between the content of the bid and the data made accessible during the opening.
After the bids are opened, they are assessed and evaluated. The evaluation of bids by the committee is not public.
From a supplier's perspective, it is practically important to monitor in particular information on the outcome of the bid evaluation, the contract report, the minutes from the bid evaluation and the fulfillment of participation conditions, or other documents made accessible via the electronic tool.
These documents can serve as a basis for assessing whether the contracting authority acted transparently, fairly, and non-discriminatorily, and whether it is appropriate to initiate procedural defense against the bid evaluation.
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Another practical issue is the publication of the contract. In Slovakia, there is a Central Register of Contracts (CRZ) and for mandatory published contracts, it applies that the contract becomes effective on the day following the day of its publicationunless the law provides otherwise or the parties agree on a later effective date.
It is essential to know when the contract was published and when it actually became effective. This can determine the start of performance, the running of implementation deadlines, the possibility of invoicing, ordering materials, or activating subcontracting agreements.
Matej bridges the gap between law, technology, and corporate management. In addition to his legal practice, he has held managerial and statutory positions. He provides clients with a combination of legal, business, and strategic perspectives. He led public procurement for Czech Television for 4 years and has over 15 years of total experience in the field of public procurement. Having been on the contracting authority's side, he now uses his unique expertise to help suppliers succeed.
Write to us at info@endors.cz or fill out the form. We will get back to you within 24 hours to arrange a consultation with Matej Šandor.
Slovak public procurement rewards preparedness from day one. Before you start calculating your bid, we will review the tender documentation, procedural deadlines, and registration requirements with you. Contact Matej via the form.
