Budapest assembly approves new public procurement threshold

From March 1, the forint threshold for public procurements conducted by the city of Budapest’s procurement company will be raised, following a vote in the city assembly on Wednesday.

The Mayor’s Office and municipal government will be obliged to conduct public procurements in the case of contracts that exceed a net 200 million forints (EUR 645,000), while city-run companies — with the exception cultural services — must do so if the contract is worth more than a net 500 million. The threshold had been set at 150 million forints.

The proposal by Gábor Bagdy, the deputy mayor, was approved with 21 votes in favour, 4 against and 5 abstentions.

Opposition politicians said the entire system of public procurements was ripe for an overhaul and changing the threshold would not solve the procurement company’s dysfunctional ways.

Csaba Horváth of the Socialists and Erzsébet Gy Németh of the Democratic Coalition called for the company to be dismantled and an alternative solution found.

Also, the assembly voted in favour of Bagdy’s proposal to authorise Budapest Mayor István Tarlós to start talks with the government on selling the Bálna Shopping and Cultural Centre to the state.

The proposal was made after an open tender to sell the 13,000 square-meter landmark building on the Danube embankment was unsuccessful. There were altogether seven preliminary inquiries made for purchasing the property. The minimum net sale price was set at 11 billion forints (EUR 35.5m). It was only a company owned by the National Bank of Hungary that bought the tender documents but it failed to submit a bid by the Dec. 15 deadline. Government office chief János Lázár announced on Nov. 30 that the central government intends to buy the Bálna for the Hungarian Tourism Agency.