The Impact of the Public Procurement System Reform on Bulgarian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
The Impact of the Public Procurement System Reform on Bulgarian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Summary/Abstract: Public procurement can be used as an instrument for policy-making in different fields – social, environmental, economic, as well as for direct business support. It is well known that the increased participation of SMEs on the public procurement market leads to significant benefits for both contracting authorities and society. A lot of studies have found that SMEs are inadequately represented in this market. Therefore, in 2016, the European Union introduced common measures to promote the participation of SMEs in the public procurement market. A critical review of these measures has been made, highlighting some of their strengths and weaknesses. Based on the analysis of the public procurement market in Bulgaria, the measures are assessed as insufficiently effective. The proposed solutions are in two directions: how to motivate contracting authorities to implement the introduced measures and how to increase the confidence of SMEs in the procurement process in order to encourage them to participate in tender procedures.

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