“On February 26, the first case of the coronavirus was confirmed in Georgia, while on March 21, the state of emergency, that lasted until May 22, was declared. In this period, the COVID-19 related procurements were primarily conducted with simplified procedures. After the expiration of the state of emergency, the procurement of principal goods and services continued with simplified procedures.

During this period, IDFI prepared two studies that investigated the procurement process and subsequently issued several recommendations. These studies covered the period before May 15 and were primarily focused on revealing the suppliers of large procurements and their connections. The following report instead looks at the period between March 21 and November 15, and presents the statistical data, the systemic problems, and suspicious procurements from this period.
 

Main Findings

 
- Between March 21 and November 15, GEL 200 million was spent on the procurement of hotel and hospital services.
 
- Between March 21 and November 15, the Georgian National Tourism Administration spent over GEL 78 million on the procurement of the goods and services required for the implementation of mandatory quarantine.
 
- By the November 5, 2020 Decree of the Government of Georgia, additional funds of GEL 35 million were allocated to the Georgian National Tourism Administration. Together with the funds already spent, the total amounts to more than GEL 100 million. The additional funds are to be spent on the Covid hotels and facilitating the procurement of services related to this process.
 
- Between July and November, the Social Service Agency requested an agreement for receiving GEL 98.5 million from the State Procurement Agency for the purposes of preparing additional beds at the hospitals. 
 
- The contract agreed upon by the Social Service Agency allocated a sum of GEL 625,537 for the purposes of supporting medical personnel in quarantine/field conditions. Additionally, with the same purposes GEL 300,000 was allocated during the month of November alone.
 
- The procurements related to COVID-19 are not separately listed in the electronic procurement system and consequently, are not analyzed, despite examples of such analysis seen in neighboring countries”, - reads the report of IDFI.