Cabinet Approves Concept for Developing Green Public Procurements

Bratislava, October 2 (TASR) – Goods, services and construction work could be procured with a lower negative impact on the environment, according to the Concept of Development and Implementation of Green Public Procurement in Slovakia, which was approved by the Cabinet at its regular session on Wednesday.

The concept was submitted to the Cabinet session by the Environment Ministry and the Public Procurements Office. Both institutions stress that green public procurements are a strategic tool for the state.

According to the submitters, the use of green public procurements has been low in Slovakia over the long term, and this has also been criticised by the European Commission.

The document provides information on the model for strengthening the implementation of green public procurements under Slovak conditions. The model has been created in order to meet the objectives of the Slovak Environmental Policy Strategy until 2030 (Greener Slovakia), ensuring that at least 70 percent of the total value of public procurements comes from green procurements.

Economy Minister Peter Ziga (Smer-SD) supports the green public procurement philosophy as well. He noted that his ministry prepared a document supporting this form of tender some time ago. “However, in general we must look at this issue from the viewpoint of whether we want to procure in the cheapest or the green manner, as this isn’t the same thing. Nevertheless, green procurements definitely have the support of our ministry,” he said.