Who buys
Local government covers five different types of buyer, which often purchase the same things separately from one another inside the same city.
| Body | What it buys | How |
|---|---|---|
| Municipalities (first tier local government, more than 330) | Infrastructure works, fuel, vehicles, cleaning, green spaces, food for social structures and nurseries, IT, insurance, studies | Their own tenders and direct awards, per municipality |
| Regions (second tier local government, 13) | Road works and maintenance, student transport, flood protection, studies, equipment, EU funded projects | Single tenders per region, often with regional units as separate lots |
| Water and sewage utilities (ΔΕΥΑ) | Networks, pumping stations, treatment chemicals, meters, energy, maintenance | Their own tenders, acting as utility entities for much of their activity |
| Waste management authorities (ΦΟΔΣΑ) | Waste transport and disposal, landfills, treatment plants, vehicles | Regional tenders, usually high value and long duration |
| Municipal legal entities: community enterprises, school committees, municipal port funds | Culture and sport services, school consumables, school heating oil, minor works | Mostly direct awards, small amounts, high volume |
KEDE and ENPE are the associations of municipalities and regions respectively. They do not buy on behalf of their members, so they are not a sales channel.
The CPV codes of local government
Unlike healthcare, where almost everything concentrates in division 33, local government buys horizontally. The dominant CPV divisions:
- 45 Construction work. The largest by value: roads, buildings, networks, squares, school units, flood protection.
- 90 Sewage and refuse services. Collection, cleaning of public spaces, landfill management, disinfection.
- 09 Fuels. Diesel, heating oil, petrol. Repeats every year in every municipality, on a predictable calendar.
- 34 Transport equipment. Refuse trucks, works machinery, buses, service vehicles.
- 50 Repair and maintenance services. Fleet, lifts, air conditioning, playgrounds.
- 71 Architectural and engineering services. Studies, supervision, surveying, energy audits.
- 60 Transport services. Mainly student transport, a regional competence and one of the largest recurring tender families in the country.
- 15 Food and 79 Business services for social groceries, nurseries, security and building cleaning.
- 30 and 48 IT equipment and software. Smaller amounts per municipality but a very large number of tenders, boosted by digital transformation programmes.
Because municipalities buy almost everything, filtering by CPV code alone leaves opportunities out: the same item is coded differently from one municipality to the next. Combining code with buyer type gives a far cleaner picture than the code on its own.
Who decides, and at what thresholds
Since 1 January 2024, under Law 5056/2023, the Municipal Committee replaced the Finance Committee in municipalities, and the Regional Committee did the same in regions. It approves the terms of the tender notice, appoints the evaluation committees and makes the award. Its decisions are published on Diavgeia and are the first visible sign that a tender is being prepared.
Thresholds are the same as for the rest of the public sector, but local authorities count as sub-central rather than central government, so their EU threshold is higher:
| Amount (excluding VAT) | Procedure |
|---|---|
| Up to 30,000 euro (supplies and services), up to 60,000 euro (works) | Direct award, no tender |
| Above 30,000 euro | Mandatory through ESIDIS |
| From 216,000 euro (supplies and services), from 5,404,000 euro (works) | Also published on TED, under the full EU rules |
The EU thresholds apply for 2026 and 2027. See what changed on 1 January 2026 in the update on the new thresholds.
Where the money comes from
In no other sector does the funding source determine the timing of the tender and the speed of payment as much as here. The main sources:
- Own revenue and central grants. Regular income and the Central Autonomous Funds. These pay for the recurring items: fuel, cleaning, maintenance. Predictable, usually annual.
- National development programmes. The Antonis Tritsis programme, successor to Filodimos, and the Public Investment Programme fund infrastructure. Tenders appear in waves, when projects are approved.
- EU structural funds 2021 to 2027 and the Recovery Fund. Digital transformation, energy upgrades, social structures. These carry strict eligibility deadlines, which means compressed timetables and lower tolerance for delay.
The source is stated in the tender notice and in the commitment decision. A project tied to a programme with an expiry date is usually paid faster than one funded from own revenue, because the authority risks losing the funding. See also the guide to the primary request and commitment decision.
The specifics worth knowing
- The same tender, 330 times. Fuel, food, insurance and maintenance are tendered separately by every municipality, usually at the same time each year. If you win in one municipality, the same offer is usually competitive in neighbouring ones.
- Lots by municipal unit. After the mergers, many tenders are split into lots by municipal or local community. You can bid only for the lots that suit you geographically. Note that this is not the same as unlawful contract splitting.
- Unsuccessful tenders. In small and mountainous municipalities tenders often attract no bids, especially for fuel and transport. The municipality then repeats the tender or moves to negotiation, where competition is minimal. See the guide to cancelled and unsuccessful tenders.
- Student transport. Regions tender every school year with hundreds of routes as separate lots. These are among the most predictable recurring tenders in the country, usually published in spring for the following school year.
- Local press. For certain categories a summary of the tender notice is still published in local newspapers. It is not a monitoring source, but it explains why local suppliers sometimes hear first.
- Payments. Local authorities pay from their own budget rather than through the Single Payment Authority, so speed varies dramatically between them. KIMDIS shows who pays when. See the guide to when the Greek state pays.
Where tenders are published
Every local government contract above 1,000 euro is registered in KIMDIS and every tender above 30,000 euro runs in ESIDIS. Decisions of the Municipal or Regional Committee appear on Diavgeia, often weeks before the tender notice is issued. Most municipalities also keep their own tenders page.
The difference from healthcare is the number of buyers: there is no central purchasing body aggregating demand. Monitoring 330 websites is impossible, so KIMDIS filtered by buyer type and CPV division, together with Diavgeia for the early signal, is the only practical approach.
The GOVADI platform tracks every municipality, region, water utility and waste authority as a separate contracting authority with its own profile: what it buys, how often, from whom, at what award price and how quickly it pays. Recurring annual tenders are flagged as such, so you can expect them rather than discover them.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find municipal tenders in Greece?
In KIMDIS, filtered by buyer type and the CPV divisions that concern you, and in ESIDIS for electronic tenders above 30,000 euro. Diavgeia shows the Municipal Committee decisions approving the terms earlier than that. Every municipality also has its own tenders page, but monitoring more than 330 websites is not practical.
Which body decides on a municipality tender?
Since 1 January 2024, under Law 5056/2023, the Municipal Committee replaced the Finance Committee. It approves the terms of the notice, appoints the committees and makes the award. In regions the same role belongs to the Regional Committee.
What is the EU threshold for a Greek municipality?
Local authorities are sub-central contracting authorities rather than central government, so the TED publication threshold is 216,000 euro for supplies and services and 5,404,000 euro for works, for 2026 and 2027. The direct award threshold remains 30,000 euro for supplies and services and 60,000 euro for works.
Why does the same tender repeat every year?
Because contracts for fuel, food, insurance and maintenance are usually annual, funded from regular income, and cannot run past the financial year without a new commitment decision. That makes them the most predictable tenders in the country: if you know when last year it was published, you know roughly when this year it will be.
What is splitting into lots by municipal unit, and how does it differ from unlawful splitting?
Dividing a tender into lots is lawful: the municipality splits it, often geographically, so that smaller suppliers can take part, and each lot is awarded separately. Unlawful splitting means artificially breaking a single procurement into smaller amounts in order to stay under a procedural threshold.
Do municipalities pay more slowly than ministries?
There is no single answer, because local authorities pay from their own budget rather than through the Single Payment Authority. The gap between two neighbouring municipalities can be wider than the gap between sectors. KIMDIS records payments by buyer, so the history of the specific municipality is the only reliable indicator.