What ΚΗΜΔΗΣ is
ΚΗΜΔΗΣ (pronounced KIMDIS) stands for Κεντρικό Ηλεκτρονικό Μητρώο Δημοσίων Συμβάσεων, the Central Electronic Registry of Public Contracts. It is the Greek state's official database of contracts for supplies, services, works and studies. Created in 2011, it is now governed by article 38 of Law 4412/2016 and operates as a subsystem of the national e-procurement system, which is run by the General Secretariat for Information Systems and Digital Governance.
Its purpose is publicity. Contracting authorities must record in it every stage of every contract with an estimated value of 1,000 euros or more, excluding VAT, whatever the award procedure. That includes direct awards, not only tenders. The operating rules are set by joint ministerial decision 76928/2021, as amended by decisions 4968/2026 and 87338/2026.
ΚΗΜΔΗΣ, ΕΣΗΔΗΣ and Διαύγεια
The three systems are often confused, because the same contract passes through all three.
| System | What it does | What a supplier finds there |
|---|---|---|
| ΚΗΜΔΗΣ | Publicity register. Records every act of a contract from request to payment. | Who buys what, from whom, for how much, and when it was paid. |
| ΕΣΗΔΗΣ | Tendering platform. Bids are submitted and evaluated there electronically. | The tender documents, clarifications, and the place to submit a bid. |
| Διαύγεια | Posting of every administrative decision of the state, not only about contracts. | Budget commitment decisions, approvals of terms, award decisions and payment warrants. |
ΚΗΜΔΗΣ and Διαύγεια interoperability from 21 October 2026
Since 21 October 2026, four categories of acts recorded in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ are also posted to Διαύγεια automatically. The authority records the act once, in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ, and the Διαύγεια posting follows through the interoperability link. The rule applies to bodies that are required to post in Διαύγεια.
| Act in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ | Act type in Διαύγεια |
|---|---|
Approved request (REQ) | Β.1.3 Budget commitment |
Tender notice (PROC) | Notice summary / Notice |
Award decision (AWRD) | Δ.1 Award or Δ.2.2 Final award, as applicable |
Payment order (PAY) | Β.2.2 Payment finalisation |
Contracts, primary requests and consultations are not among the categories transferred automatically. Other decisions in a procurement that are not recorded in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ are still posted directly to Διαύγεια by the authority.
What changes for a supplier:
- One source for the four acts. For these categories the automatic Διαύγεια posting is drawn from the ΚΗΜΔΗΣ record, so it never comes before it. If you follow ΚΗΜΔΗΣ, you miss nothing from these four acts.
- Corrections only in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ. Every correction is made on the ΚΗΜΔΗΣ record and carried over to Διαύγεια automatically. The new "systemic correct repetition" fixes obvious errors while keeping the same ΑΔΑΜ, so a code you have noted stays valid. "Systemic cancellation" and metadata editing within 72 hours were abolished; "cancellation of the procedure" remains.
- Two codes, not one. The Διαύγεια ΑΔΑ and the ΚΗΜΔΗΣ ΑΔΑΜ remain different identifiers. If the authority also posted the same act to Διαύγεια by hand, you will find two postings with two ΑΔΑ codes. For duplicates made from 1 November 2026 the extra posting is no longer withdrawn; it is linked to the automatic one through the "Related ΑΔΑ" field.
The legal basis is article 76(4) of Law 4727/2020 and article 38(4) of Law 4412/2016. Implementation was set by joint decision 87338/16.10.2026 (Gazette Β 6275), decision 26433 ΕΞ 2026 (Gazette Β 6276) and circular 38049 ΕΞ 2026 of 20 October 2026.
The five records
Every contract leaves a sequence of entries in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ. Their order is also the order in which a supplier can follow it.
- Primary and approved requestA department of the authority asks for a purchase to be made, and the competent body approves it by committing budget. The request is posted before any tender notice, often weeks earlier. It is the first public signal that a contract is coming. More in the guide on the primary request and budget commitment.
- Notice and tender documentsThe publication of the award procedure with its documents. For tenders below the EU thresholds, the bidding deadline runs from the date of posting in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ. For direct awards, the invitation to economic operators is posted.
- Award decisionWho won, for how much. In direct awards the award decision is the first act the public sees, and failing to post it renders the contract void.
- ContractThe signed agreement, with value, duration and contractor. The ΑΔΑΜ of the contract is the code that must appear on the contractor's invoices.
- Payment orderWhat was actually paid, and when. The contract value and the amount disbursed are not always the same figure.
The ΑΔΑΜ code and its prefixes
Every entry receives a unique Registry Posting Number, the ΑΔΑΜ. It consists of the last two digits of the year, a prefix that states the type of act, and a nine-digit number. An example is 26PROC019543991: posted in 2026, a notice, serial number 019543991.
| Prefix | Act | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
REQ | Primary or approved request | The authority is planning a purchase. The tender is not out yet. |
PROC | Notice, tender documents or invitation | The procedure has started. The bidding deadline is running. |
AWRD | Award decision | There is a winner and an award amount. |
SYMV | Contract | The agreement has been signed. This ΑΔΑΜ goes on the invoice. |
PAY | Payment order | An amount has been disbursed to the contractor. |
DIAB | Public consultation | The authority is asking for comments on technical specifications before the tender. |
With the ΑΔΑΜ you can retrieve the exact act from the ΚΗΜΔΗΣ search and verify that the document in your hands is the one that was posted.
How to search
The public ΚΗΜΔΗΣ search is available through the promitheus.gov.gr portal and the open data subsystem at cerpp.eprocurement.gov.gr. No credentials are needed. You can search by ΑΔΑΜ, by words in the title, by contracting authority, by type of act, by CPV code and by date or amount range.
The limits of the official search become obvious to anyone who uses it daily:
- Titles are free text. The same purchase appears as "antiseptics", "disinfectants", "cleaning materials" or "hygiene items", depending on the clerk who entered it.
- Searching by CPV code works only if the authority chose the right code, which is not always the case.
- The five records of one contract are not shown as a sequence. You have to connect them yourself through the protocol number or the contract details.
- There are no alerts. To learn that something new was published you have to search again.
ΚΗΜΔΗΣ also offers open data for bulk retrieval, which tender alert services use to build their own search.
What a supplier can learn
Most companies use ΚΗΜΔΗΣ only to find tender documents. Its real value lies in the other four records.
Before the tender
Requests with the REQ prefix show which authorities are planning a purchase in your field before anything is published. At that stage the authority can still discuss specifications, accept information about the market, or put the technical requirements out for public consultation.
After the tender
Award decisions show the real price at which contracts close in your category and the discount against the estimate. Contracts show which competitors are established with which authorities. Payment orders show how fast each authority pays, information that decides whether a contract on a thin margin is worth the effort.
The GOVADI platform reads all five ΚΗΜΔΗΣ records for every contract and links them into one lifecycle: request, notice, award, contract, payment. Every new publication is matched to your company's CPV codes and scored, and the daily digest brings you whatever is new and relevant without searching.
Frequently asked questions
What does ΚΗΜΔΗΣ mean?
Central Electronic Registry of Public Contracts. It is the official publicity register for every Greek public contract worth 1,000 euros or more excluding VAT, from the spending request to the payment of the contractor.
What is the difference between ΚΗΜΔΗΣ and ΕΣΗΔΗΣ?
ΚΗΜΔΗΣ records the acts of a contract for publicity. ΕΣΗΔΗΣ is the platform where the tender is conducted electronically: you download the documents, submit questions and upload your bid there. Both are subsystems of the national e-procurement system and are reached from the promitheus.gov.gr portal.
Do I need to register to search ΚΗΜΔΗΣ?
No. Searching and reading posted documents is open to everyone. Registration is needed only for contracting authority staff who post records, and in ΕΣΗΔΗΣ for economic operators who submit bids.
What is the ΑΔΑΜ?
The Registry Posting Number, the unique code of every entry in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ. It consists of the year, a prefix for the type of act (REQ, PROC, AWRD, SYMV, PAY) and a nine-digit number. The ΑΔΑΜ of the contract must appear on invoices to the public sector.
Does an act recorded in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ need a separate posting in Διαύγεια?
Not for four categories. Since 21 October 2026, approved requests, tender notices, award decisions and payment orders recorded in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ are posted to Διαύγεια automatically through interoperability. The authority should not post them again separately, and corrections are made only in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ.
Are direct awards posted in ΚΗΜΔΗΣ?
Yes, when their value is 1,000 euros or more excluding VAT. The invitation, the award decision, the contract and the payments are recorded. Failing to post the award decision renders the contract void.