How to bid for public tenders in Greece

Greece at a glance


Law	Law 4412/2016 (transposing EU Directives 2014/24 and 2014/25), reformed by Law 5218/2025
E-tendering	ESIDIS (National System of Electronic Public Contracts), mandatory above €30,000
Register	KIMDIS, where notices, direct-award invitations and decisions are published
Portal	Promitheus (portal.eprocurement.gov.gr) hosts both
Foreign bidders	EU, EEA, GPA and EU-agreement partners as of right; others at the authority’s discretion
Language	Greek, or an official Greek translation
Guarantees	Participation up to 2%; performance 4% (supplies, services) or 5% (works)
Appeals	Mandatory pre-judicial appeal to EADISY, then the administrative courts

Concessions fall under a separate law (4413/2016) and defence under Law 3978/2011.

Thresholds and procedures

Value (excl. VAT)	What happens
Up to €2,500	An invoice is enough; above this, a written contract is required
Up to €30,000	Direct award is allowed, after an invitation published in KIMDIS at least 5 days before the award decision
€30,000 to the EU threshold	Below-threshold open procedure on ESIDIS, at least 15 days to bid (10 if urgency is documented)
Above the EU threshold	EU procedure, published in the EU’s Official Journal (TED) and KIMDIS; at least 35 days for an open procedure

The direct-award limit rises to €60,000 for social and other specific services, and for certain central-government ICT interoperability projects.
A direct award must be published in KIMDIS, or the contract is void.

EU thresholds for 2026–2027:

Contract type	Threshold
Works and concessions	€5,404,000
Supplies and services, central government	€140,000
Supplies and services, other authorities	€216,000
Utilities, supplies and services	€432,000

The available procedures are the directive set:

open, restricted and competitive procedure with negotiation;
competitive dialogue and innovation partnership;
framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems;
e-catalogues and e-auctions on ESIDIS.

Who can bid

As of right: operators established in the EU, the EEA, WTO GPA parties (for contracts the EU’s GPA schedule covers) and countries with an EU procurement agreement. They get treatment no less favourable than EU operators within that coverage.
Other third countries (for most contracts, for example China, Türkiye, Brazil or India) have no enforceable right to equal access. Since the EU Court of Justice’s Kolin ruling (2024), the contracting authority decides case by case whether to admit them, and may treat them differently.
Russia: EU sanctions bar awarding or continuing contracts with Russian nationals, Russia-established entities and companies more than 50% owned by them. That includes subcontractors or suppliers accounting for more than 10% of the contract.
China, medical devices: under the EU’s International Procurement Instrument, Chinese-origin operators are excluded from medical-device tenders above €5 million (from June 2025, for 5 years). A winner can’t subcontract more than 50% to Chinese operators or supply more than 50% Chinese-origin devices.
A Greek subsidiary of a foreign group counts as a Greek operator. It’s still subject to EU foreign-subsidies notification for tenders of €250 million or more.

Registering on ESIDIS without a Greek tax number

You don’t need a Greek tax number (AFM) to register:

You are	How you register
Holder of a Greek AFM	Log in with TAXISnet credentials
EU company without an AFM	Online form with your VAT number, checked through VIES
Holder of an eIDAS electronic ID	Register with your national eID under eIDAS
Any other company (for example non-EU)	Apply to the ESIDIS administrator with a digitally signed declaration in Greek or English, or a trade-register certificate translated into Greek or English

You’ll generally need Greek tax registration at contract and payment stage.

Bidding, step by step

Find the notice on KIMDIS or ESIDIS (and on TED above the EU thresholds). Challenges to the notice itself run from its KIMDIS publication.
Prepare the ESPD, the European Single Procurement Document, as your self-declaration. Since October 2025, evidence you rely on is presumed valid as of the date you signed the ESPD.
Translate. Bids must be in Greek or with an official Greek translation. Tender documents may allow technical leaflets in another language. Foreign public documents need an apostille; electronic ones are accepted with an e-apostille.
Sign electronically with at least an advanced signature based on a qualified certificate (eIDAS). A qualified signature from any EU trust provider works. For non-EU bidders without such a system at home, check the tender notice for an alternative.
Upload to ESIDIS in separate envelopes: participation and technical, then financial. Since October 2025, supplies and services bids can quote unit prices or a percentage discount.
Lodge the participation guarantee. If it’s on paper, the original must arrive before bid opening, or the bid is rejected.
If you’re the provisional winner, submit the award documents: criminal record, tax and social-security clearance and similar.
Sign the contract after the standstill, and lodge the performance guarantee.

Guarantees and payment

Participation guarantee:
- a fixed euro amount of up to 2% of the estimated value;
- valid at least 30 days beyond bid validity;
- can be waived for framework agreements, dynamic purchasing systems and direct awards.
Performance guarantee: 4% for supplies and services, 5% for works and studies, of the contract value excluding options.
Advance payments need a guarantee of the same amount. A warranty-period guarantee can be up to 5%.
Who can issue guarantees:
- banks, financial institutions or insurers operating in the EU, EEA or a GPA state;
- the Greek engineers’ fund (TMEDE);
- a deposit certificate from the Deposits and Loans Fund.
Payment for supplies and services: unless the contract says otherwise, either 100% after final acceptance, or an interest-bearing advance of up to 50% against a guarantee, with the balance after acceptance. EU late-payment rules require public authorities to pay within 30 days (60 for public health bodies).
ESIDIS deduction: 0.02% is deducted from every payment on contracts within its scope.

How bids are evaluated

Most economically advantageous tender: price only, cost (including life-cycle costing), or best price-quality ratio.
Unusually low bids must be justified. In works and technical studies, a bid is presumed abnormally low if its discount beats the average discount by more than 10 percentage points.
No Greek preference: EU non-discrimination applies. The exceptions come from EU law: the International Procurement Instrument, sanctions, and discretion over non-covered third countries.
SMEs:
- contracts are divided into lots where possible;
- you can rely on other companies’ capacity, or bid as a consortium;
- for contracts of €2,500 to €30,000, the discretionary exclusion grounds don’t apply (Law 5218/2025);
- paid penalties of up to 2% during a contract no longer count against you.

Challenging a decision

A pre-judicial appeal to EADISY (the Hellenic Single Public Procurement Authority) is mandatory before court.
- Deadline: 10 days from electronic notification (15 if notified otherwise). Against the tender notice, 15 days from its KIMDIS publication.
- Standstill: while the deadline runs and the appeal is pending, the contract can’t be signed, on pain of nullity, unless EADISY orders otherwise.
- Fee: 0.5% of the estimated value, €600 to €15,000, refunded if you win or the authority revokes its act.
- Timing: EADISY must decide within 60 days of filing, or the appeal is treated as rejected.
Court: a single application for suspension and annulment, within 10 days of EADISY’s decision. The hearing is set within 60 days. Law 5218/2025 raised the court fee to 0.5%, from €1,500 to €30,000. Large contracts and concessions go to the Council of State.

Remedies apply to contracts above the direct-award limits.

What changed in 2025–2026

Law 5218/2025 (July 2025; key parts from 1 October 2025):
- ESIDIS is mandatory above €30,000;
- evidence is presumed valid at ESPD signature;
- smaller contracts get lighter exclusion checks;
- unit-price or discount bids are allowed;
- the appeal window against tender notices runs from KIMDIS publication;
- court fees went up;
- procurement staff now need certification.
ESIDIS rules updated in October 2025 and July 2026; the registration routes for foreign companies were kept.
December 2025: a Ministry of Development circular set out how to run direct awards (a KIMDIS invitation window of at least 5 days).
1 January 2026: new EU thresholds.
EU level: the medical-devices measure against China (from June 2025) and EU court rulings on bidders from non-covered countries.

Live Greek tenders

Questions

Can a non-EU company bid in Greek public tenders?

Yes. Companies from the EU and EEA, from WTO GPA parties (for covered contracts) and from countries with an EU procurement agreement have a legal right to take part on equal terms. Companies from other countries may be admitted at the contracting authority’s discretion, but can’t claim equal treatment. Russian-owned or controlled bidders are barred under EU sanctions.

Do I need a Greek tax number (AFM) to register on ESIDIS?

No. EU companies register with their VAT number, checked through VIES, or with an eIDAS electronic ID. Other foreign companies send the ESIDIS administrator a signed declaration, or a trade-register certificate, in Greek or English. Greek tax-number holders log in with TAXISnet credentials.

What signature do I need to submit a Greek e-tender?

At least an advanced electronic signature based on a qualified certificate under eIDAS. The bid must be in Greek or come with an official Greek translation, and foreign public documents need an apostille or e-apostille.

When is e-tendering mandatory in Greece, and what are the minimum deadlines?

ESIDIS e-tendering applies above €30,000. Below the EU thresholds an open procedure gives at least 15 days (10 if urgent); above them, at least 35 days from dispatch to the EU Publications Office. Up to €30,000, authorities can award directly after a KIMDIS invitation of at least 5 days.

What guarantees will I post in a Greek tender?

A participation guarantee of up to 2% of the estimated value, and a performance guarantee of 4% for supplies and services or 5% for works and studies. Guarantees must come from banks or insurers operating in the EU, EEA or a GPA state, or from the Greek engineers’ fund (TMEDE) or the Deposits and Loans Fund.

How do I challenge a tender award in Greece?

File a pre-judicial appeal with the Hellenic Single Public Procurement Authority (EADISY) within 10 days of electronic notification, or within 15 days of KIMDIS publication if you’re challenging the tender notice. The fee is 0.5% of the estimated value (€600 to €15,000), refunded if you win. The contract can’t be signed while the deadline runs or the appeal is pending.

Sources

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.