How to bid for public tenders in Hungary

Hungary at a glance


Main law	Public Procurement Act (Kbt.), Act CXLIII of 2015, amended 2026
System	EKR (ekr.gov.hu), mandatory; only registered companies can be invited
National thresholds	HUF 20 million goods and services; HUF 60 million works
EU thresholds (2026–27)	HUF 55.4m central / HUF 85.5m other goods and services; HUF 2.14bn works
Foreign bidders	Excluded unless tax-resident in the EU, EEA, OECD, GPA or a tax-treaty country
Securities	Performance and defects each up to 5%
Language	Hungarian by default; own translations accepted
Challenges	Buyer: 3 working days; Arbitration Board: 10–15 days

Where tenders appear

EKR. All procurement and concession procedures run through the Electronic Public Procurement System (EKR), which also handles communication. The buyer pays the EKR fee, not the bidder. The system is mainly in Hungarian.
TED. Notices above EU thresholds also go to TED.
Who oversees it.
- The Public Procurement Authority publishes thresholds and runs the CoRe register, where contracts, amendments and performance data are published.
- The Public Procurement Arbitration Board hears challenges.
- The Integrity Authority keeps the register of companies excluded for criminal offences.

Thresholds and procedures

Hungary sets the 2026 thresholds in forints (HUF), net of VAT.

Contract	Classical buyers	Utilities
National threshold, goods and services	HUF 20,000,000	HUF 50,000,000
National threshold, works	HUF 60,000,000	HUF 100,000,000
EU threshold, goods and services	HUF 55,412,840 central (EUR 140,000); HUF 85,494,096 other (EUR 216,000)	HUF 170,988,192 (EUR 432,000)
EU threshold, works	HUF 2,138,935,624 (EUR 5,404,000)	Same

National thresholds are unchanged from 2025. Older sources quoting HUF 8 million for goods are wrong.
EU-level open procedures need at least 30 days, or 35 if bids can’t be fully submitted electronically. Restricted procedures need 30 days to ask to take part, then 25 to bid.
National procedures need at least 10 days for goods and services and 15 days for works. The ESPD isn’t used; you give a self-declaration instead.
Simplified works procedure. For works under HUF 300 million that aren’t EU-funded, buyers may invite at least 5 companies directly, without selection criteria.
Frameworks and lots. Framework agreements last up to 4 years. Buyers must give reasons for not splitting into lots.

Who can bid

The tax-residence rule. Hungarian law requires excluding a bidder unless it is tax-resident in one of these:
- the EU, the EEA or the OECD;
- a WTO GPA country or an EU overseas country or territory;
- a country with a Hungarian double-tax treaty;
- a country with an EU procurement agreement.
Transparent ownership. Bidders must also have transparent ownership: a non-transparent owner of more than 25% excludes you. These rules also apply below EU thresholds.
Kolin. On top of this, after the EU Court’s Kolin ruling (2024), companies from countries without an EU procurement agreement have no right to equal treatment.
EKR registration. Only companies registered in the EKR can be invited. You declare whether you’re an SME and whether you’re foreign-owned, and each person or company may register only once. We couldn’t confirm whether a Hungarian tax number is needed to register.
Language. Each notice says which languages are accepted. Hungarian is the default, and buyers must accept your own translations of foreign documents.
Proving eligibility.
- ESPD. At EU level, you submit the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), known locally as the EEKD.
- Certificates. The best-ranked bidder then provides home-country certificates for criminal records and taxes, or a sworn statement where these aren’t issued.
Consortia don’t need to form a company to bid, but the winners can be required to form a project company.
Construction. Builders must be on the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s contractor register. Since January 2025 they must also hold mandatory liability insurance. We couldn’t confirm the rules for EEA firms working temporarily.

Bidding, step by step

Check eligibility: your tax residence and ownership transparency.
Register in the EKR. A person registers and links the company, declaring SME status and foreign ownership.
Find notices in the EKR, and on TED for EU-level contracts.
Read the language clause.
Ask questions in time. If you think the notice or documents are unlawful, you can request preliminary dispute resolution up to the 10th day before the deadline.
Prepare the ESPD, or the self-declaration for national procedures, in the EKR forms.
Arrange a bid guarantee if required, as cash, a bank or insurer guarantee, or a surety bond.
Submit in the EKR before the deadline.
Answer requests for missing documents, clarifications or price justification. If you rank first, submit your home-country certificates.
After the written summary, the 10-day standstill runs. Then sign in writing.
For works, register with the Chamber and insure before you start. Report subcontractors before they begin.

Securities and payment

Bid guarantee. Optional, and only at the tender stage. It must be proportionate to the buyer’s likely costs, and the law sets no fixed percentage. It’s returned within 10 days of the result.
Performance security. At most 5% of the net contract price.
Defects security. At most 5%, and it can be held back from payments.
Form. You choose the form (cash, guarantee, surety or insurance bond) and can switch.
Advance payment. Works contracts lasting more than 2 months must offer a 5% advance, up to HUF 250 million, with no security needed for it.
Payment. The default for public buyers is 30 days from the invoice, in line with EU late-payment rules.
Subcontractors. On works, the buyer pays the subcontractor share to the contractor within 15 days. The contractor must pay subcontractors immediately and show proof before its own share is paid. Subcontractor payments are published.

How bids are evaluated

Best value. Contracts go to the most economically advantageous tender: lowest price, lowest life-cycle cost or best price-quality ratio.
Price alone is allowed only for fully specified requirements. Price can be fixed so bidders compete on quality alone.
Abnormally low bids must be explained in writing. In open procedures, buyers can evaluate first and check only the top-ranked bidders.
Competition. In the first half of 2026, SMEs won 75% of contracts by number. About 26% of contracts above EU thresholds drew a single bid. Hungary has promised the EU to cut single bids, though that target is measured differently from these figures.

Challenging a decision

Step 1 (optional): preliminary dispute resolution. Ask the buyer within 3 working days of learning of a decision. For the notice or documents, ask up to the 10th day before the deadline. The buyer replies within 3 working days, and a request made after bids are opened blocks signature until 10 days after the reply.
Step 2: the Arbitration Board. File with the Public Procurement Arbitration Board within 10 days against the decision closing the procedure, or 15 days otherwise. Challenges to the notice or documents can be made until the 5th day before the bid deadline.
Fees. 0.5% of the estimated value, minimum HUF 300,000. The maximum is HUF 17.5 million above EU thresholds and HUF 5 million below. The fee rises with the number of claims, and challenges to the documents pay half.
No signature. Once you file, the contract can’t be signed until the Board decides, unless it allows signature. The Board can also suspend the procedure.
Standstill. 10 days after the written summary (5 under the simplified works procedure).
Timing. The Board decides in 15 days (25 with a hearing).
Court. You can bring an administrative court action within 15 days of the Board’s decision, filed through the Board.

What changed in 2025–2026

January 2025: mandatory liability insurance for construction contractors. Amendments also reworded the rules on abnormally low bids.
1 January 2026: new EU thresholds in forints took effect; national thresholds were unchanged.
29 June 2026: a law passed to unlock frozen EU funds took effect. It narrowed exemptions for national-security purchases, made them reviewable, and is reported to add fines on economic operators.
August 2026:
- Integrity Authority: exclusions for criminal offences and self-cleaning now run through its register.
- Performance data: buyers must publish yearly performance data for contracts longer than a year.
September 2026: the European Commission proposed lifting part of the freeze on EU funds, citing procurement fixes. The Council’s decision was pending in early October.

Live Hungarian tenders

Questions

Can a foreign company bid on Hungarian public tenders?

Yes, if it is tax-resident in the EU, EEA, OECD, a WTO GPA country, an EU overseas territory, a country with a Hungarian double-tax treaty, or a country with an EU procurement agreement, and its ownership is transparent. Otherwise Hungarian law requires its exclusion. After the Kolin ruling, firms from other countries have no right to equal treatment.

Must I bid in Hungarian?

Hungarian is the default. Each notice states whether other languages are accepted, and buyers must accept your own translations of foreign-language documents.

Do I need a Hungarian company to bid?

No, but you must register in the EKR e-procurement system, because only registered companies can be invited. Joint bidders can be required to form a project company only after winning. We couldn’t confirm whether EKR registration needs a Hungarian tax number.

What securities do Hungarian buyers ask for?

A bid guarantee is optional and must be proportionate. Performance and defects securities are each capped at 5% of the net contract price, and you choose the form. Works contracts lasting over two months must offer a 5% advance payment, up to HUF 250 million, with no security needed.

How quickly do I have to challenge a Hungarian procurement decision?

Fast. Preliminary dispute resolution with the buyer must be requested within 3 working days. A review request to the Public Procurement Arbitration Board must be filed within 10 days against the closing decision, otherwise 15 days. The standstill is 10 days, and a pending review blocks signature.

How much does a Hungarian review request cost?

0.5% of the estimated value: at least HUF 300,000, and at most HUF 17.5 million above EU thresholds or HUF 5 million below. The fee rises with the number of claims, and challenges to the notice or documents pay half.

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.