Every step to bid in North Macedonia.

This guide is the checklist behind a bid in North Macedonia: each document and step in the order a tender needs it, and who may lawfully handle it. For how procurement there works as a whole (thresholds, procedures, who may bid, evaluation, e-auctions, appeals), see How to bid for public tenders in North Macedonia.

Before you bid

1. Make sure you aren’t on the negative-reference list. An operator on the ESPP list on the day bids close is shut out of every procedure. The public check is free and takes minutes.

2. A qualified certificate for the person who signs. Bid documents are signed inside the ESPP application with a qualified certificate from KIBS or Makedonski Telekom, or from a foreign issuer authorised as qualified in its home country. It must still be valid on the bid deadline, and the system takes PAdES-compatible PDFs only.

• Who does it: the certificate is issued to your company’s responsible person, or to a person they authorise. An authorised person, such as a consultant, signs with their own certificate, never with yours.
• Nothing to re-sign: documents issued by authorities, such as the tax certificate and Central Registry documents, are uploaded as they come.

3. Your company’s ESPP registration (e-nabavki.gov.mk) and annual subscription. Every bidder, and every member of a group, must be registered with the Public Procurement Bureau’s system. The subscription includes notice alerts for 3 categories, document downloads and taking part in e-procedures and e-auctions.

• How it works: your responsible person names a local administrator, who fills in the online form, activates the account from the e-mail link (sent within 24 hours) and pays by card or against a pro-forma invoice. The account is active as soon as an e-payment clears, and the subscription runs for 1 year from payment.
• Who does it: the registration data can be prepared for you; you appoint the local administrator and pay.
• From abroad: use “Register foreign operator” on the English version of the site.

4. Proof of registered activity. Every bidder has to show it is registered for the activity the tender covers, or is a member of a professional association in its home country. A domestic company buys the document from the Central Registry of North Macedonia (ЦРРСМ) electronically through its ESPP profile, ready the next day, or at the counter. It needs no signature from you.

5. The Central Registry single document (ЕДЈН), if you bid often. An optional one-year electronic package for domestic operators that proves personal status, professional capability and, if you include them, the balance sheet and income statement. While it is active it is attached to every e-bid automatically. You buy it through “My profile” in ESPP and pay through the Central Registry’s e-payment; the documents are available the next day. When it expires, the profile documents are deleted.

• Who does it: a user working on your account can prepare the purchase; you pay.

With your bid

6. The certificates on exclusion grounds. In North Macedonia they are uploaded with the bid, and none may be older than 6 months before the bid deadline.

7. Evidence the tender may add.

• Licences: where the law sets special conditions for the activity, proof from the competent ministry or authority, such as construction licences A–D. You must hold the licence.
• Economic and financial standing: a minimum annual turnover of at most twice the estimated value, financial ratios or professional-risk insurance. An accountant prepares the figures; the ЕДЈН can cover the statements.
• Experience: references from previous contracts, plus your staff and technical resources. A consultant can compile them; reference letters come from your former clients.
• Quality and environmental certificates (Arts. 93–94): against European or international standards, or EMAS, from accredited bodies, typically for 3 years. EU-equivalent certificates must be accepted.

8. The authorisation (овластување), if someone other than your responsible person submits. It is uploaded in its own field on the bid. It can be ready the same day and is valid for what it states. A lawyer can draft it; your responsible person signs it, and the person it names then submits with their own certificate.

9. The statement of seriousness, or a bid guarantee.

• Statement of seriousness (изјава за сериозност): where the tender asks for no bank guarantee or deposit, this system-generated statement is mandatory. It is free, produced instantly, and binds you for the bid validity period. Withdrawing the bid or refusing to sign the contract breaks it and leads to a negative reference.
• Bid bank guarantee, only where the notice requires one: up to 3% of the bid value excluding VAT, never in small-value or simplified open procedures. An electronic guarantee digitally signed by the bank is uploaded; a paper one is delivered in original before opening. You arrange it and pay the bank’s fees.

10. A group agreement, if you bid with others. A group needs no legal form to bid, and its members are jointly liable. Every member registers on ESPP, and the group documents are signed with each member’s certificate. Subcontractors and companies lending their capacity that have no certificate may upload hand-signed scans. A lawyer can draft the agreement; each member signs.

11. Submitting on ESPP. The documents and technical offer are uploaded and the price list is defined, from which the system generates the bid form, the financial offer and the statement of seriousness. Then “Sign documents” is clicked and the bid submitted. The annual subscription covers it.

• Who does it: a user on your account can prepare everything. Your responsible person signs and submits, or the person you have authorised does so with their own certificate.

Before the contract

The e-auction, if one is announced. Only qualified, invited bidders take part, bidding downwards. A user can bid for you on your instructions; you set the lowest price you will go to.

The performance guarantee, where the buyer asks for one. A bank guarantee of 5–15% of the contract value, for the contract term. Buyers don’t use it for consultancy, design contests or framework agreements. You arrange it and pay the bank’s fees.

The contract is signed by your responsible person once the award and any appeal are settled. Refusing to sign leads to a negative reference.

Who does what

The professionals involved

If your company is from abroad

You don’t need a company or branch in North Macedonia to bid; who may bid from abroad, and on what terms, is in How to bid for public tenders in North Macedonia. For the paperwork:

• ESPP: register as a foreign operator on the English version, for EUR 170 plus VAT a year.
• Signature: a foreign qualified certificate is accepted if its issuer is authorised as qualified in your home country.
• Registered activity: your home-country registration evidence, translated where required.
• ЕДЈН: not available to foreign operators; use home-country equivalents.
• Tax, bankruptcy and bans: home-country certificates. Where your country doesn’t issue them, a statement certified before a competent authority such as a notary, signed by your representative. The 6-month limit applies.
• Art. 88 statement: the same statement, or your home documents.
• Authorisation: translated if it isn’t in Macedonian.
• Financial statements and references: your home statements; references translated.
• Quality certificates: EU-issued certificates are accepted.

Pitfalls

• Check the dates on every certificate. Anything older than 6 months at the bid deadline doesn’t count.
• Think before withdrawing or refusing to sign. Either one triggers a negative reference and shuts you out of all procurement for 6 to 12 months.
• Keep the subscription alive. It lasts 1 year, for you and for every group member; a lapsed account can’t bid.
• Never share the responsible person’s certificate or the local administrator’s login. Anyone acting for you signs with their own certificate under an uploaded authorisation.
• Watch the certificate expiry. A qualified certificate that lapses before the bid deadline can’t sign the bid.
• Remember the ЕДЈН doesn’t cover the Art. 88 statement. It is signed separately with every bid.

Doing it with askTender

In North Macedonia, your askTender Partner is added as a named user on your company’s account on ESPP (e-nabavki) and works under their own login. You keep your own login and sign only what the law reserves to you: appointing the local administrator, the Art. 88 statement, the authorisation that lets your Partner sign with their own certificate, the guarantee and the contract. The askTender Desk prepares the statements, the price list and the bid files and tracks the age of every certificate; askTender Partners, such as an advocate, an accountant or a notary, do the steps their licence covers.

Questions

Sources

• Law on Public Procurement, consolidated text with 2025 amendments (BJN)
• ESPP manual for economic operators (BJN, May 2026)
• Rulebook on the use of the ESPP (BJN, 2026)

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.