Budapest is the capital and the largest city of Hungary. It is the country’s principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. Budapest does not have a specific sustainable procurement strategy; however, the leaders of the city are always keen to protect the environment. A new procurement system was implemented at the beginning of 2016, which includes an SPP appendix for the General Rules of Procurement
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The City of Budapest is currently developing a new joint procurement strategy that includes a strong focus on innovation procurement and green procurement. The strategy will enter in force in June 2019. The public utility companies also strive to include SPP aspects on their tenders. Most of them already conducted processes, which were aimed at promoting and taking account of the need for sustainable thinking.
The Budapest Environmental Program (2017-2021) was accepted by the General Assembly on the 30th of August 2017. It declares the intention of realizing innovative and sustainable procurements while aiming high quality and effectiveness, but minimizing the environmental footprint of the purchases. The target for 100% sustainable procurement processes means that every procurement shall contain or shall be driven by at least one issue, item, contractual obligation under the umbrella of sustainability.
PROCURING IN BUDAPESTThe new Public Procurement Act states that the Contractor can engage independent experts, authorities and other market participants in prior consultations for the preparation of the procurement process, as well as to inform economic operators about the proposed procurement requirements. The contracting authority must take all necessary measures to create equal opportunities for the potential tendering organizations.
Budapest Municipality’s Procurement Department is divided into a new procurement company and the Procurement Unit of the Notary’s Office. The Municipality of Budapest owns several public utility companies and cultural institutions. The Budapest City Directorate Holding – established in 2014 – is in charge of supervising their individual policies on energy efficiency and CO2-emission reduction
ePROCUREMENTThe Council supports the new Act on Public Procurement. In addition, the city is eager to introduce electronic techniques in its procedures and fosters innovative endeavours. The Mayor’s Office already has some e-systems in place in other departments.
The City of Budapest offers annual internal trainings for procurers from the City Hall and the public utility companies. The training goes into the practical and legal aspects of prublic procurement and is designed to raise awareness of SPP among procurers.
The City of Budapest is very supportive of SMEs. Where possible, the city frame eligibility criteria in a way that SME's have similar opportunities to win tenders as big companies
KEEPING TRACK OF SPPSince the beginning of 2016, Budapest keeps track of their SPP progress with the help of a newly introduced monitoring system. The recently established Procurement Company of Budapest is responsible for the monitoring of all city and utility companies’ procurements. It is also in charge of reviewing contracts, and supervising the legality and quality of processes. In those procurement processes, where the estimated contract values reach the thresholds specified by EU law, the Prime Minister’s Office is also responsible for supervision. In addition, the State Audit Office has some controlling functions, too.
Until 2013, Budapest’s sewer system was incomplete, resulting in nearly half of the city’s waste water being discharged into the River Danube. Therefore, in 2013, the city launched the project ‘Complex Integrated Sewage Disposal of Budapest’. 240km of new sewage pipes were laid in districts where there was only partial guttering, raising the share of households connected to the sewage system to 95%. The goal for the future is to connect 100% of household to the sewage system.
The Metropolitan Public Domain Maintenance Company introduced a new curbside waste collection system in which households were supplied with the necssary containers to be able to collect their waste separately. In addition, two new recycling centres were built to provide more space for citizens to dispose of hazardous and electronic waste.
Air pollution is a major problem in Budapest and most of the city's vehicle fleet is not environmentally friendly. Therefore, for new procurements of vehicles, the city aims to procure hybrid and electric vehicles. It also plans to install over ine hundred electric charging station across the city.
For further information on the activities of Budapest email procurement@iclei.org
