Public tenders in Hungary: platforms, thresholds and rules

At a glance

Law: 2015. évi CXLIII. törvény a közbeszerzésekről (Kbt.)
Oversight: Közbeszerzési Hatóság
Central portal: Elektronikus Közbeszerzési Rendszer (EKR)

Thresholds

Supplies and services, ministries and central purchasing bodies (EU)	HUF 55 412 840 (EUR 140 000)
Supplies and services, other contracting authorities (EU)	HUF 85 494 096 (EUR 216 000)
Works and works/service concessions (EU)	HUF 2 138 935 624 (EUR 5 404 000)
Social and other specific services (EU)	HUF 296 854 500 (EUR 750 000)
Utilities: supplies and services (EU)	HUF 170 988 192 (EUR 432 000)
Supplies, national threshold (classic authorities, 2026)	HUF 20 000 000
Services, national threshold (classic authorities, 2026)	HUF 20 000 000
Works, national threshold (classic authorities, 2026)	HUF 60 000 000
Utilities, national threshold: supplies and services / works (2026)	HUF 50 000 000 / HUF 100 000 000
Concessions, national threshold (classic authorities): works / services (2026)	HUF 100 000 000 / HUF 30 000 000
Works below which an invitation-only procedure (Kbt. § 115, at least five invited firms) may be used, unless EU-funded	HUF 300 000 000

Law and buyers

Public procurement in Hungary is governed by Act CXLIII of 2015 on public procurement (Kbt.), which implements EU Directives 2014/24/EU, 2014/25/EU and 2014/23/EU. The Kbt. has separate rules for contracts above the EU thresholds (Part Two) and for contracts between the national and EU thresholds (Part Three, nemzeti eljárásrend). Contracting authorities include ministries, government agencies, municipalities, publicly owned companies and utilities. Centralised purchasing plays a large role: the Közbeszerzési és Ellátási Főigazgatóság (KEF) concludes framework agreements for government bodies, and the Digitális Kormányzati Ügynökség (DKÜ) handles centralised government IT procurement. The Közbeszerzési Hatóság supervises the system and publishes the Közbeszerzési Értesítő. For projects funded by the EU, the Integritás Hatóság (Integrity Authority), set up by Act XXVII of 2022, also carries out checks.[2][5][6][7]

Where tenders are published

Almost all procedures are published and run in the EKR, the Elektronikus Közbeszerzési Rendszer at ekr.gov.hu. According to TED data for 2025, roughly 98 percent of the 4,332 Hungarian contract notices on TED name EKR as the procurement platform. Contracts above the EU thresholds are also published on TED, while national notices appear in the Közbeszerzési Értesítő, the official procurement gazette edited by the Közbeszerzési Hatóság on kozbeszerzes.hu. Commercial search services such as KözbeszerzésMonitor aggregate these notices. To download documents in some procedures and to submit any tender, a company must register in EKR; one legal person may hold only one registration. During registration you state whether the company is an SME and whether it is foreign-owned. Contracting authorities may generally not demand an electronic signature on documents uploaded in EKR.[3][4][10][11]

Procedures and thresholds

Above the EU thresholds the Kbt. offers the open procedure (nyílt eljárás), restricted procedure (meghívásos eljárás), negotiated procedure (tárgyalásos eljárás), competitive dialogue (versenypárbeszéd), innovation partnership (innovációs partnerség) and the negotiated procedure without prior publication (hirdetmény nélküli tárgyalásos eljárás), the last ones only on the grounds the Act lists. Between the national and EU thresholds the authority may either design its own procedure or follow the EU-level rules with simplifications. A special option applies to works below HUF 300 million that are not EU-funded: instead of publishing a notice, the authority sends an invitation directly to at least five capable companies. Below the national thresholds the Kbt. does not apply and authorities follow their own purchasing rules. The exact amounts are listed in the thresholds table.[2]

Documents and language

In procedures above the EU thresholds you submit the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD, in Hungarian egységes európai közbeszerzési dokumentum) together with your tender as a preliminary declaration on exclusion grounds and selection criteria. In national procedures a simplified own declaration replaces the ESPD and authorities need not set selection criteria. The authority later asks the best-ranked bidder for supporting evidence, such as company register extracts, tax and social security certificates, financial statements, references and certificates. Documents can be filled in as EKR forms or uploaded as simple electronic copies. Tenders are normally prepared in Hungarian. The contracting authority must accept a translation of non-Hungarian documents made by the bidder itself, so a certified translation is not required by law. Bidders established outside the EU may submit equivalent documents where a required certificate does not exist in their country.[2][3]

Deadlines, award and challenges

In an open procedure above the EU thresholds the tender deadline is at least 30 days from dispatch of the notice, or 35 days if tenders cannot be submitted fully electronically. In national procedures the minimum is 10 days for supplies and services and 15 days for works. Award is based on the lowest price, the lowest cost or the best price-quality ratio (legjobb ár-érték arány). After the written summary of the evaluation (összegezés) is sent, the contract may not be signed for 10 days, or 5 days in the invitation-only works procedure. Complaints go to the Közbeszerzési Döntőbizottság (Public Procurement Arbitration Board) within 15 days of learning of the infringement, or within 10 days when you challenge the decision that closes the procedure.[2]

How to win a tender in Hungary

Under the Hungarian Kbt. buyers must in principle use lowest cost or the best price-quality ratio (legjobb ár-érték arány); lowest price alone is an exception and is not allowed at all for works or for design, engineering and architectural services. Criteria must rest on quantitative or professional factors, and your general suitability cannot be scored, so write about how you will deliver this contract, not about who you are. A buyer may also fix the price and let bidders compete on quality only. Ask for kiegészítő tájékoztatás in writing through EKR; the buyer must answer at the latest six days before the tender deadline, but a request filed later than the fourth day before that answer deadline need not be answered. Answers go to all interested operators. To know the buyer, read its annual procurement plan in EKR and its earlier contracts, amendments and performance data in the public contract database CoRe. Hungary gives every bidder the chance to remedy missing documents (hiánypótlás), but an abnormally low price must be backed by all facts and calculations. The written summary (összegezés) explains the result.[2][4][11]

Describe how you will deliver this contract, since your general suitability earns no points.
Submit questions in EKR well before the fourth day before the answer deadline.
Read the buyer's procurement plan in EKR and its past contracts in CoRe.
Answer any hiánypótlás request completely and on time.
Study the összegezés to see your scores and the reasons for the result.

Clarification round: Kiegészítő tájékoztatás (supplementary information request)

How contracts are awarded in Hungary

of tenders are awarded on price alone: 37%
bids per lot (median): 2
of lots receive a single bid: 39%
of winners are SMEs: 73%

Source: TED, 8,689 contract and award notices from 2025, calculated by TenderRender.

How TenderRender helps you in Hungary

TenderRender does the work behind each step above. Your team checks and refines.

1
Research the buyer
Brings together the buyer's earlier awards, policies and contracts, so your bid fits this buyer's situation in Hungary.
2
Ask questions
Finds unclear points and risks in the documents and drafts questions about them for the clarification round: Kiegészítő tájékoztatás (supplementary information request).
3
Write per criterion
Drafts a first version per award criterion, in the language of the tender, with citations to your own documents.
4
Review
Scores your bid per award criterion the way an evaluator would, with concrete improvements.
5
Fill in forms
Fills in the ESPD, price schedules, questionnaires and Excel annexes from your own data and earlier bids, with a source per answer.
6
Submit
Builds a checklist of everything you need to submit on Elektronikus Közbeszerzési Rendszer (EKR) and prepares the documents ready to sign.

Tender search covers the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany; in Hungary you upload the documents from Elektronikus Közbeszerzési Rendszer (EKR) and TenderRender works with them the same way.

Teams writing or reviewing with TenderRender won 49% of their completed tenders. How this was calculated

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Tips for bidders

Register your company in EKR well before the deadline and make sure the person who registers is authorised to act for the company. Follow ekr.gov.hu and TED for EU-level tenders, but remember that many smaller contracts only appear in EKR and the Közbeszerzési Értesítő. Read the call carefully for the languages accepted and plan time for translating your own documents into Hungarian. Check whether the buyer can use a centralised framework agreement from KEF or DKÜ, because such purchases then do not lead to a separate open tender. For EU-funded contracts expect extra transparency requirements. Use the clarification questions (kiegészítő tájékoztatás) in EKR early, and track the standstill period after the summary so that you can still lodge a complaint in time.[3][4][5][6]

Platforms in Hungary

Share of the 4,332 TED notices from 2025 whose documents sit on this platform.

EKR97.9%
Hungarian tenders run fully in EKR: only registered operators can bid, and named subcontractors must also be registered. User manuals are available after login.
How it works →Website

PublicCommercial

Frequently asked questions

Where are public tenders in Hungary published?

Procedures are published and run in the EKR (ekr.gov.hu). National notices also appear in the Közbeszerzési Értesítő of the Public Procurement Authority, and contracts above the EU thresholds are additionally published on TED.[4][10][11]

Do I need to register to bid in Hungary?

Yes. Tenders can only be submitted through EKR, so your company must register there first. Each legal person can have only one EKR registration.[3][4]

What are the procurement thresholds in Hungary in 2026?

The national thresholds for classic authorities are HUF 20 million for supplies and services and HUF 60 million for works. The EU thresholds are HUF 55,412,840 or HUF 85,494,096 for supplies and services and HUF 2,138,935,624 for works.[1]

Can foreign companies take part in Hungarian tenders?

Yes. Companies from other EU and EEA countries bid on equal terms, and companies from outside the EU may submit equivalent documents where a Hungarian-style certificate does not exist in their country.[2]

In which language do I have to submit my tender?

Tenders are normally submitted in Hungarian; the call states which languages are accepted. The authority must accept a translation of foreign documents made by the bidder itself.[2]

How much time do I have to prepare a tender?

At least 30 days in an EU-level open procedure, or 35 days if submission is not fully electronic. In national procedures the minimum is 10 days for supplies and services and 15 days for works.[2]

Where can I file a complaint about a Hungarian tender?

Complaints go to the Közbeszerzési Döntőbizottság. The general deadline is 15 days from learning of the infringement, and 10 days when challenging the decision that closes the procedure.[2]