CEC contracts 342 thousand euros for balloting, over 57 thousand euros more than the anticipated value

According to documents published by the CEC, the institution has undergone a “procedure negotiated without publishing the contract's release” for the project involving printing of balloting, candidate brochures and voter lists for early elections for the Kosovo Assembly.

The tender was renewed, while the contract was awarded to the Slovenian company “Cetis d.d” by Celje in Slovenia.

The planned tender value reportedly totaled 284 thousand and 506 euros, but the economic operator's bid amounted to over 418 thousand euros.

However, The CEC has indicated that after negotiations with the economic operator, the company has offered discounts and the final bid has dropped to 342 thousand euros.

The “OE after the CEC's request has offered discounts from the financial bid, and the final bid therefore has a price of 342,000.00 euros”, the document says.

The contract was awarded on May 14th, while its signing took place on May 18th.

There was only one economic operator participating in the procedure.

Under the Public Procurement Law, negotiated procedure without publication is usually used in special cases, when, due to urgency or other circumstances, standards of procurement procedures cannot be followed.

The tender included printing of balloting, candidate brochures and voter lists for extraordinary parliamentary elections to be held on June 7th 2026.

But Central Election Commission (KQZ) had failed to wrap up one of the basic supplies for the election process, purchase of the voting booths. The tender was officially cancelled on May 14th, as the only agreed bid has resulted in the budget envisioned by the CEC, Periscopi reports.

Don't supply booths, it could cause serious trouble in the logistics organisation of the election process, as the time for re-entering and completing new procurement procedures is already very limited. According to official documents published by the CEC, the tender, titled “, has been cancelled because the only submitted bid has exceeded the budget of contracting authority. According to official documents, the projected value of this tender has been 15,000 euros. However, the only economic operator to have participated in the procedure has offered 21 thousand and 948 euros, significantly exceeding the planned budget by the CEC.

While six months ago the Slovenian company that had previously been declared irresponsible due to the high price it offered, from Central Election Commission (KQZ), has again been rewarded with contracts for printing local election ballots 2025, through a procedure of free contract reporting, in full opposition to the Public Procurement Law.

During the vote counting process in South Mitrovica for the run-off of local elections, Kosovo Democratic Party commissioners (PDK) had filed complaints about possible manipulations in balloting. According to them, some ballot papers have had irregularities that fuel allegations of interference in the election process.

The Slovenian company CETIS d.d, which had prepared the ballot, has argued that “error is technical” and that “responsibility is ours”.

Details indicated that the company that admitted the technical mistake had won the tender in opposition to the Public Procurement Law.

In December 2024, The CEC had announced the tender for printing ballots for general and local elections 2025, worth an anticipated 51,000 euros.

“Operator Group CETIS d.d and CETKOS L.L. C” had submitted an offer of 776 thousand euros, exceeding the allowed value and was thus declared irresponsible. /Periscope/