As the Comptroller General of the Republic points out, although the option to use the mechanism of direct purchase rather than holding a tender is legal, state entities should not abuse its use, as they have been doing in recent years.

Nacion.com explains that "...According to data on contracts held by the Comptroller, in 2015 almost half of these processes (46.5% of awarded contracts) were managed in a direct way, that is to say, they did not first go through the entities control processes.  This control would prevent anyone from favouring relatives or acquaintances, for example, when a state run institution acquires goods or services."

The manager of the Administrative Division of the Comptroller, Allan Ugalde explained to the Legislative Assembly that "...'International organizations warn that it goes against transparency. Reports on transparency and anticorruption issued by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned of this tendency of avoiding public tenders."

Source: Nacion.com

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