SMEs in Public Procurement
Practices and Strategies for Shared Benefits
The relevance and economic implications of public procurement – which represents 12% of GDP and one-third of government expenditures in the OECD area - make it a powerful tool for improving public service delivery. At the same time, governments are increasingly using their purchasing power to pursue strategic objectives in different policy areas such as sustainability, innovation or providing support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Making it easier for SMEs to access public procurement opportunities improves the general economic environment, promotes inclusive growth and supports principles such as equal treatment, open access and effective competition. This report takes stock of the approaches adopted in 37 OECD and non-OECD countries to help SMEs perform better in public procurement markets, including removing barriers to their participation. The report also describes the main features of a public procurement system that benefits both the public sector and SMEs.
Ukraine
In Ukraine, the legal definition of SMEs is the same as in the European Union. Medium-sized enterprises are defined as those whose average number of employees during the reporting period does not exceed 250, and annual income from any activity does not exceed the equivalent of EUR 50 million. Small enterprises (individual entrepreneurs or legal entities/enterprises) refer to enterprises with an average number of employees that does not exceed 50 people and annual income from any activity that does not exceed the equivalent of EUR 10 million; and micro enterprises (individual entrepreneurs or legal entities/enterprises) refer to those with an average number of employees not exceeding 10 people and annual income from any activity that does not exceed the equivalent of EUR 2 million.