Serbia’s public procurement market was worth about 15 billion euros in 2025, with 7.05 billion euros, or 47% of the total, exempted from the Public Procurement Law, according to the European Commission’s Serbia 2026 Report, dated 4 November 2026. The scale of exemptions makes procurement governance material to competition, public finances and infrastructure investment.
Contracts conducted under the standard law amounted to 7.95 billion euros, while exempted contracts had been worth 5.7 billion euros a year earlier. The Commission said a large share of exemptions concerned transport projects awarded directly under intergovernmental agreements or special laws. Project-specific exemptions are linked to EXPO 2027, motorway works and energy infrastructure. It assessed transparency for contracts awarded under intergovernmental agreements as insufficient.
The average tender attracted 2.5 bids, while 47.05% of tenders received a single bid. Serbia’s State Audit Institution found irregularities in 13.5% of the procurement value it audited.
Serbia is spending heavily on roads, railways, energy and urban infrastructure. The efficiency of tendering directly affects construction prices, supplier competition and the return on public capital. A competitive and transparent procurement market can stimulate domestic industry, while exemptions dominating the market can concentrate opportunities and weaken price discovery.
