Pakkumuste

Pakkumuste (genitive plural of pakkumus) is the Estonian term used to refer to offers or bids submitted in response to a tender invitation. In procurement and public tenders, pakkumused are prepared by bidders and submitted by the deadline to the contracting authority. They are evaluated against predefined criteria, such as price, delivery terms, technical compliance, quality, and references, with the aim of selecting the most economically advantageous bid.

A typical pakkumus includes the price and total cost of ownership, delivery or completion schedule, technical specifications, compliance with requirements, warranties, and evidence of qualifications or certifications. Bids may also require supporting documents, such as financial statements, certificates, or prior performance records, and must meet formal submission rules set out in the tender documents.

The procurement process generally begins with a call for tenders or an equivalent procurement procedure issued by the buyer. Bids are submitted by the deadline and then opened and logged, often with prices kept confidential during the evaluation phase. During evaluation, the contracting authority checks compliance with mandatory requirements and scores bids according to the predefined criteria to determine the winning pakkumus. The contract is awarded to the selected bidder, who becomes the supplier or contractor, while others are informed of the outcome.

In practice, pakkumuste handling is governed by Estonian public procurement law and related guidelines. The term is used across legal and administrative texts to refer collectively to the submitted bids in a given procurement procedure.