Legal Q&A · Compliance, Registers & Licences

What is registration in the List of Economic Operators for, and which documents do you not need to provide?

Law as at 5 September 2026

Short answer

The Public Procurement Office maintains the list. Registration replaces proving personal standing in each tender and is valid for all contracting authorities and entities for three years, after which a new application is needed. You do not attach documents that the Office can obtain from public administration systems: it checks Commercial Register and criminal record extracts, contributions and taxes itself. In practice, the main requirements are a correctly completed application and the fee.

Businesses that regularly bid for public contracts do not have to assemble a fresh bundle of criminal record, contribution and tax certificates for every bid. That is precisely the purpose of the List of Economic Operators maintained by the Public Procurement Office.

One registration instead of documents for every tender

Registration proves compliance with the participation requirements concerning personal standing under Section 32(1)(a) to (f) of Act No. 343/2015 Coll. on Public Procurement: good repute, up-to-date contributions and taxes, absence of bankruptcy, authorisation to conduct business and absence of a ban on participation. It applies across the board:

Registration in the List of Economic Operators is effective in relation to every contracting authority and contracting entity, and the information it contains does not need to be verified in public procurement procedures.

— Section 152(4) of Act No. 343/2015 Coll. (unofficial English translation)

The sole exception concerns contributions and taxes: the contracting authority or entity may subsequently request current certificates despite registration (Section 152(5)).

Which documents do not need to accompany the application

This is where companies do the most unnecessary work. The law is clear:

An economic operator is not required to submit the documents under the first sentence if data from public administration information systems under a separate regulation can be used for registration purposes.

— Section 153(2) of Act No. 343/2015 Coll. (unofficial English translation)

In practice, according to the Office’s guidance, a Slovak company does not attach a Commercial Register or Trade Register extract and does not obtain criminal record extracts. The Office requests them from the General Prosecutor’s Office using the personal details provided in the application. It also checks information systems for outstanding social insurance and health insurance contributions, and tax and customs arrears. Documentary evidence remains relevant mainly for foreign persons and statutory representatives whose details are unavailable in Slovak registers.

How long registration lasts and what it costs

Registration in the List of Economic Operators is valid for three years.

— Section 152(6) of Act No. 343/2015 Coll. (unofficial English translation)

Monitor the expiry date and apply for renewal before registration expires during an ongoing tender. The administrative fee is EUR 100; an electronically submitted application with electronic attachments costs half that amount, EUR 50.

How registration relates to the ESPD and other registers

The European Single Procurement Document is a self-declaration that only provisionally replaces documents in a particular tender: the contracting authority or entity may request them at any time. Registration, by comparison, provides continuing proof that can simply be referenced in the ESPD. Do not confuse it with the Register of Public Sector Partners: that register concerns beneficial owners, and registration is required before signing a contract above the statutory thresholds. We explain the difference in what happens without RPVS registration.

How we can help

We prepare and submit the application electronically through our registration in the List of Economic Operators service, including a reminder for renewal. If you bid regularly, our external legal department monitors registration validity, RPVS and references from previous contracts. We also handle separate RPVS registration as an authorised person. Our article on a contracting authority failing to issue a reference explains how to obtain a missing reference.

Before your next tender, we recommend checking whether your registration is still valid. Renewing it in advance costs less than losing a bid over a formality.

This answer provides general information on the law as at 5 September 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.

More legal questions

All questions and answers
  1. How do we give our accountant or lawyer access to the company's electronic mailbox? The statutory representative grants permission directly in the mailbox on slovensko.sk: after signing in, they add a person under Settings and Person Permissions, specify the scope (full or partial access) and its duration. The administrator processes electronic permission without delay; a paper application with a certified signature takes longer. Permission is not a power of attorney: it provides access to messages, not authority to act for the company. It can be changed or revoked at any time through the same process.
  2. The contracting authority has not issued our reference. How can we obtain it? Issuing a reference is a statutory duty: ordinarily within 30 days of completion, or in specified cases within 10 days of your request. If the authority is silent, send a written request. If it still fails to issue the reference, apply to the Public Procurement Office with performance evidence. The Office issues it instead and fines the authority for non-compliance. Subcontractors do not receive Section 12 references; they prove experience through confirmation from the main contractor.
  3. We drive a van with a trailer abroad. Do we need a tachograph from 1 July 2026? Very probably yes. If the vehicle's maximum permissible mass, including any trailer, exceeds 2.5 tonnes and you carry goods across borders, it must have a second-generation smart tachograph from 1 July 2026. The driver must observe driving times, breaks and rest periods as truck drivers do. The new extension for combinations over 2.5 and up to 3.5 tonnes applies to international transport and cabotage. Above 3.5 tonnes, domestic journeys may also be covered; statutory exemptions must always be assessed. At an inspection, the relevant records for the inspection day and the preceding 56 days must be produced.
  4. How does the authority calculate a fine for a GDPR breach? The EDPB methodology in Guidelines 04/2022 uses five steps: identify the processing operations, set a starting amount based on the infringement category, severity and the undertaking's turnover, adjust for aggravating and mitigating factors, check the statutory ceiling, and assess effectiveness and proportionality. Ceilings are EUR 10 or 20 million, or 2% or 4% of worldwide turnover for undertakings. Turnover means the whole group, rather than only the company at fault. Arguments can address severity, remediation and enhanced cooperation; mandatory notification itself is neutral. Inability to pay is considered only exceptionally.

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Mgr. Patrik Tulinský, LL.M. Czech and Slovak attorney · SAK 300422 · ČAK 19654

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