There is a moderate risk of corruption when dealing with public procurement in Germany. Companies indicate that the diversion of public funds and favoritism in the decisions of government officials are not common (GCR 2017-2018). Businesses report that bribes and irregular payments in the process of awarding public contracts and licenses are fairly uncommon (GCR 2015-2016). However, two out of five companies perceive bribery and corrupt practices to be widespread among businesses in Germany (EY 2017). Furthermore, more than two-thirds of companies believe that close links between business and politics in Germany lead to corruption (Flash Eurobarometer 2015). Identified risks are collusive bidding, conflicts of interest in the evaluation of bids, the involvement of bidders in the design of specifications, unclear selection or evaluation criteria, and tailor-made specifications for particular companies (European Commission, Feb. 2014). Public procurement provisions make it mandatory for contacting authorities to exclude bidders who have been sentenced for corruption offenses. German authorities have increased penalties for bribery and price-fixing by companies competing for public contracts (ICS 2017). Germany is set to introduce a national single registration point for firms that have violated procurement, antitrust, and labor laws among others; these companies are then to be excluded from contracts and concessions (EUWID, Oct. 2016).
In one corruption case, the former technical chief of the Berlin-Brandenburg airport, Jochen Großmann, was sentenced in 2014 to one year of probation and fined USD 250,000 for bribery, fraud and attempted bribery (The Local, Oct. 2014). Großmann attempted to solicit a bribe of EUR 500,000 from a potential contractor for work on the airport’s deficient smoke extraction system (The Local, Oct. 2014). Another manager at Berlin-Brandenburg airport was sentenced in 2016 to three and a half years of imprisonment in addition to repaying the EUR 150,000 bribe he took in exchange for clearing additional payments worth EUR 25 million to the firm Imtech without review (The Local, Oct. 2016). Imtech was responsible for the troubled fire safety system at the airport, which has thus far delayed the opening of the airport for years (The Local, Oct. 2016).
Companies are recommended to implement special due diligence procedures to counter the likelihood of encountering corruption in the procurement process.