Larissa municipality playground upgrade tender faces criticism over illegal terms

The Larissa municipal council discussed a procurement competition to upgrade ten playgrounds, valued at about €950,000. The Audit Court commissioner refused to approve the process, judging a tender requirement that the safety‑floor contracts be submitted exclusively by public entities to be illegal.

The clause limited competition, resulting in only one acceptable bid and a discount of 0.5% (€4,757). Council member Panagiotis Datis of the “Symparataksi Larisaion” party criticised the mayor and deputy mayor, calling the error a “copy‑paste” mistake and highlighting that direct awards accounted for 93.78% of the municipality’s contracts in 2024.