Uruguay's public procurement

Management signals

Five measurements of how each state body buys: who the money concentrates on, whether awards come in bursts, how much is awarded directly, how long anyone had to compete, and how many price flags were left unexplained.

None of these measurements proves an irregularity. All of them have legitimate explanations: a hospital buying oxygen from the single licensed supplier concentrates 100% and is perfectly in order. A signal says only that the body sits among the highest on that dimension. It is a starting point for a question, never a conclusion.

Measured over awards from 28/10/2023 to 28/10/2026 · 268 bodies with at least 20 contracts

What each signal measures

Concentration in one supplier: Share of awarded money that went to a single supplier. An upper bound: the contract amount is not apportioned per supplier, so a shared award counts fully for each. Marked from 47% (top 10%) and high from 74% (top 3%).
Awards in bursts: How many times the body made 8 or more separate awards to the same supplier within one month. Counted once per supplier per month, so a body can accumulate several in the same month. It is the shape of contract splitting, and also the shape of a hospital pharmacy ordering often from one distributor. Marked from 19.600000000000023 (top 10%) and high from 83.88000000000011 (top 3%).
Direct awarding: Share of direct or exception purchases among the awards whose procedure could be resolved. Only 27% of awards carry a procedure, and nationally direct purchase is already 66%, so what matters is the position relative to the rest, not the number alone. Marked from 98% (top 10%) and high from 100% (top 3%).
Express bidding window: Calls whose bidding window fell in the shortest 5% for their own procedure. The threshold is per procedure because they are not comparable: an Abbreviated Tender never runs under 3.5 days, while a Direct Purchase runs a third of its calls in under 3. Marked from 10% (top 10%) and high from 33% (top 3%).
Unexplained overprices: Price flags that survived both the statistical detector and the automated review. There are about 70 in the whole corpus, so any concentration in one body stands out. Marked from 1 (top 10%) and high from 3 (top 3%).

268 bodies

Facultad de Información y Comunicación105 contracts$ 21,8 M
- Concentration16.5%above 41% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct0.0%above 5% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Estado Mayor de la Defensa649 contracts$ 21,3 M
- Concentration6.4%above 2% of bodies
- Bursts4above 79% of bodies
- Direct79.1%above 60% of bodies
- Express window3.5%above 70% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Dirección General de Bioseguridad e Inocuidad Alimentaria307 contracts$ 20,2 M
- Concentration16.8%above 42% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct84.3%above 64% of bodies
- Express window3.9%above 73% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Atencion de Urgencia Emergencia Prehospitalaria y Traslado.83 contracts$ 20,1 M
- Concentration21.8%above 61% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct35.7%above 23% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Red de Atención Primaria de Lavalleja131 contracts$ 19,6 M
- Concentration24.7%above 67% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct86.2%above 68% of bodies
- Express window3.4%above 69% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Tribunal de lo Contencioso Administrativo94 contracts$ 18,7 M
- Concentration47.3%above 90% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct93.8%above 83% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Dirección Nacional de Aguas (DINAGUA)70 contracts$ 17,9 M
- Concentration15.3%above 38% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct70.4%above 49% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Red de Atención Primaria de Paysandú604 contracts$ 17,9 M
- Concentration14.0%above 31% of bodies
- Bursts5above 81% of bodies
- Direct90.3%above 73% of bodies
- Express window2.8%above 65% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Archivo General de la Nación136 contracts$ 17,5 M
- Concentration30.6%above 77% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct90.5%above 74% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Red de Atención Primaria de Treinta y Tres54 contracts$ 17,1 M
- Concentration32.3%above 78% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct80.0%above 61% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Centro Universitario Regional Noreste87 contracts$ 16,8 M
- Concentration14.7%above 35% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct33.3%above 21% of bodies
- Express window3.3%above 69% of bodies
- Unexplained1above 90% of bodies
See this body’s 1 unexplained flags
Jefatura de Policía de Artigas1460 contracts$ 16 M
- Concentration7.4%above 6% of bodies
- Bursts11above 88% of bodies
- Directnot enough data
- Express windownot enough data
- Unexplained1above 90% of bodies
See this body’s 1 unexplained flags
Red de Atención Primaria de Soriano97 contracts$ 16 M
- Concentration46.0%above 89% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct93.8%above 83% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Dirección Nacional de Innovación, Ciencia y Tecnología151 contracts$ 15,2 M
- Concentration9.7%above 14% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct65.6%above 44% of bodies
- Express window6.3%above 82% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Jefatura de Policía de Colonia742 contracts$ 14,9 M
- Concentration6.8%above 3% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct81.6%above 62% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Agen.p/Des.del Gob.de Gest.Electr.y Soc.Inform.y del Conoc.92 contracts$ 13,8 M
- Concentration14.3%above 33% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Directnot enough data
- Express windownot enough data
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Facultad de Enfermería20 contracts$ 13,4 M
- Concentration14.5%above 34% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct0.0%above 5% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Jefatura de Policía de Rocha943 contracts$ 13,3 M
- Concentration10.8%above 18% of bodies
- Bursts4above 79% of bodies
- Directnot enough data
- Express windownot enough data
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Dirección Nacional de Topografía353 contracts$ 13,1 M
- Concentration19.8%above 54% of bodies
- Bursts11above 88% of bodies
- Direct46.2%above 27% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Junta Departamental de Treinta y Tres801 contracts$ 13,1 M
- Concentration14.8%above 35% of bodies
- Bursts5above 81% of bodies
- Directnot enough data
- Express windownot enough data
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Instituto Nacional de EstadÍstica93 contracts$ 12,9 M
- Concentration30.0%above 76% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct88.6%above 71% of bodies
- Express window2.4%above 62% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Oficina de Planeamiento y Presupuesto281 contracts$ 12,6 M
- Concentration8.7%above 10% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct86.9%above 69% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Dirección Nacional de Energía148 contracts$ 12,5 M
- Concentration27.2%above 73% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct86.5%above 69% of bodies
- Express window0.0%above 35% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Red de Atención Primaria de Tacuarembó57 contracts$ 12 M
- Concentration41.2%above 87% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Direct92.2%above 77% of bodies
- Express window2.0%above 60% of bodies
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies
Jefatura de Policía de Florida511 contracts$ 11,8 M
- Concentration9.1%above 10% of bodies
- Bursts0above 66% of bodies
- Directnot enough data
- Express windownot enough data
- Unexplained0above 83% of bodies