Operations of the central procurement unit

Hansel Ltd is the central procurement unit of the Finnish Government. The objective of Hansel’s operations is to generate savings for the State by putting framework agreements for goods and services out to tender and by providing its customers with procurement expert services. The tasks and role of the central procurement unit are defined in the Act on Public Contracts, the Act on a Limited Liability Company Called Hansel Oy, and in the State Procurement Strategy. Hansel’s customers consist of ministries, their subordinate departments and certain other government agencies.

Hansel’s customers have the opportunity to make acquisitions without separate tendering processes, by joining the framework agreements administered by Hansel. Central procurement implemented under the framework agreements generates considerable savings for the Finnish Government, through both procurement process costs and pricing.

Through responsibly run operations, Hansel promotes high-quality procurement and the equal, non-discriminatory treatment of suppliers in the tendering process. Hansel's objective is to also promote open competition and organise tendering processes in a manner that fosters efficient market operations. Hansel is a non-profit limited company fully owned by the State of Finland, and operates under the steering of the Ministry of Finance. The company’s operations are funded by service fees for framework agreements and sales of expert services. The maximum service fee that may be charged based on procurements is 1.5 per cent of contract value. The average service fee in 2016 was 1.06 per cent (1.09 in 2015).