What is ΕΣΗΔΗΣ?

ΕΣΗΔΗΣ is the Greek National Electronic Public Procurement System used by contracting authorities to publish tenders and by suppliers to submit and open bids electronically.

Do I need a qualified digital signature to submit on ΕΣΗΔΗΣ?

Yes. All bid documents must be signed with a qualified electronic signature recognised under eIDAS before upload, or the submission will be rejected on formal grounds.

What's the most common reason submissions fail on ΕΣΗΔΗΣ?

Missed deadlines and file or signature format errors dominate. The portal enforces cutoff times strictly and rejects unsigned or wrongly formatted attachments without appeal.

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ΕΣΗΔΗΣ Step-by-Step

English Ελληνικά

ΕΣΗΔΗΣ (the Greek National Electronic Public Procurement System, or ESIDIS in Latin characters) is the mandatory online platform for the vast majority of public tenders in Greece. If you want to sell to the Greek public sector, you submit through ΕΣΗΔΗΣ. This guide walks you through the full lifecycle - from registering your organisation to tracking the result after you submit - and flags the practical mistakes that most often get bids rejected on technicalities.

Registering your organisation

Before you can bid, your company must be registered as an economic operator in ΕΣΗΔΗΣ. You will need a Greek Taxisnet account (TIN/ΑΦΜ) to authenticate, and you must nominate authorised users and map their roles - typically a legal representative plus the staff who will prepare and sign offers. Each person who signs a submission needs a qualified electronic signature (a hardware token or qualified certificate from an accredited Greek provider). Set this up early: procuring the certificates and completing identity verification can take one to two weeks, and you cannot submit a compliant offer without a valid signature.

Finding and preparing a tender

Search active tenders by CPV code, contracting authority, or keyword, then download the complete tender file (διακήρυξη) and every annex. Read the participation requirements first: nearly all tenders require a completed ESPD/ΤΕΥΔ self-declaration, proof of financial and technical capacity, and often a guarantee of participation (εγγυητική επιστολή). Build a compliance checklist directly from the διακήρυξη - the evaluation committee scores strictly against its stated criteria, so a missing certificate or an out-of-date document is enough to be excluded before your technical offer is even read. Prepare all documents in the exact formats the tender specifies.

Submitting your response

ΕΣΗΔΗΣ separates your submission into distinct sealed envelopes - typically the qualification/ESPD documents, the technical offer, and the financial offer - each uploaded to its correct slot. Sign every required document with your qualified electronic signature; unsigned or wrongly-signed files are the single most common cause of rejection. Submit well before the deadline: the platform can slow under load in the final hours, and a submission that completes even one minute late is automatically excluded with no appeal on timing. After a successful upload, download and keep the system-generated confirmation as your proof of submission.

After submission

Once the deadline passes, the evaluation committee opens the envelopes in stages and records each step in ΕΣΗΔΗΣ. You may receive clarification requests (διευκρινίσεις) with a strict response window - answer them precisely and on time. When a provisional award is announced, you have a defined period to file an objection (προδικαστική προσφυγή) if you believe the process breached the rules, before the final award and contract signature - and the award itself is published on ΚΗΜΔΗΣ, the Greek transparency registry. Track every notification inside the platform; deadlines in the evaluation phase are as unforgiving as the submission deadline itself.

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Frequently asked questions

What is ΕΣΗΔΗΣ?: ΕΣΗΔΗΣ is the Greek National Electronic Public Procurement System used by contracting authorities to publish tenders and by suppliers to submit and open bids electronically.
Do I need a qualified digital signature to submit on ΕΣΗΔΗΣ?: Yes. All bid documents must be signed with a qualified electronic signature recognised under eIDAS before upload, or the submission will be rejected on formal grounds.
What's the most common reason submissions fail on ΕΣΗΔΗΣ?: Missed deadlines and file or signature format errors dominate. The portal enforces cutoff times strictly and rejects unsigned or wrongly formatted attachments without appeal.

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