State entities signed 43,092 contracts worth nearly 7 billion after the presidential runoff, according to Transparency for Colombia

Between June 22 and July 10, 2026, the public entities of the country signed 43,092 contracts for 7,674,921,191,723 pesos in the three weeks following the suspension of the Electoral Guarantees Law —which restricted direct contracting from January 31 to June 21 in the context of the presidential elections in the country—.

Of that total, the entities of the National Government concentrated 3.4 trillion pesos, that is, 45 percent of the total awarded. Two out of three of those contracts were signed through the direct contracting modality, in which competition among bidders is not required.

The data corresponds to a Transparency for Colombia report known by EL TIEMPO that was prepared based on the records of the Electronic Public Procurement System (Secop I and II) of the three weeks following the end of the electoral ban. The information was obtained on July 11 and was cross-checked with the Strategic Information System (SIE) of Public Function, the National Tax and Customs Directorate (Dian), the Single Business and Social Registry (Rues), and the Public Employment Information and Management System (Sigep).

Additionally, Andrés Hernández, director of Transparency for Colombia, explained to this newspaper that the analysis arose after alerts about possible irregular behavior in contracting at the end of the electoral period. However, he pointed out that the volume found does not by itself constitute an anomaly, but there are signs that deserve review, such as the concentration of contracts in certain entities and “the persistence of direct contracting associated with service provision contracts“.

Transparency for Colombia identified 2,829 entities of national and territorial order that signed the tracked contracts. Of these, 2,256 are territorial entities (79.8 percent) —which include mayor’s offices, governor’s offices, chambers of commerce, municipal and departmental entities, indigenous reserves and councils, regional comptrollers, and public service companies—.

The 570 remaining (20.2 percent) are of national level —entities of the National Government with or without regional presence, autonomous corporations, security and defense sector entities, state industrial and commercial companies (EICE), and state non-profit entities (Esales)—. In fact, the National Government concentrated 488 of those entities (86 percent).

The territorial entities were the ones that contracted the most, with 35,188 contracts (81.7 percent) and an amount of 3,987,019,321,625 pesos. Meanwhile, the national entities signed 7,904 contracts (18.3 percent) for 3,687,901,870,098 pesos.

Regarding the National Government, understood as the executive branch, 6,717 contracts were signed for 3,443,507,294,410 pesos. That is, the Executive concentrated 93 percent of the value contracted by all national entities.

When dividing the awards by type of entity, the category that concentrated the largest amount was “other national executive entities“, which groups organizations such as the National Roads Institute (Invías), the National Penitentiary Institute (Inpec), the National Land Agency (ANT), Agrosavia, and the Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute (Igac). The 475 contracts awarded totaled 2,322,649,664,064 pesos.

The Defense sector concentrated 1,440 contracts for 488.258 billion pesos. The administrative units —such as Aerocivil, the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (Ungrd), and the National Protection Unit (UNP), among others— concentrated 1,628 contracts for 212.634 billion pesos.

The ministries held 147 awards for 169.549 billion pesos and the decentralized national entities —which group regional offices of organizations such as the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) and the National Learning Service (Sena)— signed 2,475 totaling 122.520 billion pesos.

They were followed by the administrative departments, with 39 contracts for 73.453 billion pesos, the national funds, with 114 for 24.610 billion pesos, the state industrial and commercial companies, with 185 for 14.810 billion pesos, and the superintendencies, with 54 for 6.114 billion pesos. Then come the universities, which signed 135 contracts totaling 4.679 billion pesos, the state non-profit entities, with four contracts for 2.249 billion pesos, the mixed companies, with two awards for 935 million pesos, the autonomous patrimonies, with six for 772 million, and the schools and colleges, with 13 for 266 million pesos.

Regarding the modality and type of contracts signed in the analyzed period, direct contracting was the most frequent. Hernández warns that, although it is no longer restricted, “its intensive use increases corruption risks by reducing competition levels and participation of potential bidders, while allowing decision-making in a more discretionary manner”.

According to data from Transparency for Colombia, direct contracting was used in 4,409 contracts (65.6 percent of the total) and concentrated 344.302 billion pesos. The minimum amount was the second most frequent modality, with 1,292 contracts (19.2 percent) for 59.436 billion pesos.

Under the special regime modality, 525 contracts (7.81 percent) were signed for 309.679 billion pesos, by abbreviated selection, 408 (6.07 percent) were signed for 309.422 billion pesos, by tender 49 (0.72 percent) were signed for 2,285,471,462,139 pesos —the highest amount— and by open merit contest, 34 (0.5 percent) for 135.195 billion pesos.

Hernández points out that the risk lies primarily in the modality. “Direct contracting has much more discretion by the contracting party and, therefore, fewer competition mechanisms that could help identify if a contract is rigged,” he explains.

Regarding the justification for contracting, the report found that of the total direct contracts signed, 4,253 (96 percent) corresponded to professional and management support service provision (PSAG) —engagement of natural persons—. Those awards totaled 137.680 billion pesos.

Under the lack of plurality of bidders in the market, 42 contracts were signed for 124.147 billion pesos; the inter-administrative, 65 for 68.220 billion pesos; and the lease of real estate, 16 for 6.916 billion pesos. Also, 15 zero-value inter-administrative contracts were signed for 3.395 billion pesos; six under the cause of Law 1150 of 2007 with an amount of 2.327 billion pesos; five for real estate acquisition for 1.299 billion pesos; five for scientific and technological activities for 193 million pesos and two for artistic work execution for 120 million pesos.

Transparency for Colombia found that 15 contracts signed by the National Government concentrate 71 percent of the value contracted by the Executive with 2,429,873,751,832 pesos.

The largest amount was awarded to the Consorcio Variante Oriental 057 for 650.399 billion pesos for the construction and social, environmental, and land management of the Eastern Variant of Chachagüí, in Nariño. Followed by one of 291.569 billion pesos with UT Chachagüí CAZ and another of 281.348 billion pesos with UT Catatumbo 055 IZ in Norte de Santander. The EL TIEMPO Data Unit had already reported on these three Invías awards, which were the highest in the analyzed period.

Also listed are those of the Ministry of the Interior with the company NewSat S.A.S., for the modernization of technological communication infrastructure of the Colombian Aerospace Force, which was also reported by this newspaper. The report also recorded a contract from the National Protection Unit (UNP) with GMW Security Rent a Car for 32.570 billion pesos for security and surveillance; another from the National Infrastructure Agency (Ani) with the Consorcio Vial Girardot CC for 33.684 billion pesos for the supervision of the Bogotá – Girardot corridor; and the Inpec insurance policy with a temporary union led by La Previsora, for 25.759 billion pesos.

The report also identified the National Government entities that most resorted to direct contracting and service provision. In first place is the National Land Agency (ANT), with 1,238 direct contracts for 63.173 billion pesos, all for service provision. According to the report, the entity, which has a staff of 216 public servants, hired 6,276 people for management support between January and June. Additionally, that modality was used to rehire people who had already been contracted in January.

Followed by Dane, with 1,124 contracts for 15.161 billion pesos and the ICBF, with 376 contracts for 6.586 billion pesos.

For Transparency for Colombia, the reactivation of contracting after the lifting of the Electoral Guarantees Law is a usual behavior, related to the resumption of contractual activity after five months of restriction. Therefore, Hernández insists that “there are many resources, a number of contracts, but it is not necessarily an atypical behavior. It is a pattern“.

He also warns that by July 10, there were 50,645 processes that had not yet been signed. “Monitoring must be maintained, it does not necessarily create the feeling that this is chaos, but it must be watched where it should be watched,” he mentions.

The quality of information also has weaknesses related to public procurement systems. One of the identified limitations is that 15 percent of contracts are still registered in Secop I, despite Secop II being more complete and reliable. Added to this are the differences between the universe of entities in each system, since in Public Function there are 6,317 records, while in Secop there are 14,710.

The organization made calls to the outgoing government, the incoming government, and the control bodies. To the first, it requested transparency in contracting during its last weeks and special attention to the large ongoing contracts.

To the incoming government, it called to review the commitments made in the transition without falling into the narrative of disorder. And to the control bodies, especially the Comptroller’s Office, it asked to maintain vigilance over these contracting peaks and the possible red flags.

SABRINA BASTIDAS IGUARÁN

DATA UNIT