International Online Conference (June 8, 2023) “NEW OUTLOOKS FOR THE SCHOLARLY RESEARCH IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE” 19 SESSION 2: ACCOUNTING, AUDITING AND FINANCIAL REPORTING THE AUDIT OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENTS: EVIDENCE FROM GREECE Georgia N. Kontogeorga * , Dimitrios N. Angelaras ** * Hellenic Court of Audit, Athens, Greece ** Department of Law, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece How to cite: Kontogeorga, G. N., & Angelaras, D. N. (2023). The audit of public procurements: Evidence from Greece. In M. Tutino, V. Santolamazza, & A. Kostyuk (Eds.), New outlooks for the scholarly research in corporate governance (pp. 19–22). Virtus Interpress. https://doi.org/10.22495/nosrcgp3 Copyright © 2023 The Authors Received: 22.04.2023 Accepted: 02.05.2023 Keywords: Public Procurements, Pre- Contractual Audit, Supreme Audit Institutions, Greece JEL Classification: H57, H83, K12, M42, M48 DOI: 10.22495/nosrcgp3 Abstract Public procurements represent a significant percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and are critical to the delivery of services like infrastructure, health and education. Public procurement is a strategic instrument and lever for achieving government policy goals such as stimulating innovation, promoting green public procurement and the circular economy, supporting access to public procurement contracts for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), or promoting responsible business conduct (RBC) in global supply chains. This makes public procurement a strategic tool for achieving policy objectives (OECD, 2020). On the other hand, public procurement can provide opportunities for corruption. When seeking lucrative public contracts, companies look for any opportunity they can take advantage of that will improve their ability to secure a successful bid. Unscrupulous government officials can use their influential positions to attain favors and gifts from businesses pursuing public procurement tenders. Civil society ultimately bears the cost of public procurement irregularities. Collusion and corruption affect the quality of services provided, often to the detriment of service recipients (Bryan, 2015).