Operations of the joint procurement unit

Hansel has been providing services to all Finnish government organisations for more than three years, setting a new record of €1.3 billion in the use of contracts. In the autumn of 2022, the Board of Directors declared the integration period following the merger of Hansel and KL-Kuntahankinnat to be over and approved a new strategy for the company, dubbed the Growth Strategy.

The role and function of the central purchasing body is defined in public procurement legislation and the Act on a Limited Liability Company Called Hansel Oy. The company’s customers are also specified in the Act on a Limited Liability Company Called Hansel Oy. They include ministries and their agencies, certain other government agencies, universities and universities of applied sciences, Keva, municipalities, joint municipal authorities, parishes, wellbeing services counties and other contracting entities under them. Wellbeing services counties were added to the list of Hansel’s customers after the entry into force of a legislative amendment in July 2022. Hansel is owned by the State of Finland (65%) and the Association of Finnish Municipalities (35%).

Hansel’s aim is to arrange tendering and maintain joint procurement contracts for services and products that bring significant benefits in the form of prices, quality and process costs. Hansel also offers procurement tendering and development services, as well as manages and develops Hilma, the public procurement notification platform, on a mandate and with funding from the Ministry of Finance.

As a central purchasing body, Hansel’s operations promote high-quality procurement, fair treatment of suppliers and competition by organising tendering to ensure the markets work effectively.

Hansel’s operations are funded by service fees for joint procurement charged from the contractual suppliers and the sales of specialist services. The service fee is based on the value of the procurement, and it can be a maximum of 1.50%, depending on the procurement target. The average service fee in 2022 was 0.83% (0.88% in 2021).