THE LEGAL AND ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT IN TIMES OF HIGH INFLATION IN POLAND

The observable impact that inflation has on the course of economic processes makes it necessary to consider the emerging legal and economic challenges. The purpose of the article is to define the legal and economic environment of the public procurement market under conditions of high inflation. The considerations are limited to the Polish economy and the Polish legal system (taking into account the sources of EU law). This limitation is due to the complexity of national legal regulations and the specific economic situation of the country, as well as the scale of the problem. The literature review showed that the process of increasing the average price level reduces the efficiency of public procurement, and, as its dynamics increase, its impact increases as well. The legal environment should allow market players to adapt to inflationary conditions. It is worth noting that it is possible to consider inflation as an economic effect of the war in Ukraine, which can be the basis for applying the valorization of project cost estimates and price rates for their implementation. Price increases affect all sectors of the economy on average, and this may lead to the need to valorize many contracts and, consequently, to a significant burden on the budget of the contracting institution by which the urgency of the implementation of all contracts is verified. Furthermore, allowing for valorization does not fully resolve the negative impact of high inflation on the procurement process, as the issue of contractor reporting remains. The values presented in financial statements are reported nominally, therefore comparability from period to period is disturbed.