Selling into Czechia through distributors

How the market buys

Czech public purchasing is carried out by ministries and central agencies, by the regions and municipalities, and by the hospitals, universities, schools and utilities they run. Each contracting authority runs its own procedures, but the national infrastructure that supports them is managed in one place: the Ministry for Regional Development (MMR) administers NIPEZ, the national e-procurement infrastructure.

Two parts of it matter to a supplier. The Věstník veřejných zakázek, the Public Procurement Bulletin, is the publication system for Czech procurement notices, operated under NIPEZ by the Ministry for Regional Development. NEN, the Národní elektronický nástroj, is a certified e-procurement tool guaranteed by the state and administered by the same ministry; it is offered to every category of contracting authority that wants to use it, and all of its functions for running procedures and publishing on a buyer profile are provided free of charge. Suppliers can follow procedures in NEN and search notices in the bulletin.

Czech public buyers usually buy from companies that can submit in Czech, invoice in the country and deliver and service locally. In our analysis of TED award notices for supplies (September 2026), 97% of the winners in the 10,999 notices from buyers in Czechia were companies registered in the country (96% across the 30 EU and EEA countries); those local winners include distributors and dealers as well as manufacturers' own local subsidiaries — see our methodology. A foreign manufacturer enters by being listed with them.

Lawful first contact

Czechia does not allow a cold commercial e-mail, and it makes no exception for businesses. Section 7 of Act No. 480/2004 Coll. on certain information society services governs commercial communications by electronic means, and ÚOOÚ, the Office for Personal Data Protection, supervises it. In its published guidance ÚOOÚ answers the question directly: a commercial communication may be sent only to recipients who have given prior consent — the opt-in principle — or who are customers of the sender under the conditions of section 7(3). Contact details that are freely available on the internet, such as an e-mail address on a distributor's website, may not be used to send an offer.

ÚOOÚ is equally clear on recipient type. Asked whether it matters if the recipient is a natural or a legal person, the answer is that it does not: the act does not distinguish between types of addressee. A first e-mail to a Czech distributor's info@ address is therefore treated the same way as one sent to a consumer.

What works: a short letter by post to the managing director (jednatel), with a one-page product sheet in Czech and a specific reason why your range fits what the distributor already sells; the sector's trade fair; an introduction through an association, a chamber of commerce or an existing partner; and a fast, complete answer to any enquiry that reaches you. Once a distributor has written to you or agreed to hear from you, ordinary business correspondence by e-mail is fine.

What local distributors expect

Czech distributors are technically minded and careful with commitments. The points they raise first:

• Czech-language documentation: technical sheets, instructions, declarations and price lists ready to attach to a tender.
• Conformity evidence for the category — CE marking, declarations of conformity, test reports against the standards Czech buyers cite in their specifications.
• A margin that survives a price-driven tender, with project pricing and a clear position on price changes over a framework agreement.
• Service and spare parts in the country, or a plan for the distributor to provide them, and lead times you can keep.
• An agreed territory — some distributors also cover Slovakia — and a frank discussion of exclusivity and direct accounts.
• Samples and references, ideally from public buyers in neighbouring markets.

Expect a trial period on one product line before a broader listing.

How to enter, step by step

1. Find who already wins your category. In TED's advanced search, set the buyer country to Czechia, the notice type to results and add your CPV codes; the companies named in the award notices are your shortlist. Cresques runs this search for the CPV categories you choose. National notices are in the Věstník veřejných zakázek, and procedures can be followed in NEN.
2. Check whether your category is bought centrally. Part of state buying runs through central purchasing of the state and through ministries' own centralised procurement systems, which the Ministry of Finance evaluates in reports published on the Ministry for Regional Development's procurement portal. As of October 2026 we could not confirm from an official source which central buyer covers which category, so take the buyer named on each award notice as your guide.
3. Prepare Czech documentation. Technical sheets, instructions, declarations and price lists in Czech, ready for a distributor to attach to a tender.
4. Assemble conformity evidence. CE marking, declarations of conformity and test reports against the standards Czech buyers cite in their specifications.
5. Make the first contact by letter, at a fair or through an introduction. Send a short letter by post to the managing director (jednatel) with a one-page product sheet in Czech and a specific reason why your range fits; or meet at the sector's trade fair, or ask an association, a chamber of commerce or an existing partner to introduce you. Do not e-mail first, not even to info@.
6. Prepare the first meeting. Bring a margin that survives a price-driven tender, project pricing and a position on price changes over a framework agreement, a plan for service and spare parts in the country, lead times you can keep, a territory proposal (some distributors also cover Slovakia), and samples and references, ideally from public buyers in neighbouring markets.
7. Plan for a trial. Offer one product line first and expect a trial period before a broader listing.
8. Follow up. Answer any enquiry fast and completely. Once a distributor has written to you or agreed to hear from you, ordinary business correspondence by e-mail is fine.

Where the evidence comes from

Above the EU thresholds — EUR 140,000 for supplies and services bought by central government bodies and EUR 216,000 for other public authorities from 1 January 2026 — Czech buyers must publish contract award notices, and those notices appear on TED, the online supplement to the Official Journal of the EU. Each notice names the winning company and carries CPV codes, so the distributors that repeatedly win, for example, medical devices or school furniture contracts in Czech regions can be identified from the public record. National notices are published in the Věstník veřejných zakázek.

Cresques reads the award notices for the CPV categories you choose and shows who already sells that category in Czechia. It does not help you bid for the contracts; the notices are evidence of who the buyers already trust, and the lawful first contact above is how you reach them without a complaint to ÚOOÚ.