The purchases prospered despite the fact that, due to their characteristics, these companies have a high risk of corruption. Those of recent creation may be facades or, at least, lack sufficient experience in the services or products for which they are hired.
The IMSS, IMSS Bienestar and the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) were the institutions with the largest amounts contracted to newly created companies. The ISSSTE was placed in fourth position.
These three health organizations accumulated 57% of the total 808 million pesos that the government invested in contracts with new providers.
“The participation of shell companies, newly created, sanctioned or on the list of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury compromises the integrity of public procurement procedures and affects the quality of the goods and services acquired,” IMCO stressed.
Added to this is that 42% of government purchases were resolved through direct awards and reached an amount of 344,000 million pesos. Despite the fact that the law considers this form of contracting as the last option because it limits competition.
After analyzing the procedures published on the official Compras MX platform, the IMCO concluded that in 2025 two out of every five pesos were assigned directly. In many contracts, furthermore, the justification for this exception was not disclosed. These cases totaled 21.5 million pesos.
“This compromises the acquisition of goods and services by public institutions and can lead to other acts of corruption such as the diversion of resources,” IMCO warned.
While public procurement remains a sector especially exposed to corruption risks, the organization points out, the public budget for institutions that prevent, investigate and sanction corruption has decreased: they have 26% fewer real resources than in 2018, it states.
