The Commission for Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures annulled the decision of the Montenegrin Distribution System Administration (CEDIS) to award Meter & Control businessman Vojin Lazarevic the job of installing 32,000 smart meters and other equipment worth 4.7 million euros.
The annulment of the tender for the purchase of so-called smart meters confirmed the writings of the Montenegrin media that CEDIS directly favored the company of businessman Lazarevic, which made the most expensive offer.
The consortium Mezon-Enerdat from Danilovgrad and the consortium Infinity ITSS and Energy from Podgorica and Prointer ITSS from Banja Luka appealed against the decision of CEDIS because they thought that the management of the Montenegrin company illegally, ignoring the terms of the tender, declared their bids invalid.
On March 28, the Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures annulled the decision of CEDIS due to significant violations of the procedure, and rejected the appeals because it declared them irrelevant due to the annulment of the tender.
According to the decision of the commission, all invested funds of companies that had to pay 20 thousand euros to appeal will be returned within 15 days, with the obligation of CEDIS to pay the costs of the procedure.
The way in which the CEDIS management prepared a public call for the procurement of so-called smart meters, changing tender conditions and, finally, the decision on the first-ranked company indicates bias, ie that the board of directors of the state electricity distribution company favored one bidder. This company offered to charge two million euros more for this contract than other bidders.
Namely, according to unofficial information from the Pobjeda newspaper, the offer of the Maison-Enerdat consortium was 1.9 million euros cheaper than the first-ranked one. The offer of the Budva Electrical Team is more favorable by about one million euros, and the consortium Infinity ITSS and Energy from Podgorica with Prointer ITSS from Banja Luka by about half a million euros.
Whether there are elements of corruption in the business will be decided by the investigative bodies.
Source: pobjeda.me
