City of Zenica awarded contract worth over one million marks without tender, contract does not specify which works are to be performed

(Patria) - The Office for Audit of Institutions in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has published a report on the financial audit of the City of Zenica, which found violations of the BiH Public Procurement Law, writes Istraga.ba.

Winter road maintenance

The auditors state that for winter road maintenance services, the estimated value of certain procurements was not determined in the prescribed manner, and following the conclusion of the Council, contracts worth 1,020,568 KM were concluded without conducting public procurement procedures.

"The tender documentation does not contain the necessary information and clarifications because it includes unforeseen works (in the procurement of works for the construction of an indoor Olympic swimming pool, the building of the Emergency Medical Service, and the repair of roof surfaces of the Bosnian National Theatre building).

In some cases, the place of delivery and execution of works were not specified (in the procurement of materials for concreting unclassified roads), nor were the road lengths and deadlines for performing works (in the procurement of works for the regular maintenance of city streets, local and unclassified roads).

And in the procurement of an off-road vehicle, the technical specifications were not prepared in a way that ensures fair and active competition," the auditors point out.

Contracts for the 2023/24 season were concluded with "Komgrad-Ze" d.o.o. and "ALBA Zenica" d.o.o.

For performing certain utility activities, the City of Zenica signed a contract with the company "ALBA" on October 23, 2019, for a period of 20 years, which represents an extension of cooperation established by the utility services contract from 1999.

The City of Zenica conducted the procurement of works for the regular maintenance of city streets, local and unclassified roads through an open procedure.

By a decision dated March 20, 2023, a procedure was initiated with an estimated value of 761,670 KM, applying the lowest price criterion.

The tender documentation does not contain data on the sections and lengths of roads subject to maintenance, nor the deadlines for performing the works.

After 13 companies collected the tender documentation, four bids were received.

Concreting of unclassified roads

On June 14, 2023, the City of Zenica concluded a framework agreement with the contractor "Komgrad-Ze" d.o.o. Zenica worth 753,450 KM.

"Given that the tender documentation did not specify the sections and lengths of roads, nor the deadlines for performing the works, we note that the necessary information and clarifications on the basis of which bidders can prepare their bids are not clearly defined, which is not in accordance with Article 53 of the Public Procurement Law," it is stated.

Irregularities also occurred during the procurement of materials for concreting unclassified roads, which was conducted through an open procedure.

By a decision dated August 1, 2023, a procedure was initiated with an estimated value of 649,935 KM, applying the lowest price criterion. After eight legal entities collected the tender documentation, one bid was received.

The tender documentation did not specify the locations to which the material needs to be delivered, nor was the performance and billing of transport services provided for.

Also, it was stated that the supplier is obliged to deliver the material within one day, but it was not specified from when the delivery deadline begins.

On September 28, 2023, the City concluded a framework agreement with the supplier "Almy" d.o.o. Zenica worth 648,808 KM. According to the presented data, the framework agreement was realized in the amount of 648,794 KM.

"Given that the tender documentation did not specify the locations to which the material needs to be delivered, nor was the performance and billing of transport services provided for, and that the deadline for material delivery was not precisely defined, we note that the necessary information and clarifications on the basis of which bidders can prepare their bids are not clearly defined, which is not in accordance with Article 53 of the Public Procurement Law.

Penalty provisions for delays in material delivery are not identically defined in the tender documentation and individual contracts, which is not in accordance with Article 72 of the Public Procurement Law, according to which the conditions set out in the tender documentation cannot be changed during contract award," it is added.