The Center for Public Investigations investigated top 5 discriminatory requirements in tenders

The Center for Public Investigations has investigated the top 5 discriminatory requirements that budget organizations in the South have included in tender documents over the past two months.

The rating includes tenders in three regions.

For example, one of the requirements was found in the tender documentation of the Capital Construction Department of Mykolaiv Regional State Administration for the repair of a shelter in Stepkivska school with an expected cost of over UAH 19 million. It concerned certificates for all construction materials. In his complaint to the Antimonopoly Committee, the customer, a representative of Tanolbud LLC, said he was obliged to provide documents of origin and quality for each construction material, starting with nails and bolts. At the same time, no such requirements were provided for bidders whose contract price is dynamic (i.e., subject to change).

Instead of providing full information in the terms of reference, the Vyzyr village council of Odesa region advised bidders to visit the construction site and make calculations themselves. The village council held an auction for the overhaul of a part of the basement of the dormitory of the protective structure in Pershotravneve village with an expected purchase price of more than UAH 6 million in the format of an open tender with special conditions on September 16. The winning company must complete the repairs by December 31, 2025.

The third place went to the Kherson Oblast Road Restoration Service, which required bidders to have an asphalt concrete plant within 150 kilometers of Beryslav district.

The expected cost was UAH 128 million 497 thousand 553. During the submission of proposals, a potential tenderer asked the procuring entity about the location of the asphalt plant and its address. They said that if they won the tender, they would relocate their own refinery from Lviv region to Kherson region and receive a new production certificate and emission permit at the new address. However, the customer demanded that the actual location of the refinery be indicated in order to participate in the tender. In other words, the bidder would have to indicate that the mobile plant is now located in Lviv region. And this would have immediately excluded him from the list of applicants, because the distance between Kherson and Lviv cannot be covered by an asphalt truck.

The study also included the state-owned Pivdennyi Commercial Sea Port, and the procurement of railroad rails reduced the delivery time to 45 working days. In the announcement of September 2 regarding the purchase of 122.5 tons of P-50 rail at an expected cost of UAH 10 million 621 thousand 173, the customer set the delivery date for the goods to be delivered on December 31, 2024. However, the tender documentation stated "within 45 working days from the date of the Buyer's sending a written order to the Supplier".

Instead, the administration of the Zavodskyi district of Mykolaiv City Council, during the auction for the current repair of roads of intra-quarter passages near houses on Lazurna Street with an expected cost of UAH 2 million 928 thousand 391, required the participants to have a material and technical base (MTB) in Mykolaiv: "As part of their proposal, the bidders must provide an information certificate, drawn up in any form, on the possibility of locating machines and mechanisms within Mykolaiv for the duration of the service, indicating the address," the conditions read.

Кирило Бойко