School bus purchased in Kherson region on the fourth attempt

The Department of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports of the Bilozerka Village Council tried unsuccessfully three times to purchase a school bus. They succeeded only on the fourth attempt.

The Center for Public Investigations learned about this from the Prozorro e-procurement system.

The request for proposals was first announced on October 1. According to the announcement, the education department intended to purchase an Ataman bus for UAH 3.3 million, not older than 2023, yellow in color, with the inscription "School bus", designed for 31 seats. However, no offers were received from potential suppliers.

Photo: Prozorro screenshot

Arequest for quotation is a procurement method through Prozorro Market that can be used by a customer to determine the best price. The procedure may seem similar to open bidding in terms of its stages, but its peculiarities make it much more attractive for both the procuring entity and the bidder:

Of all competitive procedures, Prozorro is the fastest - at least 4 days;
There is no stage for submitting questions, requirements or complaints;
There is no need to prepare qualification documentation and, accordingly, the contracting authority does not need to qualify;
There is also no "Reduction" stage.

The procuring entity announces a request for a product of a certain category, and then the system sends out notifications to all suppliers who are accredited in it.

A week later - on October 8 - the department announced a new request for prices with the same conditions: expected cost of 3.3 million, year of production - not earlier than 2023, yellow color, with the inscription "School bus". This time, the headline did not mention passenger capacity. However, the technical specifications, like the first time, stated that the number of seats for schoolchildren (including seats for students with reduced mobility) should be at least 26, plus 2 seats for accompanying persons and crew members. This time, the auction was canceled because "errors in the price were found."

Photo: Prozorro screenshot

For the third time, the department announced a request for proposals for the purchase of a bus on the same day as the previous one was canceled - October 9. The technical specifications of the bus remained the same, but the expected cost of the vehicle increased to UAH 3.6 million. However, this time, the auction did not take place, as no bids were received.

Photo: Prozorro screenshot

A week after another unsuccessful attempt, the department again announced a price request for the Ataman school bus. The specifications and price remained the same as in the previous request: UAH 3.6 million, year of manufacture - not earlier than 2023, yellow color, with the inscription "School bus", number of seats for students (including seats for students with reduced mobility) - from 26, plus 2 seats for accompanying persons and crew members.

Isuzu-Ataman Ukraine submitted its proposal, and on October 22, the Department of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports of the Bilozerka Village Council signed an agreement with them to purchase the bus. The cost of the vehicle amounted to UAH 3.4 million.

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In Kherson region, a school bus was purchased on the fourth attempt and for 200 thousand cheaper

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