Oligarch favorite: Hysen Durmish criteria 1m euros at the bank companies for road maintenance (Dok)

After the test in power, Kurti Government is not counting or speaking. Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Hysen Durmish is heading towards the path of his ruling ancestors. The preference of “Oligarchy” and the inflammation of competition for medium-sized enterprises has emerged in an infrastructure ministry's tender of millions. Principles that oppose the policies of the Vetevendosje Movement and public statements that have been made as opposition and once they have come to power...

This can be found, as they see the criteria set for the highway maintenance tender.

A few days ago, the procurement of the ministry, led by Nexhat Krasniqi, has opened bids for the contract: “The winter and summer maintenance of the A7 Autoway, tear 1 and tear 2 and summer maintenance of the A6 Auto (Arber Xhaferi) tears and tears 4.

There are about 25 contestants, mainly companies at the competition. Most of them for two tears, while the ministry is expected to announce the winners or cancel it all next week.

The tender weighs 16.4m euros and is used to signing four contracts, as it is divided into so many tears.

As with any other contract, the criteria and technical conditions that should be met by the racers who want to win have been established.

Periscope has identified only a few established criteria involving the financial situation of companies, which, as set, can only complement large companies.

In “The requirements on the economic and financial situation” are set criteria that limit competition, favouring only powerful companies.

As Periscop has learned, more than half of the companies in the race have failed to meet the minimum banking and cash criteria in the bank. This is because contracting can only reward companies that have implemented projects on maintenance.

Under the established demands, the economic operator, or group of economic operators, can compete in all tears with the same (capacitys) staff and with the same equipment, but to be rewarded in more than one tear, there must be the capacity needed for all tear apart.

According to the tender file that Periscop has seen, economic and financial capacity requirements have been required for the company to have enough capital for contract implementation, available tools in bank accounts worth of at least: Lot I. 1,08000 euros, Lot II. 900,000 euros, Lot III, 600,000,000 euros, Lot IV. 660,000 euros .or access conditional loans, from a bank naming the project for which the loan is allowed.

The question is: What company that has accomplished maintenance in the last three years in Kosovo has more than 1m euros on cash, Mr. Durmish? One, two, three... or maybe no...

Also, financial economic capacities required that the company should provide evidence that the annual circulation, during the last 3 years (2019, 2020 and 2021) has been in value no less than:

Lot I. 8,10,000 euros, Lot II. 6,75,000 euros, Lot III. 4,500,000 euros, Lot IV. 4,95,000 euros.

This demand automatically favours only large companies. Even a small number of them because it's about maintenance companies.

The other criteria required, as well as favouring only giant companies, is: “List of contracts realised in the maintenance floor of the Highways, National, National Roads, Regional and Locals, for the past three years (2019, 2020 and 2021) no less than Lot 1 = 5,400,000 euros, Lot 2 = 4,500,000 euros, Lot = 3,000, $3,000, Lot = 3,300000 euros.2000 euros.> This criterion cannot be met by any company in Kosovo, because similar maintenance jobs that they have done in the last three years with the Ministry of Infrastructure have not yet received references, or those that have references, are contracts in smaller amounts.

According to the company's bids that Periscop has seen, in order to meet this criterion, companies have been forced to form consortiums, even companies from Albania, that they support with letters to the upper criteria.

The deadline is public, the framework for 36 months-or three years. The projected value of all tears is 16 million and 434 thousand euros.

Criteria contrary to VV principles Hysen Dumrish's statements

In April last year, the Ministry of Infrastructure had cancelled a tender for winter and summer maintenance of national and regional roads in Kosovo, announced tender at the time of minister Paul Lekaj. Deputy Prime Minister Hysen Durmishi had said that the reason for the tender cancellation was because it was designed to be a three-year framework contract and could not be changed, and the ministry was interested in changing some of the pre-mature and technical conditions positions.

It's a three-year framework contract that allowed the contract manager to increase contract value to 30 percent. We made it a year old. The second reason is about technical criteria that we need to change in order to have greater inclusion and competition between companies. The criteria will be to have more companies take jobs and not as it has happened in the past when, in advance, it is known which companies will win. Now this very bad practice that has been imposed by past governments and ministers of this ministry will eventually change!”, Durmish said.

All this statement by the deputy minister conflicts with the criteria set out in the highway maintenance tender. There can be no inclusion here, because this tender is a framework for 36 months and not one year, as it could have been.

Article 3 of this tender's file says that “service units are presented at the Financial Reference, Price List presented by the Service provider. Total indicative value of the euro contract. The output allowed by the total indicator value is (+- 30%)”.

Thus, the tender has been placed on legal opportunities to increase to 30 percent, or to about 5m euros, and of 16.4 million to be 21.3m euros. In fact, the limit allowed by plus minus 30 percent of the contract is to all contracts of the type's high value. If he were a year old, which he could be, like the preliminary he had turned into such a one from Durmish, that criterion could be removed. This also conflicts with Durmish's recent statements.

The preference of large enterprises is also contrary to the leftist policies of the Vetevendosje Movement, which tilt the empowerment of small and medium-sized enterprises.

So in the past year, summer and winter maintenance from the framework contract had become a year old, therefore contract forecasting was reduced to 11 669 471,34 euros, which is for about 5m euros less than the value of highway mortar for 36 months. In maintenance, the ministry had demanded that the company or group of companies provide evidence that circulation over the past 3 years 2018, 2019, 2020 not less than 130,000.00 euros. 2. The economic operator should have at least 200,000 euros of financial liquid assets (for example in bank accounts) or at least 200,000 euros access to loans available.

The Law allows banking to be smaller

Regarding the situation with the <x0economic and financial criteria” the company should have during the bidding, speaks Article 68 and 69 of the Public Procure Law No. 04/L-042.

The law does not specify how much banking should be in the last three years, or willing money in the bank, but shows that financial conditions must be met.

The issue of economic and financial capacities is very much defined in secondary public procurement legislation, namely “Rules and Operational Guide for Public Procurement - RUOPP”

According to RUOPP, the aim of this criterion is to assess whether the tenderer has sufficient financial and economic stability to perform the proposed contract.

“In the event of high-value contracts, when the economic operator has to finance contract implementation, it is useful to require much set of liquidity or the same promising credit note value. It can ensure that the economic operator will receive loans from the bank in case of need, or the company has cash (cash) and is able to implement the contract without loans. Furthermore, the bank can prove that the economic operator regularly pays its credit write-off, which is also a guarantee that the economic operator has solid financial background”, it says in the CRRR.

This is also illustrated by an example of what it should be like.

Good “Sheml: Request one. The economic operator should have at least 500,000 euros of financial liquid assets (for example in bank accounts) or at least 500,000 euros access to loans available. Documentary Witness One. Statements from the bank that confirm the availability of 500,000 euros in the company's bank account or a bank statement confirming that the company can receive loans of 500,000 euros if necessary. The date of the bank statement could not be earlier than the date of the contract announcement and refers to the activity in question”.

So even in the case of the ministry contract, it could have required that the operator be required a minimum value of 500 thousand euros in the bank, or access to credit. But the Ministry's procurement of the smallest sum it has established is worth 660 thousand euros per tear to IV and 1 million and 80 thousand per tear.

Periscop has seen some similar values of large contracts, which have recently been realised by the ministry, as well as those preliminary maintenance of highways, no such large financial flow, available in the bank, or banking.

What is intended to maintain these contracts

While the ministry has allocated a total of 16m euros for three years in all four parts, annual expenditures have been divided into many: Lot 1 -1,88,000.00 euros, tears 2 -1,518000 euros, tears 3 -1,11,000,000 euros, and tears 4 -1,121,000 euros.

According to the technical specifics established, maintenance means that drivers on these two highways move without any obstacle during winter and summer, providing them with all the conditions of a road you offer to a highway (austrade), according to all safety parameters, from the removal of snow during winter, the removal of the waters, the maintenance of the fence, the removal of dead animals, the cutting off of grass, the repair of wells, the repair of asphalt, the signs of communication, etc. / P ERISCOPI/