Back in the middle of last year, Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov established a central authority for public procurement as a promise to fight corruption in the distribution of state money and save some costs to the budget. But now he himself confesses the latter can hardly happen. After the centralized mega-order for BGN30 million, which had to settle the problem was twice declared illegal (Editor’s note: by the Supreme Administrative Court and the Commission for Protection of Competition) and became a total disgrace, the financial institution announced an independent auction for nearly BGN2 million to provide flights for their employees. So the idea of the state to pay less by buying larger quantities in practice fell through.
Not only everything is as it was, but the Treasury has decided to hide the voyages of its employees. For the contracting authority it is important to have a supplier ensuring confidentiality of journeys made (dates, routes, carriers) and hotel accommodation details. The announcement only says that the main destinations to buy tickets are Brussels, Vienna, Moscow, New York, Washington, London, Paris, Lisbon, Madrid, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Budapest, Krakow, Bucharest, Prague, Bratislava, Istanbul, Tokyo and Beijing. That list, however, is exemplary and not limiting entity, which means that officials can travel to anywhere else in the world.
Those willing to tackle this delicious order may submit bids by 19 December, but it is necessary to prove that in the last three years they have had five similar contracts for at least one million levs without VAT. In addition, candidates must possess accreditation by International Air Transport Association (IATA) and also be registered under Article 17 of the Tourism Act with a minimum of three years experience as a tour operator, to have the right to reserve and issue tickets through a global reservation system and to have an office or agency in Sofia.
Who exactly will supply the plane tickets for the people of the Finance Ministry and Simeon Dyankov will probably be known in the last days of the year, but given the conditions there hardly any surprises may be expected there. The Public Procurement Register shows that on 11 February 2010this task was entrusted to Elite Travel International. For winning the contract the company competed with five other companies that have traditionally been preferred suppliers of tickets for state agencies, has received over BGN1.4 million from the Financial Ministry and its contract expires in less than three months.
Accidentally or not, it was is Elite Travel International, together with Bulgaria Air, who were behind the failure of the centralized tender. The procedure, about which the BANKER wrote in its issue of 20 November 2010 involved eleven companies: Argus Travel, Mirage, Alma Tour BG, Aerotur MM, Hornit, Bulgarian VIP Travel, Astral Holidays, Bulgaria Air USIT Colours Bulgaria , Elite Travel International and Atlas Travel. The last candidate, however, was discarded before opening the price bids on 7 December last year due to gaps in its technical documentation. The selection decision came on 14 January, when it became clear that six companies won: Argus Travel, Aerotur MM, Hornit, Bulgarian VIP Travel, Astral Holidays and USIT Colours Bulgaria. Elite Travel submitted a complaint to the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) that the antitrust authority rejected on 22 February, even without considering their merits. But the two companies approached the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) and on April 18 magistrates abolished as illegal the decision of the Minister of Finance Simeon Dyankov and decreed the procedure was to be brought back to the stage before the final standings.
The same scenario was repeated again in June.
The latest information around the procedure is from 27 October, when The Supreme Administrative Court finally rejected another appeal of Bulgaria Air against CPC. This may have put an end td the appeals, but certainly ruins the tender, because it had to arrange air tickets of the ministries for 2011 and the year is coming to an end.
