The arguments about the competition procedure for software licenses of the state administration finally came to an end. Last week a three-member panel of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) took a finale stance on the case, which actually removed the last obstacle to signing a contract with the consortium selected as the winner of the procedure – Procon, which includes TSAPK – Progress and Kontrax.
Undoubtedly, the procurement procedure announced in late February to provide Software Assurance for software products of Microsoft with a gained license for unlimited right to use, which has an indicative price of BGN60 million, will long be remembered. Forecasts were almost unanimous that it will be won by the Gabrovo-based company Stemo offering the lowest total cost of various components – BGN54,744,744 (excluding VAT). The consortium ACamp;T – Sofia (AKT Sofi and S amp; T Bulgaria) offered a bid for 57,668,237 while Procon asked for – 57,994,998 lev without VAT. Because of irregularities in the bid price, however, by order of the Council of Ministers on June 15 this year, Stemo was removed from the procedure, and Procon was listed first. It was expected that this decision will widely open the door for the realization of the long-awaited e-government in our country, since the licenses of Microsoft were the basis on which it had to stand. And yet on May 30 the Minister of Transport and Communications Ivaylo Moscovski endorsed several contracts for a total of BGN18 million provided by the Administrative Capacity Operational Programme with which to start building the actual e-government.
Notwithstanding the need to get out as much as possible from the vicious circle, the losing contenders – Stemo and AKT Soft united and took advantage of all possible procedural tricks to delay the signing of the contract with the Procon. First, the Council of Ministers decision was appealed to the Commission on Protection of Competition. On July 12, however the antitrust agency rejected their complaints and found them groundless and reasonably refuted them point by point. In its statement, the CPC also confirmed the correctness of the selection board and its procedure as well as the decision to remove Stemo from competition. Then the losing contenders referred the case to the Supreme Court. Supreme Magistrates, however, were very clear and backed the decision of the antitrust office from July 12, thus rejecting the complaints of ACamp;T and Stemo against the order signed by the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers for ranking the participants and this decision is final.
