As of 9 July the new tariff of fees collected for proceedings under the Public Procurement Act before the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) and the Supreme Administrative Court will come into force. It was published for discussion and is likely to be approved as early as the next meeting of the Cabinet next Wednesday.
In general, the tender appeal fee to the CPC increases almost tenfold. Depending on the grounds now the companies pay between 850 and 1700 levs. Under the new tariff, however, the proceedings will cost 2% of the estimated contract value, but not less than 850 Levs and not more than 15,000 levs.
The money needed for cassation proceedings and interlocutory appeal before the Supreme Administrative Court also go up. In the first case what will be due is 50% of the fee paid to the CPC and for interlocutory appeal – 10% of the amount paid before the antimonopoly authority but not less than 100 levs.
The main motive of the government for the introduction of the new tariff is that it will reduce the number of applications designed only to delay the implementation of projects. As it is well known, many companies now go into appealing procedures only because of this reason and often succeed. There are also cases where the complaint to the CPC is used as a bargaining chip between the companies themselves. It is not disputed that these issues will be resolved by the appreciation of the appeal proceedings. Moreover, many experts believe that changes in tariffs will be challenged in court, arguing that they restrict access to justice, which is guaranteed by the Constitution and European regulations. A similar thing has happened when in 2003 the Council of Ministers decided to drastically increase the amounts of fees levied by the courts, the prosecution and investigation services. This was followed by an appeal of the Union for Support of Small and Medium Enterprises to the Supreme Administrative Court and magistrates overturned the decree of the Cabinet on the ground that it does not conform to the socio-economic conditions and limits the access of citizens and legal entities to judicial protection.
The BANKER
