Tenders with redflags

Lack of competition

Procurement takes place with one single competitor. The Albanian law does allow for such procedures, but what such procedures often demonstrate, more than just lack of competition, is criteria and application deadlines that are obviously in favor of a certain company (clientelism). Such tenders deserve to be considered exposed to risk.

No tendering process (direct negotiations and above 5 million LEK )

This refers to contracts signed without following any process of competition, but simple negotiations between the contracting authority and companies. Such procedures would have to be allowed only in cases of emergencies which require immediate interventions through a contract.

In each case, the publication of contracts must clearly state the reason that led to direct negotiations. A red flag will be posted on each procedure of direct negotiations if no clear reason is given for such procedure

Insufficient time for preparing offers (technical offer plus documentation)

Insufficient term according to the legal criteria set out in Article 43 of Law 9643 "On Public Procurement" as amended.

Allocation of additional funds before the completion of the first stage of the contract

Allocation of additional funds before the completion of the first stage of the contract. There is also a possibility for the contracting authority to allocate an additional fund of 20% of the original offer. Such funds must be justified by reasons like unexpected difficulties caused by natural disasters, explicit changes in the market, changes in the price indexes, etc.

Cases of such additional funds being quickly allocated without a justification will be considered as a high risk of abuse with public money. The additional value of 20% is not subject to any competition, but it is in the discretion of the institution/contracting authority.

Disqualification of all competitive operators except the winner/ Disqualification of the lowest value bid

The Procuring Authority has disqualified all competitive operators with a bid lower than the winning bid. It is not classified as disqualification the case of the operator submitting other documents and not submitting any offer at all. The evaluation is conducted only for tendering procedures worth over 5 milion ALL.

Cancellation of the tender procedure two or more times

In the event of a two-time cancellation of tenders with the same object, there is room to assess the difficulties or defects that have made it impossible to finalize the winners of the procedure. Repeating two times in a row is a precedent that legitimizes open competition to be replaced by direct negotiation.