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By order of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) and a decision of the Competition Defense Commission (CPC), the contract for the delivery of 42 new off-road ambulances for an estimated value of BGN 9 million was unlocked. The Ministry of Health awards the order with money from OP “Regions” in growth “and they are the last of a total of 400 vehicles destined for the emergency system throughout the country.
The procedure was suspended by Excelor Holding Group EOOD with a complaint filed with the CPC on November 9 of this year. Their arguments are that the documentation contains requirements that restrict competition, violate the principle of equality and non-discrimination, and unreasonably restrict the participation of economic operators. He requested a measure of “suspension of the procedure”. Through its ruling, the Antitrust Commission refused to suspend the proceeding, which was referred by the plaintiff to the SAC.
For its part, the Supreme Court confirmed that there was no reason to suspend, arguing that the negative consequences for all interests that could be harmed outweighed the benefits of its imposition. In addition, according to the law, the contracting authority may enter into a contract with the selected contractor only after the entry into force of all decisions on the procedure and the interests of the claimant will be protected to the maximum extent until the dispute is resolved. on the background. It is this decision of the SAC that in practice gives the health department the green light to continue with the adjudication procedure. Previously, the CPC issued a decision rejecting Excelor Holding Group’s appeal on the merits. Their suspicions that only one manufacturer meets the requirements for two of the devices are also rejected.
The company opposed the requirement of a minimum class of IP 54 in relation to “Transport ventilator” and “Combined defibrillator-monitor”, which allows recording of rhythm and patient data. It states that the modified requirement for a minimum IP class, together with all other minimum technical requirements for the specified devices, would be met by a single manufacturer with their respective equipment models, which are represented by the same single distributor in Bulgaria.
This statement probably refers to the company “MedSys”, and at this stage it is not yet clear whether it has submitted an offer, writes “Aktualno”. According to the CPC, this requirement is imposed for purely practical reasons, for the purpose of ambulances and their specific use, in accidents outside urban and populated areas, in adverse weather conditions such as snow, rain, low temperatures, unpaved dirt roads. with high dust content.
“Its operation in conditions other than those typical in urban areas, in dust and rain, and in emergency care outside the ambulance, is often combined with working outdoors on the two main medical devices: the transport respirator. and the combined defibrillator-monitor, which requires protection criteria for equipment in standard ambulances. Protection class IP 54, according to the international protection level code, means protection against dust and splashes of water in all directions, and in the presence of These conditions are expected to be used by both devices, according to the Antitrust Commission.
Before CPC, the contracting authority provided links to the specifications of the transport respirator, which has protection against the penetration of liquid and solid particles at least class IP54, from three different manufacturers. Links were also provided to the specifications of the Defibrillator-Monitor combined with protection against liquid and solid particles at least class IP54 from four different manufacturers.
The Commission’s decision is subject to appeal to the SAC, but if the Ministry of Health deems it necessary, the order can continue. We remind you that the delivery of the 42 ambulances in question is announced for the third time. The first was in March 2018, when no offers were submitted. The second was in October of that year. Two candidates then appeared and submitted bids: “Engineering and Medical Services” DZZD (with the participation of “Metaengineering” EOOD, “David EC” EOOD and “Medical Equipment Engineering” OOD) and the sole owner “Excelor Holding Group”.
However, they were declared non-compliant because the ambulances they proposed did not meet the requirements of the contracting authority. Because of this, former Minister of Health Kiril Ananiev terminated the procedure. The Turkish company “AMBULANCE ILK IARDIM VE HASTAHANE CHIHAZLAR VE TISISLER SANAI TIC”, which tried to stop the first full order from the Ministry of Health – for the supply of 400 ambulances with a total value of almost BGN 48.7 million without VAT, in the second proceeding was a partner of “Excelor Holding Group” EOOD.
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