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“The Supreme Court of Lithuania annulled the procedural decisions of the courts of first instance and of appeal and satisfied the claim of the VPT: (…) allocated approximately 0.99 percent to the defendant LAKD to the state budget. The fine that reaches the value of the contract is 95 thousand. euros, ”the court said.
According to the court, the Directorate violated the obligatory legal norms by agreeing with the contractor the possibility of carrying out the reconstruction of the Šilutė – Rusnė section of the road for longer than the term specified in the contract for the acquisition of public works.
The Public Procurement Office, which protects the public interest, filed an application with the court after evaluating the public works contract concluded after the tender for the reconstruction of the highway and the construction of the overpass. According to VPT, management made substantial changes to the contract, and inadequate tender planning and the division of the acquisition object into several works acquisitions created preconditions for the unreasonable use of funds.
The Court of First Instance dismissed the action, which was also dismissed by the Court of Appeal after examining VPT’s appeal.
The SCL panel of judges emphasized that the mandatory rules of the Public Procurement Law are binding on the supplier and the contracting authority even after the conclusion of the contract, therefore the conclusion of a public procurement contract alone it does not mean that the parties are no longer bound by its rules.
Although the panel agreed with the appeals court’s argument that any diligent and diligent bidder could have anticipated the need for additional work, it stated that the circumstances of the case did not justify the conclusion that the bidder could also have anticipated that the contract it will not be executed in accordance with the original version of the contract established in the specifications.
The panel of judges, taking into account the importance of the work carried out under the contract and its results for the construction of the overpass infrastructure for people and goods between areas of difficult access and the fact that most of the work has not been disputed, the Conseil d ‘État ruled that the contract, as amended, should not be declared void and should be kept in the public interest, together with the imposition of an alternative sanction on the contracting authority.
The SCL’s decision is final and is not subject to appeal.
The VPT recommended that the Highway Administration terminate the contract for the construction of the Šilutė – Rusnė overpass due to violations, but the Directorate did not do so on the grounds that it would ruin a major project for the local population.
Nearly 9.5 million In December 2017, a contract worth € 1 million was signed with a consortium of Kauno tiltų and TEC Infrastructure (former Bridge Expert Center). Its price did not exceed the planned amount of funds: 10 million. However, due to additional work, the value of the project increased to more than 16 million. euros
Reinforcement work was necessary when it became apparent that there was a layer of peat under the road. After the announcement of a separate tender for these works, it was first completed due to doubts about its transparency: it was announced that Kauno tiltai might have known in advance that an additional tender for reinforcement would be announced later and therefore offered a lower price.
However, the Highway Administration explained that the need for a second tender became apparent later. After repeating the tender, it was won by the construction company Vilnius Tilsta, which offered 6.3 million. euro price
The Rusnė trestle was officially opened in May last year, but residents did not use it until November due to the strengthening of the road embankment and the installation of the road structure.
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