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Vilnius municipality was forced to rescind 156 million. Tender in EUR for the construction and concession of the National Stadium. After examining the project, the Public Procurement Office concluded that the project did not meet the characteristics of a concession, since the high risks were assumed by the State and not by private companies.
“By offsetting capital investments, the public sector assumes construction and suitability risks, and the public sector agrees to reimburse a larger portion of the maintenance and operation costs of the multifunctional complex, that is, the public sector payments would represent a greater part of the income received by a private entity and most of the operational risks would not be transferred to a private entity ”, concludes the service.
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R.Šimašius: I saw a great reluctance of the “peasants” that it would be good for Vilnius
Vilnius Mayor R.Šimašius on Thursday 15 minutes In the study, he said he believed the service had made many evaluation and factual errors.
“First of all, we have to name the sad fact not only for the people of Vilnius, but also for the whole of Lithuania, that the project, which has been in preparation for several years and seems to have been hampered in other ways: scrapping funds of the European Union”. once the way to stop the project is successful. And this is sad news for all of Lithuania. That action is probably the majority of the “peasants”, I will say it directly, and it is natural that we need to name it and see how we rebuild that stadium, “said R. Šimašius.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Remigijus Šimašius
When asked if it was true that the risks in the National Stadium project were assumed by the state and not by private companies, the mayor said: “We can take very different points of view. But I don’t think I understand how you can build a detention center in Lithuania under the concession, where there is no commercial risk, and here all commercial risks are assumed, not just to build, not to finance, not just to operate 22 years after construction, to reach certain indicators for the city of Vilnius on how many children will be occupied, how many events will take place, all operational and commercial risks are fully assumed ”.
R. Šimašius stated that the Government and the Public Procurement Service are sending a bad signal to the world and to investors. On his Facebook, the mayor wrote: “The green peasants have killed the national stadium.”
When asked if he had any evidence of “peasant” influence in the Public Procurement Office’s evaluation of the National Stadium project, R. Šimašius said: “We can pretend there was nothing, but we can see very consistent activities “said the prime minister. The stadium will be, but it will be in Kaunas. At the time, this could have been put in place as a rhetorical tool, now everything is clearer. <...> There is a whole context, many steps, many statements, many things. <...> Of most “peasants,” I saw a great reluctance that it would be good for Vilnius. “
R.Šimašius commenting on the decision of the Public Procurement Service wrote on his Facebook the following phrases: “without legal sense”, “junta campesina”.
When asked if he did not consider independent state institutions and their decisions to be discredited in such words, R. Šimašius said: “We can pretend that nothing is happening, but that would probably be the least irresponsible. And in this state, someone has to say what is really happening. If you ask me, I think you will [kreipiasi į VPT vadovę] the Prime Minister or Karbauskis called and said: listen, write such-and-such a conclusion, I really don’t think it happened. But from what I see, what went through government institutions, what information was poured out and how intentionally it was done, I think it’s obvious that it was put into a certain game. “
When asked if it is normal for a politician to speak in this way about the work of independent institutions, the mayor replied: “It is the duty of the politician to name what is happening in this state.” That’s the duty. “
On Thursday, the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court rejected the municipality’s complaint and ruled that the Public Procurement Office had legally suspended the signing of the National Stadium Agreement.
“In accordance with the Concessions Law, the Office has instructions to prevent violations of its and other related legal acts, and to order the suspension of proceedings in case of suspected violations. The file clearly confirms that the concession award procedure was carried out in violation of the law, so the Office had the power to suspend the contract award and that the public interest must be protected. The BNS news agency was informed by the court.
When asked how he assesses the court’s decision and the fact that the grant award procedure was said to have been carried out in violation of the law, R. Šimašius said: “In fact, I did not have time to read the court decision, but the court could not even tell. <...> It dealt only with procedural issues, whether to lift the provisional measures: the prohibition to sign the contract or not. This is completely irrelevant after yesterday’s conclusion of the Public Procurement Office. I will definitely analyze that decision yet, but it has no effect. <...> I am a lawyer and a doctor of law, and I know a little about that, about certain procedural matters. ”
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Jovita Petkuvienė, acting head of the Public Procurement Service, stated that the municipality was obliged to rescind the tender due to the excessive risks that the state would assume.
“Concessions, by their very nature, mean that the public sector transfers most or all of the risks to the private sector,” explained J. Petkuvienė.
But, according to her, in this case, most of the risks would fall on the state: “However, during the negotiations, the transfer of those risks to the public sector increased and in the end distorted the essence of the concessions and no longer has those real characteristics of a concession. The public sector would bear a very large and significant part of those risks by paying that large enough amount for the entire duration of the contract. “
When asked how he evaluated the statements of the Vilnius mayor that all risks had been transferred to the private sector, the head of the service said: “The municipality has the right to defend its position, it has the right to appeal our conclusion. But from the set that we have seen, and the final risk matrix that has emerged, it is certainly much more favorable for the private sector, and the responsibility of the public sector is very high. ”
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Remigijus Šimašius and Jovita Petkuvienė
J.Petkuvienė recalled that the service began this assessment after law enforcement authorities applied, when they suspected that the public interest could be violated.
“I would like to ask that the decision of the independent institutions not be politicized, because here both the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Vilnius are trying to apply it to their own favorable decisions or their favorable speeches. But we are an independent institution, we act independently and in this situation we have not been politically influenced by anyone, “said J. Petkuvienė.
She said she saw the politicians’ statements as putting pressure on an independent body: “If we are talking about a decision, a conclusion from the Public Procurement Office, then there should be no delay, especially in 2020, in an institution that acts Independent. Because what is happening now is the politicization of both parties, however, we would see it as pressure on an independent body to never carry out an evaluation of major projects and their acquisition. “
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