[ad_1]
Sludge is waste generated by water managers during wastewater treatment. The winner of the millionth purchase of Vilniaus Vandenai’s sludge composting services was the Bioineksas company, established during the tender, at the end of the application period.
“I created the company for that competition. And I decided to participate in the contest because now I see a very high perspective in this area of waste management. I left my job because I still wanted to do something, I was wondering what else had occurred to me here”, said Marius Paulauskas, director and owner of the Bioineksas company, which won the contest, and said he had been involved in the trade before.
How could a brand new company with no experience in specific activities win such a large purchase? Several other companies helped her meet the bidding requirements and agreed to advise and teach them how to compost the sludge.
Vilniaus Vandenys herself helped, who rented or allowed to use their sites, buildings and part of the equipment. The company that won the tender did not have permission to carry out this type of activity for some time. But here too Vilniaus Vandenys came to the rescue: he allowed to use his own permission.
Egidijus Anulis, representative of Vilniaus Vandenai and chairman of the public procurement commission, confirmed that the newly formed company that had won the tender had no experience in composting sludge, but it was not necessary: “What really matters is not the experience of the company, but what it brings. Yes, in this place [įmonėje] there were no employees, but we allowed the use of subcontractors. “
During the competition a company with one employee was established.
In May 2019, the Vilniaus Vandenys company, managed by the city of Vilnius and the district municipalities of Šalčininkai, Švenčionys and Vilnius, announced the purchase of its sewage sludge composting services.
Companies wishing to participate in the tender had to submit their applications before July 16, 2019.
This successful company, Bioineksas, was incorporated after the announcement of the tender on July 10, 2019, just six days before the deadline.
During the competition, Bioineksas, a company based in Kaunas, had only one employee: the director and sole owner of the company, Marius Paulauskas.
In total, four companies entered the contest, three of which were established long ago and had many years of experience. One company, which had previously treated Vilnius sewage sludge, exceeded the funds allocated for the tender, so its offer was rejected, another company withdrew its offer. Two participants remained in the tender, of which the Bioineksas company offered the lowest price.
Vilniaus Vandenys and Bioineks signed the agreement in February this year. The maximum value of the contract is 5.5 million euros, it is valid for three years. However, the actual value of the contract may be less, it will depend on the amount of sludge in Vilniaus Vandenai.
“Look, that five million dollar contest is theoretical. In practice, if we look at many years of experience, it is perhaps a million and a half or a million ”, said businessman M. Paulauskas.
Neither this company nor its shareholder had previously participated in such purchases. E. Anulis, Chairman of the Vilniaus Vandenai Public Procurement Commission, stated that he was not interested in who the shareholders of the company were and that these companies had not been able to hear before, because it was established only during the tender.
A representative of Vilniaus Vandenai stated that he did not see any risk due to this agreement, since a guarantee of 50 thousand euros was taken from the company, in addition, not all the money is paid to the company immediately. There has been no competition in this area of sludge management for a decade, so some restrictions have been lifted in the new tender.
“Yes, the situation is as it is: the supplier was just established, but we did not put such a restriction that the company had experience. We allow the use of subcontractors. <...> We created such conditions so that everyone could participate ”, said E. Anulis.
Valdas Kopūstas / 15min photo / “Vilnius Water” sewage treatment plant
Advice to companies in Klaipeda and Poland
However, the competition required experience from the participants. For example, the requirements established that the successful bidder had produced at least 5,000 tons of compost in the last three years.
How could a new company already established during the tender fulfill this requirement?
“The company itself had no experience, but I signed a contract, I was consulted by the Klaipeda Region Waste Management Center and the Poles compost sludge. They are my consultants,” said M. Paulauskas, owner of the company. .
In fact, Bioineksas, which won the Vilniaus Vandenai tender, stated that it had two subcontractors: the Klaipėda Region Waste Management Center (KRAC) managed by municipalities and a Polish company. However, according to the contract, the subcontractors will not carry out the activities themselves, they will share their experience. It was the experience of the consultants that helped the winner of the tender to meet the requirements.
“We also allowed subcontractors to be trusted, which means they trusted subcontractors. These suppliers met those requirements, ”said E. Anulis, representative of Vilniaus Vandenai.
When asked if the conditions of the tender were not circumvented in this way, when the company was able to meet the requirements without the help of experienced consultants, even though the consultants would not pay the mud, E. Anulis said: “¿¿ What is the compost? It is the knowledge of how to do it: when to put the grooves, when to turn, in what periods, is in principle know how (Lithuanian knowledge). <...> Perhaps in another purchase like the European one it would be surprising. But at this point, the most important thing was to take charge of that experience. Assume the experience and we had a choice: or have the same situation [kai nėra konkurencijos], or make liberal terms. We chose the second option. “
Sigismund Gedvila / 15-minute photo / “Waters of Vilnius”
When asked how the cooperation between him and the Klaipėda Region Waste Management Center started in this contest, the director and owner of Bioineksas M.Paulauskas said that he knew the then deputy director of the center, which is why he approached an acquaintance: “If I lack any competence, they consult.”
The Klaipeda Region Waste Management Center indicated that in April it issued an invoice to the Bioineksas company for the consulting services provided, which amounted to approximately 4 thousand euros. The company stated that it did not know exactly how its cooperation with the winner of the tender Vilniaus Vandenai had started.
“KRATC has not incurred any financial or property obligations under the contract. <...> On the KRATC side, the contract was curated and best known by a former KRATC deputy director, who sadly died unexpectedly in June of this year. Other KRATC specialists provided him with information on legal, organizational and technological issues, but they do not know the circumstances of how the cooperation with Bioinex was established, ”reads the response from KRATC’s public relations representative, Arūnas Liubinavičius.
VPN found no violation
Vilniaus Vandenys stated that Bioineksas continues to fulfill its obligations and there is no indication that the planned works will stall.
According to Vilniaus Vandenai, the price of sludge management has now also dropped: before they paid 36 euros per ton of sludge composting, and now the price offered by Bioineks was 33.9 euros.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Public Procurement Office
The Office of Public Procurement (VPN) previously evaluated compliance with the bidding requirements by the winning company and found no irregularities. According to VPT, the conditions of the tender were not fulfilled by the winning company itself, but by the consultants hired by it.
“By evaluating the winner’s compliance with the qualification requirements set out in the contracting conditions, the Service established that the provider based compliance on the capabilities of the subcontractors,” writes the response from VPN communications specialist Vygandas Kieras.
Used the sites, equipment and permission of Vilniaus Vandenai
Now, after winning the contest, the Bioineksas company has hired new employees. According to Sodra, there are currently seven people working there. The head of the company says that he already has all the equipment: he rents part, he has bought part. He says he has now assembled an experienced team, but said it was not worth doing before the competition.
“You’d imagine if you hired those people before the competition and all of a sudden the start of the two-month competition moved into another year instead of the planned one. That is when you are already bankrupt, before you start working ”, said M. Paulauskas.
Under the terms of the tender, Vilniaus Vandenys provided that the winning company could provide its own composting sites, rent administrative and other premises, as well as part of the equipment. When asked why, having the necessary sites and equipment, Vilniaus Vandenys does not carry out this activity on its own, but rather announces a tender, the representative of Vilniaus Vandenai, E. Anulis, stated that it would not be profitable for the company .
“Since 2015, the company tries to get rid of those activities that are not specific to the company, from which it does not receive income. The management of sludge with increasingly stringent environmental requirements is increasingly complex. <...> We don’t want to have that headache, because, you see, all the responsibility for the subsequent disposal of the sludge that we now throw at the supplier, now responds: how will he compost it, how will he pass it on to someone, everything would be in our heads “, E. Annulis said.
Photo by Lukas Balandis / 15min / Site in the territory of “Vilniaus vandenai”
Vilniaus Vandenys claims that it delivered its sewage sludge to Bioineksas for the first time in May this year and works have started since then. However, at that time, the Bioineksas company did not yet have a pollution permit, which is necessary for such activities; This permit was received by the winner of the tender only at the end of June.
How could the company operate without a permit? Here Vilniaus Vandenys came to his aid again: he allowed him to use his own permission.
“Until the supplier that won the bid received the pollution permit (May to June 26), it handled the sludge at our site as our operator. He had that right and the same procedure would apply to any other successful service provider. <...> Since June 26th. the service provider started managing the sludge as an independent sludge manager, and already had a pollution permit issued, ”reads Vilniaus Vandenai’s response.
Part of the composted sludge – for afforestation, part – to the landfill
Where does the compost made from sludge end up? Where does the company place the final product?
“As there is technical fertilizer here, it is used for sowing and recultivation”, said M. Paulauskas, owner of the Bioineksas company.
According to the businessman, part of the compost also goes to the landfill: “Yes, we also transport it.”
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Landfill
Tomas Vaitkevičius, director of the Vilnius County Waste Management Center, which manages the landfill in the Vilnius region, stated that compost made from Vilniaus Vandenai sludge had reached the landfill earlier.
“I understand that a new contractor has arrived at Vilniaus Vandenis, who manages the sludge. We mainly use technical compost to cover the slopes of the landfill. Because for us the tracks are protected and reduce the accumulation of moisture. We make purchases based on the which anyone who has technical fertilizer that meets the requirements established by the Ministry of the Environment can apply as potential suppliers, “said T. Vaitkevičius.
15 minutes Entrepreneurs in the field of sewage sludge interviewed said that it is not easy to make high-quality compost suitable for vegetation from sludge, wood or paper packaging is also used to produce it, and a new company may take several years to achieve the desired indicators. None of them knew either the newly created Bioineksas sludge manager or the businessman who controlled him.
[ad_2]
