The company “Briv Construction” has filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court, requesting that the decision by which the Traffic Administration must re-select the contractor for the construction of the western bypass around Podgorica be amended or annulled. They filed the lawsuit against the Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures.
The project to build a three-kilometer-long bypass, planned from the Komanski Bridge to the roundabout at the "Grand" furniture store in Donja Gorica, is worth 20,4 million euros.
The tender for this job was announced in late September and lasted until October 24, and two bids were received, namely the companies “Bemax” and “Briv Construction”. The Transport Authority then determined in late November that the bids of these companies were incorrect, which is why it requested the cancellation of the tender.
“Bemax” appealed that decision, after which the Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures decided in mid-December that the Administration should re-evaluate the bids and select the contractor. This is why “Briv Construction” sued the Commission and sought the annulment of that decision.
Given that the tender was continued, the Traffic Administration, when re-selecting for the construction of the bypass at the end of December, selected the offer of "Bemax" as the most favorable, while "Briv Construction" was excluded from the procedure, so they appealed that decision on January 9th.
In a lawsuit filed with the Administrative Court in early January, which Vijesti has had access to, the company "Briv Construction" states that the Commission's decision to re-select the contractor is illegal, because it incorrectly and incompletely determined the factual situation. Specifically, they are requesting that the Commission amend or withdraw the decision, and in the event that they fail to do so, they propose that the Administrative Court annul the decision.
"The plaintiff proposes that, in order to achieve the public interest, the defendant apply the provision of Article 26 of the Law on Administrative Disputes, i.e. that it itself adopts the allegations of the complaint and adopts a new act amending or repealing the administrative act against which the administrative dispute was initiated, which will be in accordance with the Law. If it nevertheless decides not to act in the proposed manner, the plaintiff proposes that the Administrative Court adopt the complaint, annul the disputed decision of the Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures of December 17, 2024, and return the case to the defendant to re-open the proceedings to eliminate the indicated violations of the rules of procedure and the illegalities committed," the lawsuit states.
"Briv Construction" claims that when making its decision, the Commission did not determine whether the "Bemax" appeal was filed by an authorized person, whether it was timely, permitted, signed according to the law, and whether the required fee was paid. They also point out that the appeal was not signed electronically, although this obligation existed under the Public Procurement Law.
Among other things, they claim that the Commission's decision is unlawful because, under the Law on Administrative Procedure, it does not contain a brief statement of the request, the factual situation and regulations on the basis of which the decision was made, proof of payment of the fee, or the reason why "Briv Construction" was not given the right to comment on the allegations in the complaint.
"When deciding, the defendant failed to establish that part of the "Bemax" bid, namely the bid guarantee, was marked as secret, which is in violation of Article 30 of the Public Procurement Law and Article 204, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Credit Institutions Law, so any person who had access to the guarantee could not have access to that document, nor was it allowed to make it available or allow third parties to use it, which was undoubtedly done illegally, and which ultimately makes all the actions taken - the procedure for reviewing, assessing, evaluating and ranking the bids, as well as the decision of the Transport Administration of November 28, 2024, on the annulment of the public procurement procedure, illegal. This is especially true since the written consent of "Bemax" was not provided with the bid, as a separate document. Even if written consent is subsequently obtained, it cannot validate the previously illegally carried out actions and unauthorized access to the bid guarantee that was marked as secret," Briv Construction states in the lawsuit.
A year and a half to build
The Director of the Traffic Administration, Radomir Vuksanović, said at the end of September last year that the deadline for completing works on the bypass was 18 months from the introduction of the contractor into the job.
He made this announcement during a meeting with Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, Monteput Director Milan Ljiljanić, and the then Mayor of Podgorica Olivera Injac.
This boulevard will have sidewalks on both sides, four lanes, three intersections and one roundabout, and is being built through a Co-financing Agreement, with the Administration financing the construction of the road and the Capital City financing the expropriation of land and the construction of utility infrastructure.
"Our duties were the preparation of the project and technical documentation, then expropriation and communal infrastructure. A lot of work has been invested in the previous months, and we expect that the dynamics will go according to plan, and that the works will soon begin to the satisfaction of the citizens of Podgorica", emphasized Injac and added that this is a priority infrastructure project, which will facilitate transit around Podgorica .
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