'Slovakia' Party to File Complaint Over €30 Mn Military Hospital Contract

Bratislava, 22 July (TASR) – 'Slovakia' party plans to file a complaint with the Public Procurement Office (UVO) over a nearly €30 million contract awarded by the Central Military Hospital SNP Ruzomberok for an extension of its surgical wing, TASR learnt on Tuesday. Opposition MPs raised concerns at a Tuesday press conference, criticising the short deadline for submitting bids and the exclusion of the lowest-priced offer from the tender. „As we learn from the notification of the evaluation results, the lowest bid was excluded from the tender. The reason for the exclusion was not provided in the notification. Since the hospital excluded the lowest-priced bid, the winner became the next offer in line, submitted by a consortium of Stanter, Yucon CZ and Yucon. Their bid was €4.5 million more expensive, totalling €29,377,000,” said MP Gabor Grendel ('Slovakia'-For the People-Christian Union alliance). Grendel noted that the tender was launched in April, giving bidders less than a month to prepare their offers. According to him, several interested parties complained about the short timeframe, but the hospital refused to extend the deadline. „Potential bidders pointed out that a longer deadline could have encouraged wider competition and a genuine contest for the lowest price,” he added. Grendel confirmed that the movement intends to submit the complaint to the PPO. „We had to wait until the contract was published. Since yesterday, it has been available in the central contract register, so we will file the complaint soon. Both the short deadline and the exclusion of the lowest offer, which should have been the decisive criterion, are sufficient grounds for the UVO to review this tender,” he said. mf