Ministry: SaS Claims about Ambulance Tender Fly in Face of Documentation

Bratislava, 29 October (TASR) - Claims made by opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party MP Juraj Krupa regarding the procurement of fire service ambulances contradict the published documentation, and the number of bidders cited by the MP is incorrect, Interior Ministry spokesperson Matej Neumann told TASR in response to the party's allegations on Thursday. The spokesperson also claimed that Krupa has confused the estimated contract value with a submitted bid. "Three public tenders were launched successively for the procurement of fire service ambulances. The ministry cancelled the first two. Neither received two bids, as MP Krupa claims. The first tender was cancelled due to the low number of bids and the estimated contract value being exceeded. The ministry didn't receive an offer for a vehicle worth €419,000 to which MP Krupa refers," said the spokesperson. Before the second tender was announced, a new market survey was conducted, according to Neumann. Based on its findings, the estimated contract value was set at almost €7.79 million excluding VAT. "Once again, only one bid was submitted, again by LRK Trading. As it didn't meet the requirements for the subject of the contract, the ministry cancelled this tender as well," stated Neumann. The ministry also rejected the claim that the technical specifications automatically determined the supplier. "The requirement was for a minimum engine output of 139 kilowatts and at least nine forward gears, not precisely those values," said Neumann. He added that the third tender resulted in the selection of a bid from a different company, worth just under €7.78 million excluding VAT for ten ambulances. This puts the price per vehicle at almost €778,000. The framework agreement hasn't yet been signed by the ministry, and even after it is concluded, the state won't be obliged to purchase the ambulances. "We expect a member of Parliament who speaks publicly of embezzlement to provide evidence and to report truthfully on the procurement process. He made similar claims regarding the purchase of fire engines, which the ministry explained, even during a parliamentary probe. We expect the MP to engage substantively with these explanations. Repeated political attacks are no substitute for evidence," said Neumann. Earlier in the day, Krupa announced that SaS was filing a complaint with the Supreme Audit Authority over the procurement of ambulances for the Firefighter and Rescue Corps. The party's suspicions that the tender was tailored to a particular supplier stem from the vehicle specifications and the estimated purchase price. According to Krupa, the ambulances are to be supplied by a company represented by a firm that supplies fire engines currently under a police investigation. mf/df