Slovakia’s procurement authority has ordered the Interior Ministry to cancel its public tender to select a contractor for provision of translation and interpreting services worth over €1 million. The Public Procurement Office (ÚVO) said the tender was defined in a discriminating manner, newswire SITA wrote.
“The requirement for participation, regarding provision of recommendations, was defined in a discriminating manner and was inappropriate regarding the subject matter of the contract,” explained ÚVO spokeswoman Helena Fialová.
“The office apparently found our requirements strict,” ministry’s spokesman Erik Tomáš told newswire SITA.
According to him, the ministry would announce a new tender, but did not specify a date.
Information on the announced public tender to select a contractor for interpreting and translation services worth €1.194 million ex-VAT was published in the Public Procurement Bulletin on May 21.
Fialová confirmed that no bid had been received for the tender. The ministry wanted to conclude contract with the tender winner for 36 months. The closing date for accepting bids was June 16. Lowest price was the decisive criterion. The office said that the requirement concerning the number of permanent employees, forms of employment and their length was discriminatory, wrote SITA.
