BRATISLAVA, April 6, (WEBNOVINY) — Prime Minister Iveta Radicova said that it sometimes takes several months for the Public Procurement Office (UVO) to make a decision and that hinders the public procurement process to a considerable extent. The Prime Minister underscored during her meeting with UVO head Roman Sipos on Tuesday that she cares about lawful public procurement and creation of conditions for accelerated drawing of EU funds, Cabinet Office’s press and information department informed SITA news agency on Wednesday and added that the agenda discussed at the meeting included dissatisfaction of ruling coalition parties with work of the Public Procurement Office. Office’s head Roman Sipos is a nominee of the strongest opposition party SMER-SD.
Radicova named several necessary measures for improvement of UVO’s operation at the meeting, for example elaboration of methodological guidelines for procurers or draft procedure of execution of compulsory electronic auctions in compliance with application of the public procurement law effective as of April 1, after the parliamentary amendment is adopted. It is also necessary to refine publishing of office’s rulings after conducted audits prior to but also after signing a contract, including alerts to the most frequent mistakes.
The Prime Minister informed Sipos that she will ask him in writing for official information in structured form, since public procurements have been largely canceled under her government, according to available information. Radicova asked the office for statement concerning the complaint about the tender of the railway infrastructure operator Zeleznice Slovenskej Republiky (ZSR) for modernizing a stretch of railway between Zlatovce and Trencianska Tepla. The Public Procurement Office (UVO) ordered ZSR to cancel the tender for modernizing a 12-kilometer stretch of railway between Zlatovce and Trencianska Tepla based on an audit of the process of order assignment before signing a contract. According to UVO, the tender violated the principles of transparency and non-discrimination of applicants in public procurement.
The Prime Minister warned after the meeting of the Coalition Council on Monday that the office called off 111 of 220 public procurements. “The Cabinet will deal with the issue on Wednesday. I have received several complaints about work of the Public procurement Office,“ she said. She opines that the Cabinet is not entitled to recall office’s chairman. The chairman can be recalled by parliament at the initiative of the Cabinet. Radicova thinks that current UVO Vice Chairman Marek Vladar is in a clear conflict of interest. “The Cabinet will deal with him on Wednesday,“ she said.
SITA