The domestic construction industry has lost yet another contract worth 100 billion

„KÉSZ Építő Zrt. was shocked to learn that the contracting authority, Építési és Közlekedési Minisztérium, had ultimately declared the public procurement procedure for the construction of Pázmány Péter Catholic University’s new campus to be unsuccessful.”.

The decision is particularly serious and baffling because KÉSZ Építő Zrt. submitted a bid that was more than 11 billion forints lower than the one that was subsequently declared the winner, yet the company was excluded from the tender process on the basis of a controversial legal interpretation.

According to the position set out in KÉSZ Csoport, the current declaration of failure clearly demonstrates that: 

The contracting authority was unable to satisfactorily address the serious issues and concerns that arose during the procedure.

The Public Procurement Arbitration Committee had previously ruled that Építési és Közlekedési Minisztérium’s refusal to grant KÉSZ Építő Zrt. access to the documents was unlawful, and consequently imposed a fine of 10 million forints on the contracting authority. During the subsequent inspection of documents, KÉSZ Építő Zrt. uncovered circumstances which gave rise to a suspicion that the successful tenderer had breached the rules on conflicts of interest under the Public Procurement Act.

The company requested clarification on these points; however, instead of the contracting authority resolving the issues that had arisen in a manner that left no room for doubt and ensuring conditions for fair competition, the entire procedure was ultimately declared invalid.

According to KÉSZ Csoport, it is unacceptable that, in one of Hungary’s largest publicly funded investment projects, an independent Hungarian company that has been in operation for nearly 45 years and submitted a bid more than 11 billion forints lower should be excluded, and that, following the concerns raised, the outcome is not based on fair competition and an objective comparison of bids, but rather the declaration that the entire procedure is invalid.

The group has faced difficulties on several occasions throughout its history in relation to public procurement procedures; in 2016, following lengthy legal proceedings concerning the Szeged Laser Centre, the court ultimately ruled in the group’s favour, although by that time the aforementioned project had already been completed.

”KÉSZ Csoport will continue to explore all available legal avenues to ensure that public procurement procedures are conducted under truly equal conditions, with transparent rules and fair competition.”