The Public Procurement Inspection has determined that the management of the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System (CEDIS) has announced ten simple procurements for the purchase of smart meters contrary to the law, which is why it will file a misdemeanor report with the competent court, the Inspection Administration announced.
Irregularities determined during the control carried out by the competent inspector after the report that CEDIS announced ten simple procurements of smart meters worth 20,000 euros on June 7, thus trying to avoid the tender, reports the Mina agency, referring to Pobjeda.
The division of the same subject of procurement in that way is contrary to the law, and the Directorate for Inspection Affairs stated that the court will decide on punishing CEDIS and those responsible for avoiding its application.
“Penalties will not be imposed through a misdemeanor order, but a misdemeanor report will be issued, so the competent court will determine the amounts of fines in accordance with the current legal provisions,” the Administration told Pobjeda.
The Law on Public Procurement envisages a fine of five to 20,000 euros for a company that divides the subject of procurement by avoiding the application of that law. A fine for the person in charge in the company in the amount of 150 to 2,000 euros is also envisaged.
CEDIS stated that they did not know that a misdemeanor report had been filed in connection with announcing simple public procurements of meters.
“No misdemeanor liability has been established, nor has any fine been imposed on CEDIS and the CEO on this basis,” the company said.
The management of CEDIS announced ten advertisements for simple procurements in order to buy smart meters within 15 days as a matter of urgency, because the tender was declared illegal. The company was left without meters, the installation of which is awaited by hundreds of new consumers. Due to that, old meters have been installed lately, which are being removed from unused buildings.
The tender for their procurement, which was announced on October 18, was annulled due to violations of the procedure.
The tender was won by the management of the company Meter & Control of the businessman Vojin Lazarevic, which was supposed to be awarded the job of procuring 32,000 meters and other equipment, worth 4.7 million euros. Their offer was two million euros more expensive than the lowest, Business reports.
