If there is no agreement between the power utility EPS and 11 Serbian manufacturers of smart meters, local industry will not have the chance to participate in the procurement of smart meters, worth 350 MEUR.
Producers Group for the electricity measurement, which consists of 11 Serbian companies for meters production, will meet next week with the administration of “Electric Power Industry of Serbia” with Aleksandar Obradovic at the helm, in relation to the procurement of smart meters, worth 350 MEUR.
As Kurir daily writes, they will try to alleviate the stringent criteria defined in the tender so that local companies can participate in this procurement.
Discrimination
However, the previous tender items show that only companies that have achieved a turnover of 75 MEUR in the past five years, which is commercially unattainable for domestic companies, can apply to it. They protested on that occasion, believing that the competition was discriminatory and harmful for the state.
– Only two or three world-famous companies can apply to the tender with such a high turnover and annual production of 250,000 meters. To our great satisfaction, people in EPS realized that we could not compete and accepted to talk to us. We have a few suggestions, which would give the possibility for our companies to candidate for the job – told Jovan Vujasinovic, President of Producers Group for electricity measuring for Kurir. He points out that one of the proposals is to reformulate or delete the condition around the annual meters production as criteria in the tender.
Consortium
– In this case, we would try to get into the consortium as a game with a major European manufacturer. There are also other solutions, but they do not talk about that. It is important that EPS, or the state, if loosened it, would secure life for 11 companies, which employ about 600 people and a turnover of 20 MEUR. Also, it would also allow the new jobs opening for another 1,500 people – says Vujasinovic.
Propositions
– 257.000 meters are supplied
– The tender value is 350 MEUR
– Companies that compete should have an annual turnover of 75 MEUR
– The second condition is that the annual production of 250,000 meters
– Three tenders for the meters have failed in the last three years
– In the last 20 years every third tender for the purchase of electric meters failed due to conflict Serbian producers
