ÚOHS: There were errors in the tender for the construction of CEITEC laboratories in Brno

Photo: ceitec.cz

Brno - There were errors in the tender worth more than 400 million for the construction of natural science laboratories of the Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) in Brno. This arises from the current decision of the antimonopoly office, which has now confirmed its preliminary measure to suspend the tender. ČTK learned this from the website of UOHS, where the office published its decision today.
    UOHS has doubts about the compliance of the proceedings of the Brno University of Technology (VUT), which issued the contract, with the Public Procurement Act. Specifically, the doubts relate to the acceptance of bids and the exclusion of certain candidates from the tender. The validity of the preliminary measure was now confirmed by UOHS Chairman Petr Rafaj.
    He also mentioned another decision of the office from the end of last year, which annulled the unlawful exclusion of Průmstav and Zlínstav. All subsequent actions of the contracting authority were also canceled, except for the action of opening the envelopes of the other candidates made in the procurement process.
    According to UOHS, the Brno University of Technology did not treat all candidates equally who submitted multiple bids in the public procurement bidding process. The bids of Průmstav and Zlínstav were excluded despite being submitted on time. "This procedure of the contracting authority could have influenced the selection of the most suitable offer, as it might have led to the exclusion of a candidate whose bid could have contained the lowest bid price and could thus have been selected as the most advantageous," Rafaj stated.
    The Central European Institute is to be built within three years. It will cost 5.2 billion crowns. The institute will link research in natural sciences and technical fields. It will be utilized by approximately 600 scientists and more than 1200 students, as well as Czech and foreign companies.
    The entire project consists of multiple contracts. The one currently being examined by UOHS is one of the largest. It is a tender for the construction of natural science laboratories in the VUT area in Brno under Palackého Hill. The winner will build a total of three buildings. VUT issued the tender last May. Several companies have appealed to the antimonopoly office. The tender was contested by companies such as Průmstav, a. s., Hochtief CZ, or Alpine Bau CZ.
    In addition to Masaryk University and VUT, the construction of the institute also involves Mendel University, the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, the Research Institute of Veterinary Medicine, and the Institute of Materials Physics of the Academy of Sciences. As a result, Brno will become significantly visible on the map of Europe-wide recognized research centers.