Publish Date : 18-Mar-2019
The Defense Ministry Procurement Commission has decided to discontinue the procurement of 4x4 light and medium tactical vehicles. The Defense Procurement Commission of the Ministry of Defense has concluded that the weaknesses identified by the Procurement Monitoring Bureau within the framework of the existing procurement process cannot be eliminated and, in accordance with the Defense and Security Procurement Law, the negotiated procedure should be terminated.
In order to overcome the shortcomings of the procurement process, it is necessary to make changes to the technical specification that is not possible within the framework of the existing process under the Defense and Security Procurement Law. It is also necessary to reassess vehicle testing procedures. In order to fully evaluate and test the technical parameters, the support of other countries is necessary, because the capabilities of the National Armed Forces are not sufficient for testing several positions. Consequently, the changes need to be made in the test forms that the law forbids doing this process. The changes made to the procurement documentation did not fundamentally change the assessment of the operational performance of the vehicles, but even the slightest deviations from the original conditions are not permissible under the law.
"Ensuring the mobility of national armed forces is still critical to strengthening combat capabilities, so the responsible units have been tasked with reviewing the technical requirements for purchasing armed vehicles," said Defense Minister Artis Pabriks. "In order to avoid suspicion of this procurement, it should be implemented within intergovernmental agreements, so research and assessment of partner governments' ready-to-use mobility platforms should be carried out as soon as possible."
The Ministry of Defense explains that this is the most complicated procurement procedure to date in the history of the Latvian defense industry and, despite the termination of the negotiated procedure, has gained invaluable experience that will be assessed and taken into account in future purchases to provide the National Armed Forces with the most appropriate equipment for their needs. The Ministry of Defense is convinced that an intergovernmental agreement will ensure the necessary transparency of the procurement procedure, as well as allow for a more precise and better reservation of security of supply.
In order to clarify the deficiencies in the work of the Procurement Commission, the Ministry of Defense conducted an examination of the rules of procedure of the negotiated procedure prepared by the Commission and concluded that the procurement regulations were not the main reason for the complaints submitted by the tenderers.
Already reported, the Ministry of Defense started work on the purchase of 4x4 light and medium tactical vehicles in 2017. The Procurement Commission, which was composed of representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the National Defense Military Objects and Procurement Center and the National Armed Forces, evaluated the tenders submitted by all companies for more than a year in depth. The negotiated procedure for the purchase of 4x4 light and medium tactical vehicles was organized in two stages. In the first stage, 12 tenderers submit applications for participation in the negotiated procedure, from which six merchants nominated the Ministry of Defense procurement commission to assess the compliance of the applicants with the qualification requirements.
In the second stage of the negotiated procedure, four bidders were received: Oy Sisu Auto (Finland) - GTP 4x4, AM General (USA) - HUMWEE, Paramount Group (South Africa) - Marauder South and Otokar (Turkey) - Cobra. National Armed Forces representatives tested all vehicles offered. The performance of the vehicles as well as the technical compliance with the requirements of the armed forces were assessed during testing. Vehicles were tested on both public roads and off-road. The National Armed Forces made this kind of platform for the first time and almost all units were involved in testing. Similarly, the Procurement Commission organized a series of talks with each of the four bidders to clarify the bids and technical details submitted. At the end of 2018, the Procurement Monitoring Bureau decided to ban the contract with the winning Finnish company Oy Sisu Auto on the basis of the complaints received. The Procurement Monitoring Bureau instructed the Procurement Commission to remedy the identified deficiencies within three months.
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