USKOK investigates water meter remote-reading tender in Zagreb worth €40 million
USKOK suspects tender rigging at Water Supply and Sewage Company; police seized documentation from IKOM company, which denies irregularities.
USKOK raids Zagreb Water Supply Company and IKOM company over suspicion of tender rigging
The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) has launched an investigation against former director of the city company Water Supply and Sewage Ltd. Marko Blažević, suspected of rigging multiple tenders. The most significant contract concerns a water meter remote-reading system worth €40 million, according to Index.hr.
The framework agreement was signed by Mayor Tomislav Tomašević, after a commission prepared the documentation for him. USKOK suspects that Blažević favoured IKOM Ltd. in awarding the contract. Police, acting on a USKOK warrant, seized documentation from that company's premises.
Who stands behind IKOM
IKOM Ltd. is owned by Iva Lovrić, daughter of businessman Mijo Kovač, known in public as the brother-in-law of the liquidated poker machine king Vjeko Sliško.
IKOM: Everything was conducted in accordance with regulations
IKOM responded with a statement rejecting any irregularities. They claim they participated in the tender solely as a bidder and that they acted in accordance with all applicable regulations of the Republic of Croatia and public procurement rules.
"The City of Zagreb, in its capacity as the contracting authority, conducted an open public procurement procedure in which four bids were received. From publicly published minutes, it follows that the bid of IKOM Ltd. was assessed as valid and met the criteria for qualitative selection of an economic operator, as well as the technical requirements from the procurement documentation. The remaining bids were rejected as inadmissible and unsuitable, as they could not meet the contracting authority's needs and requirements without significant amendments," the company states.
The documentation and tender criteria were determined, they emphasise, precisely by the City of Zagreb, and they as a bidder had no influence over this. "All conditions of the public procurement procedure and technical requirements were objectively prescribed and previously known to all interested bidders," IKOM notes.
Citing 70 years of experience
According to the company's claims, the very fact that their bid passed technical verification is evidence of expert compatibility of the proposed solution, and not of a privileged position. "IKOM is a Croatian manufacturer and a leading company on the market with a tradition and experience of more than 70 years," they emphasise, adding that alongside their own product range they offered devices from renowned world manufacturers with experience in similar projects.
Of the remaining three bids received, they claim, none had appropriate references or met the prescribed technical functionalities. "The outcome of the procedure, as it follows from publicly available minutes, is the result of objective and documented technical assessment of bids by the contracting authority," IKOM concludes.
Appeal procedure still underway
IKOM reminds that the proceeding before the State Commission for Control of Public Procurement Procedures, initiated by an appeal against the selection decision, is still ongoing. USKOK's investigation thus runs parallel with administrative re-examination of the tender.
Source: Index.hr