AMCU fines participants of tender collusion for UAH 29 million: how companies manipulated procurement
12 November 19:30
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has fined a number of companies more than UAH 29 million for anticompetitive concerted actions during public tenders. This was reported by the press service of the AMCU, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to the agency, on November 11, temporary administrative boards made six decisions on violation of the Law “On Protection of Economic Competition”.
It is about the distortion of bidding results – when companies, instead of competing on price or quality, coordinated their actions to ensure the “desired” result.
Who was punished, to what extent and for what
- Business Technologies LLC and Kyiv Asphalt Concrete Plant No. 8 LLC – coordinated bids for 14 tenders for the purchase of salt for road maintenance worth UAH 245 million.
Penalty: uAH 5.3 million
- BMP Kramatorsk LLC and Budartel SX 65 LLC – distorted the results of three tenders for major repairs and restoration of facilities in Donetsk and Mykolaiv regions (expected value – UAH 39 million).
Penalty: uAH 1.6 million
- Daier LLC and Gas Equipment of Ukraine LLC – concerted actions in nine tenders for Ukrtransgaz and Ukrgazvydobuvannya for the purchase of valves and instruments.
Penalty: uAH 9.2 million
- Promkhimiya Trading House LLC and Kamianskyi Foundry and Mechanical Plant LLC – collusion in the procurement of lifting and transportation equipment for Vostochnyi GOK.
Penalty: uAH 435 thousand
How the companies acted
According to the AMCU, the firms used joint employees and technical means to submit bids. They also coordinated price offers and the content of tender documents and simulated competition to create the appearance of market competition.
Consequences for offending companies
Companies caught in tender collusion, according to the Law on Public Procurement, lose the right to participate in public tenders for three years.
The AMCU also emphasizes that this is not the first case of systemic collusion in public procurement: over the past year alone, the committee has made dozens of similar decisions against companies that participated in tenders for road, school and hospital repairs.
