19 million euros - this is the amount by which one of the contenders miscalculated when submitting a proposal to complete the construction of the new building of Stradins Hospital. After recalculation, its proposal was no longer the cheapest, but this did not affect the results of the competition, reports the Latvian Television program "de facto".
The story of the construction of building A2 has been ongoing for more than ten years. Six years ago, it was started by the company "Velve", but due to prolonged disagreements, in February 2024, the hospital terminated the contract with the construction firm. The project management agreed to be taken over by the State Real Estate Agency (VNĪ), and a new competition was announced. However, the procurement was delayed as "Velve" contested the procurement conditions. The Procurement Monitoring Bureau rejected the complaints, but there were subsequent appeals to the court and a request for temporary regulation, which meant halting the process indefinitely. However, the court rejected this requirement, and this week the decision came into effect.
Three contenders submitted proposals to complete the construction of the A2 building started by "Velve" - the supplier association "SNL Būve" for 133.6 million euros, the company "Aimasa" for 114 million euros, and "NSHC Group" for 101.5 million euros. The latter contender was declared the winner of the competition for submitting the most economically advantageous offer. However, the report on the procurement results shows that the amount proposed by the winner was adjusted and increased by 19 million euros - to 120.37 million, and is no longer the lowest. The bid price increased by one-fifth and actually matches the amount that the hospital can allocate for completing the project.
"The error occurred when multiplying the unit construction price by the planned volume, and the final figure was mathematically incorrect, but the proposed unit prices are correct and correspond to the market. Therefore, in this case, there is no risk that the builder overlooked something or misunderstood," noted Girts Norlinds, head of the procurement department at VNĪ. The company "Aimasa", which lost the procurement by just one point, has filed a complaint with the Procurement Monitoring Bureau, which promises to announce a decision within two weeks.
