Antimonopoly officers accused KRPC of violating the law on protection of competition

The Perm Department of the Antimonopoly Service yesterday sharply criticized the actions of the Perm Region Development Corporation JSC in selecting contractors. The FAS claims relate to two procurements for work on the creation of utility networks in the right bank part of Berezniki, where it is planned to resettle residents of dilapidated houses. The antimonopoly agency accused KRPC of opening the envelopes with applications despite the notification of the Federal Antimonopoly Service. The Development Corporation claims false information from antimonopoly officials and claims that procurement has been suspended.

Yesterday at a press conference on the issue of resettling Berezniki residents from dilapidated houses, and... O. Deputy Head of the Perm OFAS Alexander Plaksin reported that the antimonopoly agency received two complaints about the actions of the Perm Region Development Corporation (KRPK, founder - the regional Ministry of Industry and Trade) during the selection of contractors within the framework of the project in Berezniki. We are talking about two requests for proposals that were announced by KRPK on June 29: carrying out design and survey work for the construction of inter-block engineering and road transport infrastructure in blocks 6, 10, 15, 16 of multi-apartment residential buildings (starting price 63.7 million rubles) and execution of construction and installation work on engineering and technical support of residential buildings No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in quarter No. 16 (maximum price 56 million rubles). The initiator of the complaint is KamaEnergoStroy LLC.

As Alexander Plaksin explained, the company believes that the KRPK procurement regulations unlawfully contain a clause giving the customer the right to refuse to enter into an agreement with the winner: “At the same time, the document does not define either the procedure or criteria for performing these actions, which, according to the applicant, violates the law on protection of competition". On July 6, the antimonopoly service sent notices to the Development Corporation to suspend any procedures regarding the lots. “However, having already received notifications and being well aware of the consequences of their actions, representatives of the development corporation still opened the envelopes of the participants,” noted Mr. Plaksin, calling these actions a “gross violation” of the law on the protection of competition. “The Perm Region Development Corporation has created the opportunity to provide an advantage to one of the procurement participants in the form of access to information about the content of its competitors’ applications. It is impossible to build housing without the construction of utility networks. The project worth 7.5 billion rubles was in limbo. and people who need to move,” said Alexander Plaksin.

Let us remind you that the Lyubimov microdistrict in the right-bank part of the city of Berezniki is being built to resettle residents from dilapidated housing in a potentially dangerous zone of a man-made accident. In total, the comprehensive development project for the right bank part of Berezniki involves the construction of 250 thousand square meters. m of housing by 2017. The project is financed from three sources: the budget of the Perm Territory, the federal budget and funds from PJSC Uralkali in the amount of 7.5 billion rubles. Since the launch of the project, several selections of general contractors have been carried out. The first five houses in block No. 16 are being built by SK Vysotka (the amount of contracts is about 950 million rubles), the total area will be about 30 thousand square meters. m. They are planned to be completed this year. The second developer (quarter No. 6) was the Perm holding company “Kama Dolina” (contract amount 1.6 billion rubles). The developer will build three 18-storey buildings with a total area of 50 thousand square meters in Berezniki. m. The deadline for delivery of finished housing is until the end of 2016. Based on the results of the last selection, another participant in the complex development was identified - OJSC StroyPanelKomplekt (contract amount 1 billion rubles). He must commission four apartment buildings with 590–600 apartments for those displaced from emergency housing. The houses are planned to be high-rise - at least 17 floors, with a total area of at least 32.7 thousand square meters. m.

“KRPK does not have an unconditional right to refuse to conclude an agreement with the winner of the procurement procedure,” JSC commented on the claims of KamaEnergoStroy. The KRPC named seven cases when such a refusal is possible: for example, liquidation of a procurement participant, suspension of the activities of a procurement participant, provision of knowingly false information by a participant. “Consequently, cases of refusal to conclude an agreement comply with the law and do not limit the applicant’s complaints about participation in the competition,” the Development Corporation believes. “We would like to note that KamaEnergoStroy LLC twice sent complaints to the Federal Antimonopoly Service about the corporation’s actions during procurement, but they did not submit applications for participation in procurement. We believe that the applicant’s actions can be regarded as an abuse of right; the applicant has no intention of participating in the procurement. The contested provisions of the procurement documentation do not infringe on the rights of the applicant and do not lead to restrictions on participation in the procurement,” the state-owned company adds.

The FAS office's statements that the envelopes were opened despite the order were called “unreliable information” provided to the media by the KRK. “The opening of the envelopes of procurement participants in two tenders was scheduled for July 6, 2015 at 09.30 - for the purchase of design and survey works and at 11.00 - for the purchase of construction and installation works. The OFAS notification about the suspension of procurement procedures was sent to KRPK by email on July 6, 2015 after the envelopes were opened. The corporation, by decision of June 6, 2015, suspended the purchase; no protocols were posted on the official website. There are no violations of the requirements of the Federal Antimonopoly Service or the Law on Protection of Competition in the actions of the corporation,” KRPK claims.

The director of KamaEnergoStroy LLC, Artem Chelnokov, confirmed to Kommersant that the company he heads appealed to the Federal Antimonopoly Service with complaints about purchases carried out by KRPK. He refused to comment by telephone on the essence of the claims and intentions to participate in the selection of contractors.

General Director of JSC Kamskaya Dolina Andrei Gladikov is aware of the suspension of the selection of contractors for Berezniki. According to him, this is not critical for the facilities being built by Kama Dolina. “For us, engineering questions will be relevant next summer,” noted Mr. Gladikov.

Svetlana Bykova

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