ME-Podgorica: IPA — further development and strengthening of the public procurement system in Montenegro - dgMarket - Tenders and consulting opportunities worldwide

Country:

Montenegro

City/Locality:

PONTGKORITSA

Notice/Contract Number:

eu:257731-2008

Publication Date:

Oct 8, 2008

Deadline:

Nov 17, 2008

Buyer:

DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO MONTENEGRO

Original Language:

English

Address:

DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO MONTENEGRO
PODGORICA
Montenegro

71356200 - Technical assistance services

Notice Type: 0708
-
Contract notice
Regulation of Procurement: PHARE, TACIS and countries of Central and Eastern Europe
EU Official Journal Publication: 195/2008
, #
257731-2008
Contract Nature: Service contract
Procedure Type: Restricted procedure
Type of Bid Required: Global tender
Awarding Criteria: Not defined

Summary:
Location: Montenegro
Service procurement notice
1. Publication reference: EuropeAid/126525/C/SER/ME
2. Procedure: Restricted.
3. Programme: IPA 2007.
4. Financing: IPA National Programme 2007, Project 10: Public Procurement
System.
Component 1 — Transition Assistance and Institution Building.
5. Contracting authority: European Community, represented by the European
Commission, on behalf of and for the account of the beneficiary country.
Contract specification
6. Nature of contract: Fee-based.
7. Contract description: The project shall provide technical assistance
to support the consolidation of the legal and operational environment in
which the public procurement system in Montenegro functions.
It shall ensure:
(i) full harmonisation with the 'acquis communautaire' and international
best practices in public procurement,
(ii) strengthened capacity of the key institutions in charge of the
application, regulation and supervision of the public procurement system,
(iii) wider awareness and knowledge of procurement norms and standards
amongst procurement entities, potential suppliers and the public at large.
List of direct and indirect beneficiaries:
the Public Procurement Agency;
the Public Procurement Commission;
Ministry of Finances.
8. Numbers and titles of lots: 1 lot.
9. Maximum budget: EUR 1 100 000.
10. Scope for additional services: The contracting authority may, at its
own discretion, extend the project in duration and/or scope subject to the
availability of funding, up to a maximum not exceeding the length and
value of the initial contract. Any extension of the contract would be
subject to satisfactory performance by the contractor.
Conditions of participation
11. Eligibility: Participation is open to all legal persons
(participating either individually or in a grouping (consortium) of
candidates) which are established in a Member State of the European Union
or in a country or territory of the regions covered and/or authorised by
the specific instruments applicable to the programme under which the
contract is financed (see also item 30 below).
Refer to Article 19(1) of the Council Regulation (EC) No
1085/2006:'Participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts
financed under this Regulation shall be open to all natural persons who
are nationals of and legal persons who are established in a Member State,
a country that is a beneficiary of this Regulation, a country that is a
beneficiary of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, or a
Member State of the European Economic Area'. (2) 'Participation in the
award of procurement or grant contracts financed under this Regulation
shall also be open to all natural persons who are nationals of and legal
persons who are established in any country other than those referred to in
paragraph 1, where reciprocal access to their external assistance has been
established.'
Participation is also open to international organisations.
The participation of natural persons is governed by the specific
instruments applicable to the programme under which the contract is
financed.
12. Candidature: All eligible natural and legal persons (as per item 11
above) or groupings of such persons (consortia) may apply.
A consortium may be a permanent, legally-established grouping or a
grouping which has been constituted informally for a specific tender
procedure. All members of a consortium (i.e., the leader and all other
members) are jointly and severally liable to the contracting authority.
The participation of an ineligible natural or legal person (as per item
11) will result in the automatic exclusion of that person. In particular,
if that ineligible person belongs to a consortium, the whole consortium
will be excluded.
13. Number of applications: No more than 1 application can be submitted
by a natural or legal person whatever the form of participation (as an
individual legal entity or as leader or member of a consortium submitting
an application). In the event that a natural or legal person submits more
than 1 application, all applications in which that person has participated
may be excluded.
14. Shortlist alliances prohibited: Any tenders received from tenderers
comprising firms other than those mentioned in the shortlisted application
forms will be excluded from this restricted tender procedure. Shortlisted
candidates may not form alliances or subcontract to each other for the
contract in question.
15. Grounds for exclusion: As part of the application form, candidates
must submit a signed declaration, included in the standard application
form, to the effect that they are not in any of the exclusion situations
listed in Section 2.3.3 of the 'Practical Guide to contract procedures for
EC external actions'.
16. Subcontracting: The maximum percentage of the contract value which
may be subcontracted is 30 %.
17. Number of candidates to be shortlisted: On the basis of the
applications received, 4–8 candidates will be invited to submit detailed
tenders for this contract. If the number of eligible candidates meeting
the selection criteria is less than the minimum of 4, the contracting
authority may invite the candidates who satisfy the criteria to submit a
tender.
Provisional timetable
18. Provisional date of invitation to tender: December 2008.
19. Provisional commencement date of the contract: April 2009.
20. Initial period of execution and possible extension of the contract:
20 months, with possible extension.
Selection and award criteria
21. Selection criteria: The following selection criteria will be applied
to candidates. In the case of applications submitted by a consortium,
these selection criteria will be applied to the consortium as a whole:
1) Economic and financial standing of candidate (based on item 3 of the
application form):
(a) the average annual turnover of the candidate for the 2 financial years
(2006 and 2007) must be at least EUR 2 000 000. The candidate must specify
the years in question in item 3 of the application form.
2) Professional capacity of candidate (based on items 4 and 5 of the
application form):
(a) at least 4 permanent staff employed by the candidate currently, and on
average, during the years 2006, 2007 and 2008, work in fields related to
this contract.
3) Technical capacity of candidate (based on items 5 and 6 of the
application form):
(a) the candidate has completed successfully at least 1 project funded by
the European Community in the last 5 years;
(b) the candidate has completed successfully, in the last 5 years, at
least 1 project where the value of the services carried out by the
candidate amounted to at least EUR 1 000 000;
(c) the candidate has completed successfully at least 2 projects in any of
the fields related to this contract in the last 5 years. At least 1 of
these projects must have been funded by the European community.
For the purpose of this procurement procedure, the fields related to this
contract are:
— reviewing existing public procurement legislation both from the
perspective of compliance with EU Directives and from the perspective of
efficiency;
— creating a complete set of operational tools for contracting officers,
providing consultancy and training for officials involved in public
procurement activities;
— introducing modern information technologies in the public procurement
system;
— conducting a public awareness campaign related to establishing an
effective and efficient public procurement system.
An economic operator may, where appropriate and for a particular contract,
rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature
of the links which it has with them. It must in that case prove to the
contracting authority that it will have at its disposal the resources
necessary for performance of the contract, for example by producing an
undertaking on the part of those entities to place those resources at its
disposal. Such entities must respect the same rules of eligibility and
notably that of nationality, as the economic operator.
If more than 8 eligible candidates meet the above selection criteria, the
relative strengths and weaknesses of the applications of these candidates
must be re-examined to identify the 8 best applications for the tender
procedure. The only factors which will be taken into consideration during
this re-examination are:
i. highest number of completed projects in fields related to this contract
(see subsection 3(c) above).
ii. highest number of the EC-funded contracts among all listed projects in
fields related to this contract (see subsection 3(c) above).
Note: (i) will be applied first and then (ii) will be applied if 2 or more
candidates have the same number for (i):
22. Award criteria: Best value for money.
Application
23. Deadline for receipt of applications: 17.11.2008 (16:00), Central
European Time.
Any application received after this deadline will not be considered.
24. Application format and details to be provided: Applications must be
submitted using the standard application form (available from:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/services/
annexes_standard_documents/index_en.htm) whose format and instructions
must be strictly observed.
Any additional documentation (brochure, letter, etc.) sent with an
application will not be taken into consideration.
25. How applications may be submitted: Applications must be submitted in
English exclusively to the contracting authority:
— either by recorded delivery to:
Delegation of the European Commission to Montenegro, Finance and Contracts
Section, Vuka Karadzica 12, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro. Tel. (382-81) 44
46 00. Fax (382-81) 44 46 66,
— or hand delivered (including courier services) directly to the
contracting authority in return for a signed and dated receipt to:
Delegation of the European Commission to Montenegro, Finance and Contracts
Section, Vuka Karadzica 12, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro. Tel. (382-81) 444
600. Fax (382-81) 444 666.
The contract title and the publication reference (see item 1 above) must
be clearly marked on the envelope containing the application (the outer
envelope in case of a delivery by international courier company) and must
be mentioned in all subsequent correspondence with the contracting
authority.
Applications submitted by any other means will not be considered.
26. Alteration or withdrawal of applications: Candidates may alter or
withdraw their applications by written notification prior to the deadline
for submission of tenders. No application may be altered after this
deadline.
Any such notification of alteration or withdrawal shall be prepared and
submitted in accordance with Clause 25. The outer envelope (and the
relevant inner envelope) must be marked 'Alteration' or 'Withdrawal' as
appropriate.
27. Operational language: All written communications for this tender
procedure and contract must be in English.
28. Additional information: Filling in the standard application form:
when filling in the standard application form, and in particular items 3,
4, 5 and 6 therein, candidates must provide all information necessary to
allow the Shortlist Panel to assess their compliance with the selection
criteria under points 21.1), 21.2) and 21.3) above.
Supporting documents:
candidates are reminded that, before the award of the contract, the
successful tenderer has to supply proof documents to support the
information submitted in the standard application form in response to the
selection criteria specified at point 21 of this procurement notice; the
contracting authority reserves the right to request the following:
— profit and loss accounts/income statements, for each of the years for
which the annual turnover has to be presented. The profit and loss
accounts/income statements, drawn up in line with international accounting
standards, must be provided with an English translation and conversion of
amounts into euro. The candidate should be ready to present profit and
loss accounts/income statements in the required form within 24 hours, upon
request from the contracting authority. The contracting authority reserves
the right to ask for additional information which certifies the data
presented in the forms,
— proof of the actual number of staff permanently hired for the time
period for which the information shall be provided,
— proof and/or additional information concerning scope, value, duration,
etc. of projects listed in table 6 of the standard application form (e.g.
copy of relevant contracts, client's references/final reports, etc.);
if the successful tenderer fails to provide the required evidence within
15 calendar days of the notification of award, or if the successful
tenderer is found to have provided false information, the award will be
considered null and void;
candidates are also reminded that participation in spite of being in any
of the situations listed in Section 2.3.3 of the 'Practical Guide to
contract procedures for EC external actions' will make them subject to
exclusion from tender procedures and contracts in accordance with Section
2.3.5 of the said Practical Guide. Furthermore, deliberate provision of
inaccurate or incomplete information in the standard application form will
make them subject to financial penalties representing 2 % to 10 % of the
total value of the contract being awarded. This rate may be increased to 4
% to 20% in the event of a repeated offence within 5 years of the first
infringement.
Tax and customs arrangements, visa and permits:
further to Article 26 of the framework agreement between the Government of
Montenegro and the Commission of the European Communities on the rules for
cooperation concerning EC financial assistance to Montenegro in the
framework of implementation of the assistance under IPA,
community-financed contracts for services shall not be subject in
Montenegro to VAT, documentary stamp or registration duties or fiscal
charges having equivalent effect. The contractor is exempt from custom
duties, import taxes, fees and VAT or any other similar taxes levied on
goods entering Montenegro for the contract financed by EU. The
contractor's expatriate staff, from Member states of the EU or other
countries eligible under IPA, executing community-financed contracts shall
be exempt in Montenegro from profit and/or income taxes, customs duties,
income duties, taxes and other fiscal charges having equivalent effect.
29. Date of publication of contract forecast: 31.1.2008.
30. Legal basis: This project is covered by Council Regulation (EC) No
1085/2006 of 17.7.2006 establishing the Instrument for Pre-Accession
Assistance (IPA) (OJ L 210 of 31.7.2006).

ME-Podgorica: IPA — further development and strengthening of the public procurement system in Montenegro

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