On September 6, 2019, the municipal enterprise “Kyivtransparkservice” announced a tender under DK 021:2015 code 48210000-3 — Network Software Packages. The estimated procurement cost is 105,884,000.00 UAH, including VAT. According to the scope of the procurement, the plan is to purchase an automated system for monitoring payment for parking services in Kyiv (supply of licensed software and equipment, including its installation, implementation, configuration, and testing).

The tender was drafted with clearly discriminatory requirements, and as a result, complaints were filed regarding the tender documentation.

Parking Ukraine Limited Liability Company,  whose interests were represented by attorneys from Barristers Law Firm during the appeal of the procurement terms, succeeded in halting the procurement procedure and securing a decision to order an audit to resolve the issue of amending the tender documentation.

According to the Unified Procurement Vocabulary DK 021:2015 (UPV), the aforementioned software and technical equipment specified in the Client’s tender documentation fall under different types and categories of procurement items. For example, tablet computers 30213200-7—category 30000000-9 Office and computer equipment, machinery, and supplies, except furniture and software packages; Software packages—category 48000000-8, etc.

The contracting authority did not correctly define the subject of the procurement in accordance with the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV). In this regard, to comply with the CPV, the contracting authority must announce an open tender procedure for the subject of the procurement, dividing the specified list into separate lots.

A number of technical requirements were also specified that precluded the participation of the vast majority of bidders, including Parking Ukraine Limited Liability Company, which specializes in the relevant software.

Following the review of the complaint by the Permanent Administrative Board for the Consideration of Complaints Regarding Violations of Public Procurement Legislation of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, a decision was made on October 23, 2019, to order an audit to subsequently resolve the issue of making changes to the tender documentation.

The director of “Parking Ukraine” LLC, Tonis Bittman, an Estonian citizen, noted that the aforementioned activities of the municipal enterprise “Kyivtransparkservice” not only hinder free competition in the parking services market but also, in this case, worsen Ukraine’s investment climate. This, in turn, is unacceptable and must be rectified.