4)the proceedings of the negotiation shall be recorded in the minutes, to be signed by the chairperson of the Commission and the authorised representative of the tenderer with whom negotiations were held.
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2.The contracting authority shall negotiate separately with each tenderer who submitted a tender complying with the requirements set forth in the contract documents, and shall identify the acceptable tender following the provisions of Article 33 of this Law.
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Article 48Time Limits for Submission of Requests to Participate and Tenders in case of the Negotiated Procedure with Publication of a Contract Notice
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1.The contracting authority shall fix the final time limits for submission of requests to participate and tenders by following provisions of Article 23.
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2.The time limit for submission of requests to participate may not be shorter than 37 days from the day of dispatch of the notice from the Public Procurement Office.
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3.The time limit fixed for receipt of tenders may not be shorter than 40 days from the day of dispatch of the invitation to tender.
\n
4.If the contracting authority published PIN at least 52 days but not more than 12 months before starting the procedures, and provided the information about the contract in the manner referred to Article 18(3), then the time limits specified in this Article, paragraph 3, may be reduced to 26 days from the day of dispatch of the invitation to tender.
\n
5.If due to the circumstance beyond the contracting authority’s control it is not possible to keep to the time limits specified in this Article (cases of urgency), the contracting authority shall have the right to fix an at least 15 days time limit for submitting the requests, and at least 10 days time limit for the receipt of tenders.
\n
Article 49The Number of Candidates and their Selection according to Qualification Criteria in the Negotiated Procedure with Publication of the Contract Notice
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1.In cases of negotiated procedure with publication of the contract notice, the contracting authority may limit the number of candidates to be invited according to the rules set forth in Article 41. In case where the number of candidates is not limited, the minimum number of candidates to be invited to negotiate and specified in the contract documents (contract notice or invitation to tender) shall be 3 2. The contracting authority shall select the specified number of candidates to be invited according to the provisions of Article 41 of this Law.
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3.The number of candidates invited by the contracting authority must be not less than their minimum number specified in the contract documents.
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Article 50Submission of Requests to Participate in Negotiated Procedure with Publication of a Contract Notice
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1.Requests to participate may be submitted both by an individual economic entity, or a group of economic entities as defined in Article 23(5) of this Law.
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2.Requests to participate in negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice shall be submitted according to the requirements set in Article 14(5) of this Law. The contracting authority shall specify in the contract documents that requests to participate in the negotiated procedure must be accompanied by information requested in the invitation.
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3.In the accelerated form of negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice prescribed in Article 48(5), the contracting authority shall specify in the contract documents that requests for participation must be made by the most rapid means of communication possible.
\n
Article 51Invitation to Negotiate
\n
1.In the negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice, the contracting authority shall send invitations to negotiate in writing to all candidates selected according to the provisions in Article 49, or, if there was no pre-qualification selection, to all candidates who meet the qualification requirements.
\n
2.The contracting authority shall send the invitations to all candidates simultaneously.
\n
3.The contract documents not provided before the invitation to negotiate shall be send by the contracting authority to the candidates according to the rules set forth in Article 22 of this Law.
\n
4.In the accelerated form of the negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice referred to in Article 48(5), invitations to tender shall be made by the most rapid means of communication possible.
\n
5.The invitation to negotiate shall contain at least the following information:
\n
1)address from which the remaining contract documents may be requested, and the sum payable, if any, for obtaining them, as well as the manner of payment;
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2)in case of the negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice - a reference to the publication of a contract notice;
\n
3)the final date for the receipt of consents to negotiate, the address to which the consents must be sent and the language or languages to be used in the procedures;
\n
4)qualification requirements for suppliers and documents to prove the qualification;
\n
5)a list of information and documents to be enclosed with the consent to negotiate
\n
6)the course of the negotiated procedure;
\n
7)any other information that the contracting authority deems necessary.
\n
SECTION FIVE DESIGN CONTESTS
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Article 52Cases Justifying the Use of the Design Contest Procedure
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Design contest may be used when awarding contracts for area planning, architecture, engineering, data processing or other services of a similar character.
\n
Article 53Conducting a Design Contest
\n
1.A design contest shall be advertised following the provisions in Articles 18 and 19.
\n
2.The design contest shall be conducted in order to determine the supplier/suppliers who submitted the best plan or design (usually of area planning, architecture, civil engineering or data processing), where it is intended:
\n
1)to award a service contract to the winner of the contest;
\n
2)to provide prizes to the winner or winners of the contest, or other rewards for participation. In this case the contracting authority may continue the services contract award procedure by means of the negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice, inviting to negotiate the winner or all winners (top rated tenderers) of the contest.
\n
3.Both legal and natural persons shall be allowed to take part in the design contest.
\n
4.The admission of tenderers to design contests shall not be limited by reference to the specific territory or other restriction of discriminatory nature.
\n
5.The final date fixed for receipt of tenders in the contract documents may not be shorter than 52 days after the date of dispatching the design contest notice for publication from the Public Procurement Office.
\n
6.The contracting authority may decide to conduct pre-qualification selection of candidates to be invited to submit their designs or projects. In such event, the contracting authority shall fix non-discriminatory qualification criteria capable of ensuring the genuine competition.
\n
7.The Government of the Republic of Lithuania or the institution authorised by it shall approve the rules for organising a design contest.
\n
Article 54The Jury
\n
1.The projects and drawings of the tenderers shall be assessed by the jury, formed by the contracting authority or the authorised body. The contracting authority must fully authorise the jury to perform the assessment of the design or project and identify the winner. The jury shall be composed exclusively of natural persons who are independent of tenderers in the contest. Only natural persons of impeccable reputation who have signed a declaration of impartiality and a statement of confidentially shall be appointed chairman and members of the jury. Where a particular professional qualification is required from participants in a contest, at least a third of the members of the jury shall have that qualification.
\n
2.The jury shall be autonomous in its decisions or opinions. Only anonymously submitted projects shall be evaluated (the jury may find out the name of the tenderer only after the jury has taken a decision as regards the best design or project).
\n
3.The designs and projects shall be evaluated subject to the evaluation criteria set forth in the contract documents, and these may not be necessarily based on the lowest price or the highest economic advantage.
\n
4.The jury shall make its decision only in its meeting. The meetings of the jury shall be entered into minutes.
\n
CHAPTER III
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procurementS of entities operating in water, energy, transport and telecommunication sectors
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Article 55Regulation of Procurements by Entities Operating in the Water, Energy, Transport or Telecommunications Sectors
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1.This Chapter shall apply where contracting authorities operating in water, energy, transport and telecommunication sectors award public contracts necessary for one or several of the activities listed in paragraph 2 below. These contracting authorities shall include:
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1)contracting authorities defined in of Article 3(1) subparagraphs 1, 2 and 3;
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2)undertakings operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunication sectors on the basis of special or exclusive rights granted by the law or by a competent authority;
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3)state or municipal undertakings;
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4)undertakings where the state or local authorities have an interest, and where state or local authorities are entitled to more than 50% of votes n any management body of such undertakings.
\n
2.Activities in the water, energy, transport and telecommunication sectors include:
\n
1)the provision to other persons of fixed networks intended to provide public services to the public in connection with the production, transport or distribution of drinking water, electricity, gas or heat, where the networks are operated by the contracting authority or provided by the contacting authority to other persons, the activities of operation, maintenance or exploitation of fixed networks as well as activities pertaining to the supply of drinking water, electricity, gas or heat to such networks;
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2)the provision to other persons, operation, maintenance or exploitation of networks required for providing a service to the public in the field of transport by railway, automated systems, trolley bus, bus or cable. A network shall be any existing infrastructure (equipment, signs, etc.) necessary for the transport activity, as well as the routes to be served, timetables, the capability to be made available or any other regulation of the conditions for the transport services laid down by a competent state or local authority, institution or an organisation authorised by it. The provision of bus transport services to the public shall not be considered an activity regulated by this Law, where any other entity is free to provide the same services as those specified by the contracting authority;
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3)the operation, maintenance or exploitation of a geographical area for the purpose of exploring for or extracting oil, gas, coal or other solid fuels; as well as the provision of airport, maritime or inland port or other terminal facilities to carriers by air, sea or inland waterway;
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4)the operation or maintenance of the public telecommunication networks, as well as provision of the public telecommunication services.
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5)the activities of hydraulic engineering projects, irrigation or land drainage connected with production, supply or distribution of drinking water, provided that more than 20% of the total volume of water made available by such projects or irrigation or drainage installations shall be supplied as drinking water;
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6)the activities of sewage disposal or treatment connected with the production, supply or distribution of drinking water.
\n
3.The activities in the water, energy, transport or telecommunication sectors shall be not regarded as the activities referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, if they are to supply to the fixed networks intended to provide a service to the public: gas or heat, where the production of gas or heat by the entity concerned is the unavoidable consequence of carrying on activities other than those referred to in this Article, paragraph 2, subparagraph 1, and supply to the public network is aimed only at the economic exploitation of such production and amounts to not more than 20% of the entity's turnover having regard to the average for the preceding three years, including the current year; in the case of electricity or drinking water, where the production of electricity or drinking water by the entity concerned takes place because its consumption is necessary for carrying out an activity other than that referred to in this Article, paragraph 2, subparagraph 1, and supply to the public network depends only on the entity's own consumption and has not exceeded 30% of the entity's total production of electricity or drinking water, having regard to the average for the preceding three years, including the current year.
\n
Article 56The General Principles of Procurement in the Water, Energy, Transport and Telecommunication Sector
\n
1)Contracting authorities exercising activities in the water, energy, transport and telecommunication sectors shall award their procurement contracts, referred to in Article 55 above and the value of which is equal or greater than thresholds specified in Article 10(2) of this Law, in accordance with the provisions of Chapters I and II of this Law insofar they do not contradict the provisions contained in this Chapter III.
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2)The contracting authority exercising activities in the water, energy, transport and telecommunication sectors shall award the procurement contracts following all the requirements referred to in Article 4 of this Law, and respect the rules of confidentiality laid down in Article 5 of this Law.
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Article 57Types of Procurement Procedures Used by Entities Operating in the Water, Energy and Transport Sectors Procedures in Utilities
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1.The contracting authorities in the utilities sector may award contracts by means of the open, restricted procedures and negotiated procedure with or without publication of a contract notice.
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2.The contracting authorities may use the open procedure, the restricted procedure or the negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice in all cases without limitations.
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3.In cases specified in Article 58 of this Law, the contracting authority may choose not to publish a contract notice and award the contract by means of the negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice.
\n
4.The contract may be awarded by using the design contest in cases referred to in Article 52.
\n
Article 58Cases where Procurement by Means of Negotiated Procedure without Publication of a Contract Notice is Allowed
\n
1.Supply, services or works contracts may be awarded by means of negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice if there is at least one of the conditions given below:
\n
1)when no tenders or no suitable tenders or request to participate have been submitted in response to an open or restricted procedure or negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice, or when all tenderers have failed to meet the minimum qualification requirements, provided that the initial conditions of contract are not substantially altered;
\n
2)where a contract is purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development, and not for the purpose of securing a profit or of recovering research and development costs, and in so far as the award of such contract does not prejudice the competitive award of subsequent contracts;
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3)when, for technical or artistic reasons, the supplies may be delivered, services rendered and works performed only by a particular economic entity having the exclusive rights to produce (supply, perform) these products, works or services and there is no other alternative;
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4)when, for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority in question, the time limit for the open, restricted or negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice cannot be kept within the time limits fixed by this Law. The circumstances invoked to justify extreme urgency must not in any event be attributable to the contracting authority;
\n
5)when contracts are awarded on the basis of the preliminary agreement.
\n
2.Supply contracts may also be awarded without the publication of a contract notice in the following cases:
\n
1)where the contracting authority had previous contracts with the same supplier of goods and determined, that, from the technical compatibility point of view, it is reasonable to procure the additional supplies from the same supplier, provided that such earlier contracts were efficient, that the price and other contract conditions are not substantially altered, and that changing the supplier would result in technical incompatibility, where the new suppliers or services could not be operated together with the previously procured supplies or services, or the contracting authority could incur considerable losses;
\n
2)for supplies quoted and purchased on a commodity market;
\n
3)for bargain purchases, where it is possible to procure supplies by taking advantage of a particularly advantageous opportunity available for a very short time at a price considerably lower than normal market prices;
\n
4)for purchases of supplies under particularly advantageous conditions from a supplier who is ceasing to trade on a permanent basis or is involved in insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings, or is in the process of restructuring.
\n
3.In case of public service contracts, when the contract concerned follows a design contest and is awarded to the successful candidate or to one of the successful candidates: in the latter case, all successful candidates shall be invited to participate in the negotiations.
\n
4.As regards public service contracts and public works contracts for additional services or works not included in the project initially considered or in the contract first concluded but which have, through unforeseen circumstances, become necessary for the performance of the services or works described therein, when such additional services or works cannot be technically or economically separated from the main contract without major inconvenience to the contracting authorities, or which, even though separable from the principal contract, are necessary for the performance of the principal contract at its later stages.
\n
5.For new services or works consisting of the repetition of similar services or works entrusted to the economic entity to whom the same contracting authorities awarded an earlier contract, provided that such services or works conform to a basic project for which a first contract was awarded according to the open or restricted procedures, where the total estimated cost of subsequent services or works has been taken into consideration, and that the possibility of additional contracts has been pointed out in the contract notice.
\n
Article 59Publication of a Contract Notice
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1.In cases referred to in Article 18 of the Law, the contracting authority shall announce about its intention to award a contract in advance, as specified in Article 19.
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2.The contracting authority shall publish a separate notice of each contract awarded by means of the open procedure, restricted procedure, negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice, or design contest, as prescribed in Article 18 of this Law.
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3.Drawing up of contract documents and time limits for the contract award procedures shall be subject to Articles 20 and 23 of this Law.
\n
4.Where by publication of a prior information notice a call for competition is made, the notice shall be published at least 12 months before the date of dispatch of invitation to tender under Article 23 of this Law and shall contain an indication that there shall be no publication of a separate contract notice as well as other information specified in this Article, paragraph 5.
\n
5.Where the contracting authority intends to conclude a preliminary agreement, it shall inform about such intention in the contract notice. The contract notice shall also specify the duration of such preliminary agreement, the expected and, if possible, the maximum number of the suppliers, the total value of supplies, services or works for the entire duration of the preliminary agreement, and, if possible, the frequency and value of the contracts to be awarded on the basis of such preliminary agreement. In the contract notice the contracting authority shall also specify the criteria to be used for identifying the successful tenderers, as well as criteria to be used by contracting authorities to determine the supplier - a party to the preliminary agreement - who will be awarded a contract in each specific case. The criteria shall be set up according to the provisions of Article 33 of this Law.
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6.Having awarded the contract or preliminary agreement, the contracting authority shall, according to the provisions of Article 35, notify thereof all the candidates or tenderers, and publish the contract award notice as prescribed in Articles 18 and 19 of this Law.
\n
7.The contracting authorities are not obligated to publish contract award notices about each contract awarded on the basis of the preliminary agreement.
\n
8.Prior information notices, contract notices, contract award notices shall be drawn up and published according to the provisions of Article 19.
\n
9.Contracting authority must be able to supply the proof of the date of dispatch of the notices referred to above.
\n
Article 60Time Limits
\n
1.Time limits in the procedures depend on the type of procedure. The contracting authority shall fix the time limits for requests and tenders according to the provisions of Article 23 of this Law, by taking into account the complexity of the contract and the time necessary for drawing up the requests to participate and tenders.
\n
2.In case of the open procedure, the time limits specified in Article 38 of this Law shall apply.
\n
3.In restricted procedures and in negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice according to the provisions of Article 59, the time limit fixed for submission of requests may not be shorter than 37 days, or, in case of urgency, when due to the circumstances outside the contracting authority’s control it is not possible to keep to the time limits fixed in this Law - not shorter than 22 days.
\n
4.In case of restricted procedure or negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice, the time limit for receipt of tenders may be set by mutual agreement between the contracting authority and the selected candidates, provided that all candidates have the same time to prepare and submit their tenders. Where it is not possible to reach agreement on the time limit for receipt of tenders, the contracting authority shall fix a time limit which shall be at least 24 days from the day of dispatch of the invitation to tender or, in case of urgency, when due to the circumstances outside the contracting authority’s control it is not possible to keep to the time limits fixed in this Law - not shorter than 10 days from the date of the invitation to tender.
\n
Article 61Rules Governing Invitations to Tender
\n
The contracting authority shall invite the selected candidates to submit their tenders. The contents of tenders is outlined in Articles 43 and 51, and the time-limits for submission are fixed in Article 23 of this Law.
\n
Article 62Design Contest
\n
Requirements to design contests shall be regulated in Section Five of Chapter II of this Law.
\n
Article 63Preliminary Agreements
\n
1.Subject to the rules outlined in this Law, the contracting authorities may choose to conclude a preliminary agreement.
\n
2.A \"preliminary agreement\" is an agreement between one contracting authority and several suppliers. Under this agreement the contracting authority shall be entitled throughout the period of the agreement to conclude contracts with the supplier or suppliers who offer the best conditions regarding procurement of the whole or a part of the amount of supplies, services or works needed.
\n
3.The contracting authority may consider awarding a preliminary agreement only if one of several of the following circumstances are present:
\n
1)the subject of the contract are consumer goods, not classified as long-term assets, as well as day-to-day services;
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2)the subject of the contract are goods or services the prices and delivery conditions whereof are changing often;
\n
3)the subject of the contract are continuous repair or maintenance woks;
\n
4)where contracting authority should award several identical contracts within 1 year, and the preliminary arrangement would enable reducing the procurement costs.
\n
4.For the purpose of concluding a preliminary agreement, the contracting authority shall follow the rules of procedure referred to in this Law. A preliminary agreement may be awarded only by means of an open procedure or a restricted procedure, and the intention of awarding a preliminary agreement shall be made by means of a contract notice.
\n
5.The minimum number of suppliers with whom the preliminary agreement is signed shall be 3.
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6.No preliminary agreement may be concluded for a period exceeding 4 years.
\n
7.No changes shall be allowed to the preliminary agreement once it is concluded.
\n
8.It is not allowed to conclude a preliminary agreement, if it may result in unjustified impediment of the competition.
\n
9.A preliminary agreement may provide for re-opening of the competition among the suppliers.
\n
10.In cases where a preliminary agreement does not provide for reopening of the competition, the contracting authority shall turn in writing to the supplier, selected according to the rules specified in the preliminary agreement, specify its needs, and request to conclude a supplies, services or works contract according to the rules and conditions outlined in the preliminary agreement.
\n
11.In cases where a preliminary agreement does provide for reopening of the competition, the contracting authority shall:
\n
1)consult in writing each economic entity and invites to submit their tender within specified time limits; the contents of the tenders remain confidential until this time limit has expired;
\n
2)award a contract to the tenderer who has submitted the best tender on the basis of the award criteria set out in the specifications of the preliminary agreement.
\n
CHAPTER IV
\n
SIMPLIFIED PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES SECTION ONE GENERAL PROVISIONS
\n
Article 64Public Contracts subject to this Chapter, and Award Procedures
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1.This Chapter regulates awarding of the following public contracts (hereinafter referred to as simplified procurement procedure):
\n
1)contracts the value whereof is below the international thresholds referred to in Article 10 of this Law;
\n
2)contracts for B type services (Annex 2 to this Law);
\n
3)contracts referred to in Article 8 (13) of this Law.
\n
2.Contracting authorities in the utilities shall award the public contracts referred to in paragraph 1 above according to the procurement rules defined and approved by the contracting authority, provided such rules meet the public procurement principles and objectives set forth in Article 4 of this Law. The contract notices, however, which, according to the approved procedure, are to be published shall be subject to the rules established in Article 67(1,2,3). The contracts shall not be subject to other requirements set forth in Chapter IV of this Law.
\n
Article 65Simplified Procurement Rules and Procedures
\n
1.Simplified procurement shall be conducted by means of the following procedures:
\n
1)simplified open procedure;
\n
2)simplified restricted procedure;
\n
3)simplified negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice;
\n
4)simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice;
\n
5)usual commercial practice.
\n
2.Contracting authorities shall be free to choose between the simplified open and simplified restricted procedures in all cases.
\n
3.A public contract may be awarded by the means of a simplified negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice, provided at least one of the conditions below is present:
\n
1)where the nature and complexity of the procurement object does not allow the contracting authority to described it in a clear and unambiguous manner (i.e., where the contracting authority can specify only the needs to be met by the procurement object, or there is more than one solution to the problems causing the need for supplies, services or works) and resort to the open or restricted procedures;
\n
2)where no tenders or no suitable tenders or no requests to participate were received in response to the open or restricted procedure, provided the initial conditions of contract are not substantially altered.
\n
4.A public contract may be awarded by means of a simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice, provided at least one of the conditions referred to in paragraphs 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 below is present.
\n
5.In case of public supplies, services or works contracts, the simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice may be used:
\n
1)where the procurement procedure failed, since no tenders or no requests to participate have been submitted in response to an open or restricted procedure;
\n
2)where in a simplified open or simplified restricted procedure the tenders submitted are very different, or where tenders submitted are not acceptable for the contracting authority, provided the initial conditions of contract are not substantially altered and all tenderers who meet the minimum qualification requirements set by the contracting authority are invited to the simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice;
\n
3)when, for technical or artistic reasons, or for reasons connected with the protection of exclusive rights, the contract may be awarded only to a particular economic entity, and there is no other alternative;
\n
4)insofar as is strictly necessary when, for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority in question, the time limit for the simplified open, restricted or negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice cannot be complied with, and there is no other alternative. The circumstances invoked to justify extreme urgency must not in any event be attributable to the contracting authority;
\n
5)where supplies, services or works are produced or delivered by the penitentiary institutions founded by the Ministry of Interior or the Ministry of Justice, if over 50% of the employees are inmates, or by undertakings if over 50% of their employees are disabled, or by health care institutions, if at least 50% of the employees are occupational therapy patients, and the contracting authority buys such supplies, services or works from these institutions or undertakings.
\n
6.Supplies or services contracts may be awarded by simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice:
\n
1)where the contracting authority had previous contracts with the same supplier of goods or services and determined, that, from the technical compatibility point of view, it is reasonable to procure the additional supplies or services from the same supplier, provided that such earlier contracts were efficient, that the price and other contract conditions are not substantially altered, and that changing the supplier would result in technical incompatibility, where the new suppliers or services could not be operated together with the previously procured supplies or services, and contracting authority could incur considerable losses. If the price of such additional public supplies or services contracts exceeds 30% of the price in the previous contract, an expert assessment of the technical compatibility of the additionally procured goods or services shall be carries out;
\n
2)where the goods or services are procured abroad for diplomatic representation offices, military envoys and special attachés.
\n
7.In case of the public supply contracts, the simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice may be used:
\n
1)when the products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development, not seeking profit or recovery of research and development costs;
\n
2)for supplies quoted and purchased on a commodity market;
\n
3)when the object of the procurement is museum exhibits, archive or library documents, subscribed papers and magazines;
\n
4)for the purchase of supplies on particularly advantageous terms, from either a supplier who is ceasing to trade on a permanent basis or receivers or liquidates involved in insolvency proceedings;
\n
5)when purchases are made from the State Reserve.
\n
8.The simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice may be used to award public services contracts, if:
\n
1)the public service contract is awarded following the design contest to the successful candidate or to one of the successful candidates; in the latter case, all successful candidates must be invited to participate in the negotiations;
\n
2)the subject of the contract is a licence to use library documents or data (information) bases;
\n
3)the subject of procurement is air transport services.
\n
9.The simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice may be used to procure services and works, where:
\n
1)for additional services or works not included in the project initially considered or in the original contract but which have, through unforeseen circumstances, become necessary for the performance of the services or works described therein, on condition that the award is made to the same supplier performing such services or works under the original contract, and the aggregate value of contracts awarded for additional services or works does not exceed 15% of the amount of the original contract;
\n
2)for new deliveries of services or works by the existing supplier, which are the same as procured under the previous contracts, on the condition that the previous contract was awarded by means of the open or restricted procedure, the contract notice whereof provided for the possibility of such additional contracts and included their value, and are intended for the execution of the same project. The length of such additional contracts may not exceed three years after the first additional contract is concluded.
\n
10.Contracting authorities may resort to the simplified design contest when they are purchasing area planning, architecture, and engineering or data processing services.
\n
11.The usual commercial procedure may be used to award a public contract where at least one of the conditions below is present:
\n
1)the contract value net of VAT is below LTL 75 thousand for supplies and services, or less than LTL 300 thousand for works;
\n
2)where it is not possible to use any other type of simplified procedures without violating the rules thereof due to the extraordinary circumstances, such as accidents, natural disaster, epidemics or similar force major circumstances;
\n
3)where contracts are warded for training services for the contracting authority's civil servants and/or staff employed under the employment contract;
\n
4)goods and services are procured with the funds allocated for representation expenses.
\n
Article 66Principles and Confidentiality in Simplified Procurement Procedures
\n
When awarding public contracts by means of simplified procurement procedures, the contracting authorities shall respect the principles and confidentiality requirements referred to in Articles 4 and 5.
\n
Article 67Advertising Rules in Simplified Procurement Procedures
\n
1.Contracting authorities may publish a prior information notice about all public contracts intended to award by means of simplified procurement procedures within the coming 12 months, if the total accumulated value net of value added tax exceeds LTL 150,000 for supply and services contracts, and LTL 300,000 for works. The contracting authority shall also advertise each individual contract awarded by using the simplified open procedure, the simplified restricted procedure, the simplified negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice or the simplified design contest.
\n
2.Contracting authorities shall publish the relevant notices in the “Informaciniai praneðimai” supplement to the official gazette “Valstybes zinnias”, and on the special internet website. In addition, the notices may be published in any popular international publication.
\n
3.The notices intended for publication, except for those to be published in the publications other than those referred to in Article 19(1), shall be delivered to the Public Procurement Office, which shall be responsible for publication of notices in the manner prescribed by this Law. The notices may not appear on the website before they are published in the “Informaciniai praneðimai” supplement to the official gazette “Valstybės žinios”. The content of the same notice shall be identical everywhere.
\n
4.The Public Procurement Office shall set forth the requirements for prior information notices, also contract notices in simplified open, restricted and negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice, and simplified design contest notices.
\n
5.Contracting authorities shall as soon as possible, but not later than within 3 working days, inform the suppliers concerned about:
\n
1)rejection of their requests or tenders, and the reasons of rejection;
\n
2)preliminary ranking of tenders (if applicable);
\n
3)awarding of the contract, by specifying the successful supplier.
\n
Article 68Simplified Procurement Commission
\n
Except where the contracts are awarded following the rules of the usual commercial practice, a public procurement commission shall be formed to conduct the simplified procedures. Formation, activity and responsibility of such commission are established in Article 13.
\n
Article 69Simplified Procurement Contract Documents and Technical Specification
\n
Unless provided otherwise under this Chapter, the requirements to contract documents and technical specifications in simplified procedures are set forth in Articles 20 and 21 of this Law.
\n
Article 70Providing with Simplified Procurement Contract Documents
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1.Contract documents shall be provided to the suppliers from the date on which invitation to tender was published or dispatched to the suppliers until the final date for the receipt of tenders fixed in the contract documents. Contract documents shall be provided to any supplier who filed a request to participate or any candidate who is invited within 3 working days after the receipt of their request.
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2.Contract documents, including invitations to tender, notices, explanations, additional or other documents shall be delivered to the suppliers in person, sent by registered mail, or by registered mail and by fax. Where contracting documents are sent by mail, the date of submission shall be the date of dispatch.
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3.Contracting authorities may choose to place the contract documents on a website, too. In such event the website address must be specified in the contract notice. Contract documents may not be placed on the website before the contract notice is published in the information supplement to the official gazette “Valstybës žinios”. If a contracting authority chooses to place the contract documents on the website, it shall forward the printed copies of the documents to any supplier who requests so.
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4.The contracting authority may charge all suppliers a single rate fee for the contract documents which shall consist of the actual costs of copying and sending of the documents to the suppliers. An additional fee may be charged for translation of documents into a foreign language; this fee shall consist of the translation costs.
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Article 71Clarification of Simplified Procurement Contract Documents
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1.Candidates may request a clarification of the contract documents from the contracting authority. The contracting authority shall respond to any written request by a candidate for clarification of the contract documents provided it is received not later than 6 working days before the final date fixed for the receipt of tenders. The contracting authority must respond to the request not later than within 3 days from the date of receipt of the request. When responding to a candidate, the contracting authority shall simultaneously send explanations to all candidates to whom it has presented contract documents, without identifying the source of the request. The response should be communicated to the candidates so that they receive it not later than 3 days before the final date fixed for the receipt of tenders.
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2.At any time prior to the deadline for receipt of tenders, the contracting authority may explain the contract documents on its own initiative. The clarification, however, may not have an effect of changing the information advertised, and must be communicated to all candidates to which the contracting authority has provided the contract documents not later than 3 days before the final date fixed for the receipt of tenders.
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3.If the contracting authority convenes a meeting of candidates, it must prepare minutes of the meeting containing the requests submitted at the meeting for clarification of the contract documents, and its responses to those requests. Minutes must be dispatched to all candidates taking part in the procurement procedures so that they receive it not later than 3 days before the final date fixed for the receipt of tenders.
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4.If the contracting authority can not provide clarification of the contract documents or dispatch such clarifications or minutes of the meeting of candidates so that they are received not later than 3 days before the final date fixed for the receipt of tenders, it must postpone the time limit fixed for the receipt of tenders for a reasonable period enabling the candidates to take the clarification or minutes of the meetings into account in preparing their tenders.
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5.Notices of the postponement of the final date fixed for the receipt of tenders must be dispatched to all candidates to whom the contract documents have been presented.
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Article 72Qualification of Candidates for Low Value Contracts
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Contracting authority must verify whether the candidates in the simplified procedure for the award of a public contract is capable of fulfilling the contract. The verification procedure to be followed is described in this Law, Articles 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32.
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Article 73Validity of Tenders in Simplified Procurement Procedures
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1.Contracting authority shall specify the requested period of validity in the contract documents. Such period may not exceed 90 days from the final date set for receipt of tenders. In the event the procurement procedure is suspended, the period of validity shall be extended for the period of extension.
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2.In the contract documents, contracting authorities shall request the suppliers to specify the period of validity in their tenders, which may not be shorter than requested by the contracting authority. Where the period of validity is not specified in the tender, it shall be deemed to be valid for the time period fixed in the contract documents.
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3.The period of validity of tenders may be extended before it expires. The period may be extended by the participants of the procedure at the contracting authority’s request. In its request to extend the period of validity, the contracting authority shall specify the new period for the validity of tenders and the date until which candidates must communicate either their acceptance or refusal to extend the period of validity. If the candidate accepts to prolong the period of validity, he shall communicate his acceptance to the contracting authority and confirm the prolongation of the validity period, or provide a new security of the validity of tender, if such security has been requested. If a supplier fails to respond to the request of a contracting authority to extend the period of effectiveness of tenders or fails to extend the period of tender security or to provide new tender security until the date specified, it shall be deemed that such supplier has rejected the request and withdrawn his tender. If the supplier has withdrawn the tender under the above circumstances, he shall not loose the tender security.
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Article 74Preparing, Submitting, Amending and Withdrawing Tenders in the Simplified Procurement Procedure
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1.In the contract documents, the contracting authority must request the candidates to submit their tenders in sealed and stamped envelopes, with the name of the procedure, name of the candidate and address written on them. If the contracting authority intends to choose the most economically advantageous tender, in the contract documents it shall request the suppliers to submit two sealed and stamped envelopes: one with the price offer, the other with the remaining parts of the tender (technical data and other information or documents). The two envelopes shall be put into another sealed and stamped envelope. The tenders (with supplements) must be numbered and bound so that it is not possible to remove, insert or change pages without injuring the binding. The requirement to submit the tender or its parts in envelopes shall not apply if the contracting authority accepts tenders submitted by electronic means. The tenders shall be endorsed by the candidate’s signature. The contract documents may also impose other requirements to prove the authenticity of tenders.
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2.The tenders may be submitted by electronic means only on the condition that:
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1)the electronic means employed allow ensuring that neither the contracting authority or other suppliers could access the contents of the tenders until the period fixed for receipt of tenders expires;
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2)the tender contains all information requested in the contract documents;
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3)upon submission of the tender by electronic means, the supplier immediately forwards a confirmation of the tender by non-electronic means, or provides he contracting authority, by non-electronic means, with a certified copy of the tender. If the tender submitted by electronic means does not correspond to the approved copy of the tender submitted by electronic means, the approved copy of the tender submitted otherwise than by electronic means shall be deemed authentic.
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3.The candidates shall submit their tenders before the period for the receipt of tenders expires (day and time). Contracting authorities shall register the tenders received after the deadline for submission, and send them back to the candidates unopened.
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4.The deadline fixed for receipt of tenders must be sufficiently long to allow drawing up and submitting tenders. When fixing such deadline, the contracting authority must take into account the complexity of the contract and the actual time necessary for drawing up the tenders.
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5.The deadline fixed for receipt of tenders may not have the effect of an artificial restriction on suppliers to take part in the procedure, or to create favourable conditions to some specific suppliers.
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6.Where a supplier requested the contract documents or any part thereof in due time, and the contracting authority failed, for any reason, to provide these within the set time limits, or where tenders can be drawn up only after a meeting with the contracting authority or a visit to the site to inspect performance or delivery conditions, and such meeting or visit originally was not planned, the contracting authority shall extend the time limits for the receipt of tenders for as many days as the contracting authority delayed the supply with contract documents, or so that all suppliers concerned may be aware of all the new information needed to produce a tender.
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7.Tenders may be submitted by individual economic entities as well as by groups of economic entities. These groups may not be required to assume a specific legal form in order to submit the tender; however, the contracting authority shall have no right to request that the group selected does establish a legal person, with whom the contracting authority shall sign the contract.
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8.If requested by a supplier, the contracting authority shall produce a confirmation of the receipt of the tender, by specifying the date and time of the receipt.
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9.Before the time limit for the receipt of tenders expires, a participant of the procedure may modify or withdraw its tender without loosing the tender security.
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Article 75Tender Security and Security for the Performance of the Contract
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Contracting authorities may request that the validity of tender is secured, and must request that the performance of the contract be secured by the candidates. Requirements on security of tenders and contracts are outlined in Article 25 of this Law.
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Article 76Opening Tenders; Analysis and Evaluation of Tenders in Simplified Procurement Procedures
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1.Opening of tenders shall be subject to Article 26 of this Law.
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2.Assessment of tenders shall be subject to the provisions of Articles 33 and 34 of this Law.
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3.Tenders shall be compared and evaluated in Litas. Where the contracting authority allows price quotations in foreign currency, the prices offered in such tenders shall be converted into Litas using the official rates of exchange fixed and published by the Bank of Lithuania on the last day of the time period fixed for receipt of tenders.
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4.Not later than 10 days before deciding on the successful tender, the contracting authority shall make a list of preliminary ranking of tenders to be communicated to all candidates and participants. This requirement shall not apply in the simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice, where only one candidate is invited to negotiate or where the contract is awarded following any other procedure and only one supplier submits a tender.
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5.The contracting authority shall decide on the successful tender only after all complaints and claims from suppliers are settled.
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Article 77Termination of the Simplified Procurement Procedures
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At any time before the award of the contract, contracting authorities shall have the right to terminate the simplified procurement procedure should the supplies, services or works become no longer needed, or there is no funds to pay for them, or major mistakes have been detected in the procedure, or for any other reason specified in this Law. The consent of the Public Procurement Office shall not be needed for terminating procurement procedures carried out following the usual commercial practice.
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SECTION TWO SIMPLIFIED OPEN PROCEDURE
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Article 78Contract Documents in Simplified Open Procedure
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Contracting authorities shall provide contract documents to all candidates who filed their requests to participate in the simplified open procedure. The contract documents shall specify the following information:
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1)instructions for preparing and submitting tenders (time limits, place and means of submission);
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2)the period of validity of tenders;
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3)identification of supplies, services or works, requirements for their technical, aesthetic, functional characteristics and quality, plans, drawings and projects, amounts, the nature of services accidental to the supplies procured, terms of delivery or completion, running costs and other information describing the procurement object according to the requirements in Article 21 of this Law;
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4)information whether the tenders for lots are allowed; description of the lots;
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5)information if variants are allowed;
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6)information how to determine and express the price in the tenders; the price must include all expenses and taxes;
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7)requirements on qualification of suppliers;
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8)documents and information to be provided by suppliers to prove their qualification and meeting the requirements;
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9)the place, date and time for the opening of envelopes;
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10)procedure for opening envelopes and examining tenders;
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11)information about the currency in which prices should be quoted;
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12)tender evaluation criteria and their relative weight in the total score, rules and procedures of evaluation;
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13)terms and conditions of the contract offered to the parties for signing by the contracting authority, or a draft contract;
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14)requirements for tender security and security for the performance of the procurement contract;
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15)the means by which the candidates may seek clarification of the contract documents;
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16)procedure for the modification or withdrawal of tenders;
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17)full names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers of the officers and employees of the contracting authority who are authorised to communicate directly with and to receive communications directly from suppliers in connection with the procurement procedure, without the intervention of an intermediary;
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18)reference to PINs published in the information supplement to the official gazette “Valstybes zinios” and/or any contract notice published in the specialised or international publication;
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19)in the event the contracting authority reserves the right to terminate the simplified open procedure before the preliminary ranking of tenders is approved and proceed with simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice - information about such right.
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Article 79Time Limits for Receipt of Tenders in Simplified Open Procedure
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The contracting authority shall fix a period for receipt of tenders of at least 14 days for public supplies and services contracts, and at least 21 day for public works contracts.
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Article 80Failure of the Simplified Open Procedure
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The simplified open procedure shall be deemed failed, if:
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1)no tenders were received;
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2)all suppliers failed to meet the minimum qualification requirements;
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3)all tenders failed to meet the requirements set forth in the contract documents;
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4)contracting authority terminated the procedure for reasons specified in Article 77 of this Law.
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Article 81Negotiations in Simplified Open Procedure
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1.In the simplified open procedure, contracting authorities may not negotiate with suppliers the terms and conditions of the contract or tenders.
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2.In the event the contracting authority receives very different tenders, it shall have the right to terminate, having notified all participants before the preliminary ranking of tenders, the open procedure and proceed with the simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice, to which all participants of the simplified open procedure who meet the minimum qualification requirements laid down by the contracting authority shall be invited. The contract conditions in such cases may not be substantially altered.
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SECTION THREE SIMPLIFIED RESTRICTED PROCEDURE
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Article 82Advertising and Carrying out Simplified Restricted Procedure
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Simplified restricted procedure shall be carried out in two phases:
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1)by means of a contract notice, suppliers are invited to submit their requests to participate in the simplified restricted procedure, and to provide information about their qualification;
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2)candidates selected by the contracting authority are invited to submit their tenders.
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Article 83Contract Documents in Simplified Restricted Procedure
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1.In addition to the information listed in Article 78 of this Law, the contract documents in the simplified restricted procedure shall contain the following:
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1)requirements for drawing up and submission of requests to participate (time limits, place and manner of submission);
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2)criteria and procedure for evaluation of the candidates’ qualification;
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3)the minimum number of candidates to be invited by the contracting authority to submit their tenders.
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2.The documents of the simplified restricted procedure containing information about the qualification requirements for candidates, verification of qualification, evaluation, receipt of tenders, etc. shall be provided by the contracting authority in the first phase of the procedure.
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Article 84Requests to Participate
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1.When drawing up and submitting requests to participate in the simplified restricted procedure, the suppliers shall follow the contract documents (i.e., the part of the contract documents specifying qualification requirements for suppliers and the rules of filing the requests to participate).
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2.The time limit fixed for the receipt of requests to participate in the simplified restricted procedure shall be at least 7 days after the date of publishing the contract notice.
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Article 85Verification and Assessment of Candidates Qualification
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1.Contracting authority shall verify the compliance of the candidates to the minimum qualification requirements according to Articles 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32 of this Law.
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2.When selecting candidates for further tendering, contracting authority shall follow the criteria and procedures outlined in the contract documents and assess the qualification of all candidates meeting the minimum qualification requirements. The contracting authority may not select fewer candidates than the minimum number of candidates specified in the contract notice. The minimum number of candidates that the contracting authority may specify in the contract notice is 5. Where the number of interested suppliers or suppliers remaining after qualification procedure is less than indicated, the contracting authority shall ask all the remaining candidates to submit their tenders.
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Article 86Invitation to Submit Tenders
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1.The contracting authority shall send the remaining contract documents and the invitation to submit tenders to the candidates selected according to the rules referred to in Article 85 of this Law.
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2.The contracting authority shall fix a period for receipt of tenders of at least 14 days for public supplies and services contracts, and at least 21 day for public works contracts.
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Article 87Failure of the Simplified Restricted Procedure
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The simplified restricted procedure shall be deemed failed, if:
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1)no requests to participate were received;
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2)no tenders were received;
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3)all suppliers failed to meet the minimum qualification requirements;
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4)all tenders were rejected;
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5)contracting authority terminated the procedure on the grounds referred to in Article 77 of this Law.
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Article 88Negotiations in Simplified Restricted Procedure
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1.In the simplified restricted procedure, contracting authorities may not negotiate with suppliers the terms and conditions of the contract or tenders.
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2.In the event the contracting authority receives very different tenders, it shall have the right to terminate, having notified all participants before the preliminary ranking of tenders, the restricted procedure and proceed with the simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice, to which all participants of the simplified restricted procedure who meet the minimum qualification requirements set by the contracting authority shall be invited. In such case, the contract conditions shall not be substantially altered.
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SECTION FOUR SIMPLIFIED NEGOTIATED PROCEDURES WITH OR WITHOUT PUBLICATION OF A CONTRACT NOTICE
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Article 89Advertising of the Simplified Negotiated Procedure
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1.In the simplified negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice, the contract notice shall be published following the rules set forth in Article 67 of this Law.
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2.The contracting authority shall inform the candidates in writing about the simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice.
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Article 90Documents of the Simplified Negotiated Procedure
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1.The documents of the simplified negotiated procedure shall include the information specified in Article 78 of this Law. In addition, the contracting authority shall specify the date and time of negotiations, and other necessary information.
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2.In the event of the simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice, where only one supplier is invited to negotiate, the contracting authority may choose to provide only parts of the information referred to in this Article, paragraph 1, if it deems that the remaining information is not necessary.
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3.Where the simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice is chosen on the grounds referred to in Articles 81 and 88 of this Law, the contract documents of the simplified negotiated procedure shall be the contract documents of the previous simplified open or restricted procedures, to the extent they do not prejudice the subject matter of negotiations.
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Article 91Time Limits for the Receipt of Tenders in Case of Simplified Negotiated Procedure
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1.In case of the simplified negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice, the contracting authority shall fix a period for submission of initial tenders of at least 14 days after publication of a contract notice for public supply and services contracts, and at least 21 day for public works contracts. This restriction shall not apply in case of the negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice, where only one supplier is invited to negotiate, or when the contract is awarded under the circumstances referred to in item 4 of par. 5 in Article 65(5) subparagraph 4.
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2.Where the simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice is chosen on the grounds referred to in Articles 81 and 88 of this Law, the time limit for the receipt of tenders shall not be fixed, and all tenders of the suppliers meeting the minimum qualification requirements shall be the initial tenders for the simplified negotiated procedure.
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Article 92Verifying Qualification of Participants and Invitation to Negotiate
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1.Contracting authority shall verify the compliance of the candidates to the minimum qualification requirements fixed in the simplified negotiated procedure documents according to Articles 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32 of this Law.
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2.The contracting authority shall invite for negotiations the suppliers who meet the minimum qualification requirements and whose initial tenders meet the fixed requirements, unless simplified negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice is chosen in the cases specified in Articles 81 and 88 of this Law.
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Article 93Negotiations with Selected Candidates
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1.The procurement commission shall have the right to negotiate the price, specifications of the products, services or works, and any other conditions of the tender.
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2.During the negotiations, the following rules shall apply:
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1)parties of negotiations shall not disclose any technical, commercial or price-related information to any third party;
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2)the same requirements shall apply to all participants of the simplified negotiated procedure; all participants shall be provided the same conditions;
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3)the procedure of negotiations hall be recorded in the minutes, to be signed by the chairperson of he Procurement Commission and representatives of the supplier (candidate) who participated in the negotiations;
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4)the candidate who refuses to participate in the negotiated procedure shall loose the security of tender if candidates were requested to secure the validity of tender.
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Article 94Final Tenders and their Evaluation in the Simplified Negotiated Procedure
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1.The final tenders in the simplified negotiate procedure shall be the minutes of negotiations signed by the two parties, as well as the initial tenders of suppliers, to the extent that they have not been changed during the process of negotiations.
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2.Analysis, evaluation and comparison of final tenders in the simplified negotiated procedure shall be subject to Article 76 of this Law.
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Article 95Failure of the Simplified Negotiated Procedure
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The simplified negotiated procedure shall be deemed failed, if:
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1)no tenders were received;
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2)all suppliers failed to meet the minimum qualification requirements;
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3)all tenders failed to meet the requirements set forth in the contract documents;
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4)contracting authority terminated the negotiations on the grounds referred to in Article 77 of this Law.
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SECTION FIVE SIMPLIFIED DESIGN CONTEST
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Article 96Conditions for the Design Contest
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Simplified design contest shall be used when awarding public service contracts in the fields of area planning, architecture, engineering, data processing or services of a similar character.
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Article 97Conducting Simplified Design Contest
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1.The simplified design contest shall be advertised following the provisions of Article 67 of this Law.
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2.The simplified design contest may used to select a supplier/suppliers who submitted the best plan or design (usually for area planning, architecture and engineering or data processing) in order to achieve one of the objectives below:
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1)to award the public services contract to the successful candidate;
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2)to award prizes or otherwise remunerate the successful candidate, successful candidates or participants of the design contest; in such case the contracting authority may proceed with the negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice, by inviting the successful candidate or all successful candidates to negotiate.
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3.Both the legal and natural persons and groups of such persons shall be entitled to take part in the simplified design contest.
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4.Participation in the design contest may not be restricted on the geographical or any other grounds of discriminating nature.
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5.The final time limit for receipt of tenders fixed in the contract documents shall be at least 28 days after publishing the contract notice.
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6.The contracting authority may decide to conduct a pre-qualification selection of candidates before inviting them to submit their projects and drawings. In such case the qualification criteria set forth by the contracting authority in the contract documents shall be non-discriminatory and ensure genuine competition.
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7.The Government of the Republic of Lithuania or an institution authorised by it shall approve the rules for conducting simplified design contest.
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Article 98The Jury in the Simplified Design Contest
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1.Drawings and projects submitted by the participants shall be evaluated by the jury formed by the contracting authority or an authorised body, to which the contracting authority shall give all the powers necessary to evaluate the drawings or plans and to determine the successful candidate. The jury shall be composed exclusively of natural persons who are independent of participants in the contest. Where a particular professional qualification is required from participants in a simplified design contest, at least a third of the members of the jury shall have that or similar qualification.
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2.The jury shall be autonomous in its decisions or opinions. The jury shall evaluate anonymous drawings or sketches (the jury may find out the name of the tenderer only after the jury has taken a decision as regards the best design or project).
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3.The evaluation of the drawings and projects submitted by the candidates shall be based only on the criteria set forth in the contract documents, and these criteria may not necessarily be that of economic advantage or the lowest price.
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4.Decisions shall be reached only in the meetings of the jury. The proceedings of the jury shall be entered into minutes.
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SECTION SIX USUAL COMMERCIAL PRACTICE
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Article 99Simplified Procurement by Means of the Usual Commercial Procedure
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1.Procurement by means of usual commercial practice shall be conducted by the public servants or employees appointed by the management of the contracting authority who must be of impeccable reputation, have signed a declaration of impartiality and a statement of confidentially or the commission specified in Article 68 of this Law shall. The procurement shall be conducted according to the procurement rules approved by the contracting authority. Procurement by means of usual commercial practice shall not be subject to the requirements set forth in this Law, Article 15, paragraphs 1 through 5, Article 67, paragraphs 69 through 76.
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2.The decision to award the contract shall be subject to approval by the head of the administration of the contracting authority, or a public servant or employee authorised by him.
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3.Procurement by means of usual commercial practice shall be conducted following the principles and objectives of procurement specified in Article 4 of this Law. Public supplies, services or works contracts shall be awarded to those tenderers, who offered the lowest price or the highest economic advantage. The contracting authority shall keep the information about price quotations from the suppliers, and provide it to the supervising authorities if requested.
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4.Procurement contracts the value of which is below LTL 10 000 may be concluded verbally.
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5, The Public Procurement Office shall have the right to establish additional requirements for the use of the usual commercial practice.
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CHAPTER V
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REVIEWING COMPLAINTS AND CLAIMS, RECONCILIATION, ATTESTATION, PAYMENT FOR DAMAGES
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Article 100The Right to File a Claim or Lodge a Complaint about the Actions or Decisions of a Contracting Authority
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Every supplier who has an interest in procurement and believes that the contracting authority has not complied with the requirements of this Law and violated or will violate his lawful interests, shall have the right to file a claim or lodge a complaint about the actions or decisions of the contacting authority in the manner and within time limits set forth in Articles 101-103 of this Law or file an application for reconciliation, prior to the adoption by the Commission of the decision on the successful tender.
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Article 101Procedure and Time Limits for Filing and Review of Claims
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1.Claims shall be filed with the contracting authority in writing within 5 days from the day the supplier became aware or should have become aware of the violation of his lawful interests.
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2.The contracting authority shall review only those claims which have been received before the adoption by the Commission of the decision on the successful tender.
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3.Upon receiving the supplier’s written claim, the contracting authority shall suspend procurement procedures until the claims are fully examined and a decision is taken. Procurement procedures shall not be suspended upon receipt of the authorisation of the Public Procurement Office if, upon suspension of the procurement procedure, the supplier would sustain much heavier losses than those which could be sustained by the supplier who filed the claim.
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4.The contracting authority must extend the time limits of procurement procedures for the period of suspension of procurement procedures. After a decision on the claim is taken the procurement procedures shall be continued. In case the time limits of procurement procedures notified to the suppliers are changed due to consideration of claims, the contracting authority shall dispatch to suppliers a notice to the effect, indicating the reasons for the extension of time limits.
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5.The contracting authority must examine the claims and take a justified decision within 5 days of the receipt of the claim as well as notifying the supplier who filed the claim of the taken decision not later than on the next working day.
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6.If the contracting authority fails to examine the claims within the time limit specified in paragraph 5 hereof, or rejects the claims, the supplier may file a complaint with the court.
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Article 102Procedure for Filing Complaints
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1.The supplier shall have the right to file a complaint with the court without filing a claim with the contracting authority.
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2.The claim to the general court shall be filed following the procedures established by the relevant laws.
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3.The general court shall investigate the complaint following the procedures set forth in the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania.
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4.If the procurement procedure is suspended by the court, the contracting authority must extend the time limits of procurement procedures for the period the procedures are suspended. If the time limits of procurement procedures of which the suppliers were earlier notified are extended by reason of the complaint examination, the contracting authority shall send a notice to the effect to other suppliers and specify the reasons for the extension of the time limits.
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Article 103Compensation for Damages
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If the contracting authority or the supplier fails to discharge its obligation under this or other Laws or discharges them improperly, or performs acts prohibited by this Law, then the injured party shall have the right to claim the damages in court.
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Article 104Reviewing Complaints Regarding Violation of the EU Legislation
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1.Having received an official letter from the EU Commission about the review of the infringement, the contracting authority shall immediately, but not later than within 3 working days, provide the Public Procurement Office with all information relevant to the contract concerned.
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2.Having received an official letter from the EU Commission about the review of the infringement, the Public Procurement Office shall provide the EU Commission within 21 days, where the letter refers to procurement regulated under Chapter II or within 30 days, where the letter refers to procurement regulated under Chapter III of this Law, with the following:
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1)a confirmation that the infringement has been removed;
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2)a grounded explanation of failure to remove the infringement, if the removal of the infringement is refused;
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3)information about the suspension of the procurement procedure, if the Public procurement Office, the court or any other authorised institution makes a decision to suspend it.
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3.Having received an official letter from the EU Commission about the review of the infringement, the Public Procurement Office shall be entitled to file a claim with the court, if it thinks that the contracting authority violated provisions of this Law and failed to remove the violation.
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Article 105Reconciliation
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1.Every candidate or participant who believes that the contracting authority has not complied with the requirements of this Law and violated or will violate his lawful interests, shall have the right to approach, prior to the adoption of the decision on the successful tender, the EU Commission and request reconciliation. The request for reconciliation may also be filed with the Public Procurement Office, which will forward this request to the EU Commission without delay.
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2.Upon receipt of the proposal to reconcile, the contracting authority must immediately communicate its reply to the EU Commission and, if affirmative, inform about the contract award procedure undertaken and the actions that could results in damaging the interests of candidates or tenderers.
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3.The candidate or tenderer and the contracting authority involved in the reconciliation procedure shall approve of the arbiter appointed by the EU Commission and shall additionally appoint one arbiter each. Each arbiter shall be entitled to select two experts. The parties to the reconciliation procedure shall have the right to suspend any expert selected by the arbiter 4. The tenderer and the contracting authority involved in the reconciliation procedure, as well as other candidates or tenderers taking part in the procurement procedures may present their explanations, claims, demands or other statements to the arbiters both in writing, and verbally.
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5.Unless the parties of the reconciliation procedure agree otherwise, the participation costs shall be borne by the candidate or tenderer who applied for reconciliation and the contracting authority, in addition, they shall each bear half of the costs of the procedure, excluding the costs of the intervening parties.
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6.Both parties of the reconciliation procedure may request the termination of the reconciliation procedure at any time.
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7.Where, during the reconciliation procedure, an interested person other than the person requesting the reconciliation procedure, is pursuing judicial review proceedings, the contracting authority shall notify the EU Commission thereof. The EU Commission shall inform that person that a request has been made to apply the reconciliation procedure and shall invite that person to indicate within a given time limit whether he agrees to participate in that procedure.
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8.Actions taken during the reconciliation procedure shall be without prejudice to any action taken under Article 104 of this Law regarding investigation of infringement of the EU legislation or to the rights of the candidate or tenderer requesting the reconciliation procedure, of the contracting authority or of any other person.
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Article 106Attestation
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1.Contracting authorities operating in water, energy, transport and telecommunication sectors may submit its procurement procedures to an independent assessor for assessment as to whether these procedures comply with the procurement Directives and Regulations of European Communities and this Law.
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2.The costs of assessment are to be born by the contracting authority.
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3.The Government of the Republic of Lithuania or the institution authorised by it shall approve the rules for conducting attestation of procurement procedures conducted by contracting authorities operating in water, energy, transport and telecommunication sectors and requirements for independent experts.
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Article 107Supervision of Public Procurement, Liability of the Executives or other Authorised Persons of the Contracting Authority
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1.The public procurement shall be supervised by the Public Procurement Office and the authorised state institutions within the limits of their competence.
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2.The bodies supervising public procurement shall have the right to observe all contract award procedures and, in case of necessity, to video tape the meeting of the Procurement Commission and other contract award procedures.
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3.The executives or other authorised persons of the contracting authority (procurement commission members and experts) who violate this Law shall be held liable in accordance with the procedure established by law.”
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I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
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PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC ALGIRDAS BRAZAUSKAS ANNEX I to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania No. I-1491, 13 August 1996 NACE CODES
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Section F
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Construction 45 Construction 45.1 Site preparation 45.11 Demolition and wrecking of buildings, earth moving 45.12 Test drilling and boring 45.2 Building of complete constructions or part thereof, civil engineering 45.21 General construction of buildings and civil engineering works 45.22 Erection of roof covering and frames 45.23 Construction of highways, roads, airfields and sport facilities 45.24 Construction of water projects 45.25 Other construction work involving special traders 45.3 Building installation 45.31 Installation of electrical wiring and fittings 45.32 Insulation work activities 45.33 Plumbing 45.34 Other building installation 45.4 Building completion 45.41 Plastering 45.42 Joinery installation 45.43 Floor and wall covering 45.44 Painting and glazing 45.45 Other building completion 45.5 Renting of construction or demolition equipment (with operator) 45.50 Renting of construction or demolition equipment (with operator) The NACE classifier codes prepared by the Department of Statistics under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania according to Nomenclatures des Activities de Communite Europeene -NACE rev. 1, 1995.\"
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ANNEX II to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania No. I-1491, 13 August 1996 SERVICES A SERVICES Categories Service Reference to Central Product Classification CPC 1 Maintenance and repair services 6122, 633, 886 2 Land transport services1), including armoured car services and courier services, except mail transportation by land services 712 (except 71235), 7512, 87304 3 Passenger and freight transportation by air services, except mail transportation by air services 73 (except 7321) 4 Mail transportation by air and land1) services 71235, 7321 5 Telecommunications services2) 752 6 Financial services:
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a)insurance,
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b)banking and investment3) former 81, 812, 814 7 Computer and related services 84 8 Research and development services4) 85 9 Accounting, auditing and book-keeping services 862 10 Market research and public opinion polling services 864 11 Management consulting5) and related services.
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865, 866 12 Architectural services: engineering and integrated engineering services; urban planning and landscape architectural services; engineering related scientific and technical consulting services; technical testing and analysis services 867 13 Advertising services 871 14 Building cleaning and residential property management services on a fee or contract basis 874 82201-82206 15 Publishing and printing on a fee or contract basis 88442 16 sewage and refuse disposal; sanitation and other similar services 94
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1)Except transport services by rail.
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2)Except voice telephony, radio telephony, telex, and satellite connection services.
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3)Except financial services related to issuing, sale, acquisition or transfer of securities or other financial instruments and central bank services.
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4)Except contracts for research or development services, which however are not to the advantage of only the purchasing organisation and which are paid for by the purchasing organisation.
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5)Except arbitration and reconciliation services.
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B SERVICES Categories SERVICES Reference to the Central Product Classifier CPC 17 Hotel and restaurant services 64 18 Transport services by rail 711 19 Water transport services 72 20 Supporting and auxiliary transport services 74 21 Legal services 861 22 Placement and supply services of personnel 872 23 Investigation and security services, except armoured carrier services 873 (except for 87304 24 Education and vocational training services 92 25 Health and social services 93 26 Recreational, cultural and sporting services 96 27 other services ANNEX to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania No. I-1491, 13 August 1996 HARMONISATION OF THE LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA ON PUBLIC PROCUREMENT WITH LEGAL ACTS OF THE EU The Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Public Procurement has been harmonised with the following legal acts of the EU:
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1)Council Directive 92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992 relating to the co-ordination of procedures for the award of public service contracts;
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2)Council Directive 93/36/EEC of 14 June 1993 co-ordinating procedures for the award of public supply contracts;
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3)COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 93/37/EEC of 14 June 1993 concerning the co-ordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts;
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4)European Parliament and Council Directive 97/52/EC of 13 October 1997 amending Directives 92/50/EEC, 93/36/EEC and 93/37/EEC concerning the co-ordination of procedures for the award of public service contracts, public supply contracts and public works contracts respectively;
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5)Council Directive 93/38/EEC of 14 June 1993 co-ordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors;
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6)Directive 98/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 amending Directive 93/38/EEC co-ordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors;
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7)COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 21 December 1989 on the co-ordination of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the application of review procedures to the award of public supply and public works contracts (89/665/EEC);
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8)Council Directive 92/13/EEC of 25 February 1992 co-ordinating the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the application of Community rules on the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors;
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9)Commission Directive 2001/78/EC of 13 September 2001 amending Annex IV to Council Directive 93/36/EEC, Annexes IV, V and VI to Council Directive 93/37/EEC, Annexes III and IV to Council Directive 92/50/EEC, as amended by Directive 97/52/EC, and Annexes XII to XV, XVII and XVIII to Council Directive 93/38/EEC, as amended by Directive 98/4/EC (Directive on the use of standard forms in the publication of public contract notices) (Text with EEA relevance).
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1)Except transport services by rail.
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2)Except voice telephony, radio telephony, telex, and satellite connection services.
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3)Except financial services related to issuing, sale, acquisition or transfer of securities or other financial instruments and central bank services.
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4)Except contracts for research or development services, which however are not to the advantage of only the purchasing organisation and which are paid for by the purchasing organisation.
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5)Except arbitration and reconciliation services.