Decision No D.397/33/2025 by the Public Procurement Arbitration Board

Following the termination of its public procurement contract concluded under Part 2 of its public procurement procedure titled “Extension and renovation of kindergartens and a nursery in Szigetvár”, the Szigetvár Municipality launched a new procedure titled “Renovation of Napsugár Kindergarten and Nursery” to ensure the implementation of the construction project. Based on an ex officio initiative submitted by the Integrity Authority against the new public procurement procedure, the Public Procurement Arbitration Board (hereinafter: PPAB) found that the contracting authority, the successful tenderer and another tenderer had all committed infringements and imposed fines on them.

The PPAB found that despite the termination of the previous public procurement contract, the contracting authority had still not performed the necessary surveys and had again failed to prepare the technical documentation for the public procurement procedure in an adequate manner.  The PPAB also found that Contract Amendments 2 and 3 to the public procurement contract, based on Section 141(4)(c) of Act CXLIII of 2015 on public procurement (hereinafter: PPA), were unlawful, as inadequate preparation cannot justify unforeseeable circumstances and subsequent contract modifications.

Based on the cumulative examination of the evidence, the circumstances surrounding the submission of tenders, the tendering declarations and tender metadata, the PPAB concluded that the tenderers had not acted independently of one another, thereby violating fair competition required under Section 2(1) of the PPA. Consequently, the contracting authority should have declared the tenders invalid and the public procurement procedure unsuccessful.

A request for judicial review has been submitted against Decision NoD. 397/33/2025 of the PPAB.