Authorities failing to select competitive bids in public sector

The state budget may be losing millions of złoty each year, because authorities are failing to select the most competitive bids made in public tenders, claims Rzeczpospolita, citing examples of such tenders. The newspaper states that the army overpaid around zł. 500,000 in a tender for delivery of aviation oil, by setting specifications which are only met by Aeroshell Fluid 41 oil. Two other, cheaper products, both NATO-approved, do not meet these requirements. In another example of extravagant public spending, the Health Ministry paid zł. 41,000 for each of the 60 defibrillators it purchased. Meanwhile, Rzeczpospolita claims that equipment of this standard should cost no more than zł.37,000 per unit, with even cheaper defibrillators costing zł.32,000 are good enough to meet the tender requirements. The number and value of public tenders is steadily growing - the total value of tenders conducted in 1997 was zł.13.6 billion, while last year it was zł.35 billion. However, the number of appeals from tender decisions to the president of the Public Commissions Office has also rose rapidly - 350 in 1995 to 2000 last year. (Rzeczpospolita, Aug. 9-10, p.A1, B1) A.Z.