CEC'S DECISION ON MOST FAVOURABLE BIDDER SCANDALOUS AND UNLAWFUL, POSSIBLE APPEAL

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 19 /SRNA/ – The decision of the Central Election Commission /CEC/ of BiH on selecting the most favourable bidder for procuring equipment for a biometric voter identification system and ballot scanning at polling stations is scandalous, unfounded, and unlawful, the Banja Luka-based company Planet Soft announced.

The company is the lead member of the consortium that submitted the most favourable bid in this public procurement procedure.

The Banja Luka-based company stated that the consortium headed by Planet Soft met all the requirements set out in the procurement process, which was demonstrated throughout the procedure up to today’s decision by the CEC BiH.

As they noted, the consortium submitted the most favourable bid, cheaper by BAM 17 million compared to the second-ranked bidder.

"There is no justified or lawful reason for rejecting our bid, just as there is absolutely no basis for accepting the bid of the next bidder, which was selected as the most favourable by the above-mentioned decision," the statement added.

Planet Soft emphasized that it has not yet received the written CEC BiH decision with an explanation, but that it will use all legal remedies to establish the facts and the truth in this procedure, including the right to appeal, and will inform the public about the unlawful conduct of the CEC BiH.

The CEC decided today to award the contract, worth BAM 74.5 million excluding VAT, to a consortium headed by Smartmatik BiH for the procurement of equipment for biometric voter identification and ballot scanning.

The decision was opposed by CEC member Vlado Rogić, who stated that it was unlawful and pointed out that Smartmatik's bid was BAM 17 million higher than the offer submitted by the group headed by Planet Soft.