The Competition Council has fined 27 companies approximately 95 million lei for rigging public tenders organized by the National Road Administration during 2019-2020. The companies allegedly coordinated their bids to secure contracts for repair, rehabilitation, and maintenance of roads, with a total value of around 1.75 billion lei, reports IPN.
According to the Competition Council, the investigation revealed that the companies exchanged sensitive information and shared public procurement procedures among themselves. Thus, they did not independently establish their bids and participation strategies, affecting real competition. The targeted tenders represented at least 47% of the total value of the road rehabilitation contracts concluded during that period.
The competition authority maintains that these practices have affected the efficient use of public funds. In the context of real competition, the savings obtained could have allowed for the completion of a larger volume of road infrastructure works.
Seven of the targeted enterprises have fully or partially acknowledged the violations and have benefited from reductions in fines, under the law. The decision of the Competition Council can be contested within 30 days of receipt.
