EL 
EN 
Following complaints, a team of NTA Inspectors conducted an audit of a public enterprise for non-compliance in 2018 with the legislation on public procurement, including the award of cleaning services for its premises, the annual cost of which amounts to approximately €500,000.
In the years examined (2014 - 2018), the following were found:
- Since the expiry of the contract in 2016, which was concluded following a competitive tender procedure, the cleaning services of the public enterprise’s premises were awarded for a two years period without an open tender, as required by the law, but by invoking a negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice, although the legal requirements for recourse to this procedure were not met.
- In particular, while the cleaning services are fixed and permanent needs of the public enterprise and are therefore known in advance, the new tender notice was published after the previous contract had expired. Following the notice, there were significant delays at all stages of the procedure until a new contractor was appointed. In the meantime, the public enterprise continued to accept the services of the previous contractor, initially on a non-contractual basis for two months, and subsequently entered into a new contract with the previous contractor with retroactive effect.
- For the uses of the above negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice, the public enterprise failed to seek, as it should have done, the opinion of the Hellenic Single Public Procurement Authority
-During the execution of the above-mentioned contracts, the contractor was paid amounts in excess of the contract price and in excess of the budgeted costs. This significant difference in the final value of the contracts, compared to the contractor's financial offer, is contrary to the principle of economy and the legality of the tender procedure, throught the correct determination of the contract value. It also raises questions as to (a) the financial planning of the public enterprise to meet the relevant needs and (b) the approval and certification of emergency works during the execution of the contracts.
- The acceptance and certification of the works was not carried out by a three-member Acceptance Committee, in breach of the law provisions and the provisions of the relevant contracts, but by unilateral bodies in accordance with the internal procedures of the public enterprise, which, however, do not comply with the law.
In order to address the identified malfunctions, proposals for improvements and recommendations were made regarding the procedures for the award and execution of the relevant contracts, as well as for corporate procedures’ harmonisation with public procurement law.
With regard to the illegal acts and omissions of the enterprise’s bodies that were found, no disciplinary responsibilities were sought, due to the expiry of the short limitation period for disciplinary offences provided for by the Public Enterprise’s Staff Regulation, an issue which the NTA has repeatedly pointed out for amendment by the competent bodies, but without any response to date.
The Audit Report has been forwarded to the competent Public Prosecutor's Office, as well as to the supervising Ministry of Finance.