According to the records of the Public Procurement Authority, the domestic organization of Transparency International did not have an accredited public procurement consultant when it examined the purity of the Chain Bridge renovation tender. They monitored public procurement in such a way that they did not have qualified people based on the authority's database. The organization also receives millions from the opposition municipalities, mandiner.hu revealed
As is known, on September 24, 2020, the Transparency International Magyarország Foundation (TI) became involved as an independent monitor in the public procurement procedure for the renovation of the Chain Bridge by the Budapest Transport Center (BKK). How independent can be considered an organization that, in the current year of 2020 alone, received a total of 6 million 710 thousand 846 forints from the Open Society Foundations (OSF) of György Soros, and 44 million 632 thousand 492 forints from the European Commission (EB), we leave it to the reader.
The integrity agreement between TI and BKK signed on October 13 last year, in which Transparency undertook to review the documents provided during the public procurement procedure, participate in the evaluation committee meetings and other discussions related to the public procurement procedure. For all this, the Budapest transport organization company paid HUF 1,270,000 to the organization. BKK indicated in its communique that it entrusted Transparency with the monitoring of the procedure in order to ensure the transparency of the public procurement procedure and open competition as much as possible. "Their presence is an additional guarantee that the tender is not restrictive, does not narrow the competition, and that the bidders - if they voluntarily join the agreement - do not submit an overpriced offer," reads the website of the Budapest-based company.
Source. ripost.hu
However, as can be seen from the information requested by Adataradar.hu from the Public Procurement Authority (KH), the Transparency International Hungary Foundation examined the legality and transparency of the preparation of the public procurement procedure and prepared reports in such a way that, based on the records of the KH on August 5, no has a registered responsible accredited public procurement consultant.
In other words: TI monitored the renovation tender of Lánchíd, which started on August 11 last year, in such a way that, according to KH, it did not have professional human resources.
By the way, Transparency stated in its report that the BKK chose the type of public procurement procedure in accordance with the legal requirements, that both the call and the documents met the requirements set by the organization, and that the evaluation of the final bids and the selection of the winning bidder were carried out legally.
It is also well known that the tender for the renovation of the Chain Bridge was won by A-Híd Zrt., which, under the reign of Mayor Gergely Karácsony, will carry out the work for HUF 5 billion more expensively than it would have done during the time of its predecessor, István Tarlós. It entered the public procurement procedure with a gross offer of HUF 26.75 billion, although earlier it could have won with an offer of only HUF 21.8 billion.
At the same time, questions arise not only in connection with the tender of the company of the City Municipality led by Gergely Karácsony. As last year's Public Benefit Report of the Transparency International Hungary Foundation points out, the organization, which receives a lot of international support, is taking on an increasingly active role as the 2022 parliamentary elections approach. This is indicated by the fact that TI now also carries out a new activity, which has developed into a business, under the title of local government consulting and training.
The new business branch of the organization can be said to be quite successful, since in addition to the services provided to BKK, the momentary VI. district self-government, DK-managed VII. district self-government, XIII. led by the MSZP. the district municipality and the mayor's office of Szentendre are also on the list of clients.
3,810,000 for the monitoring activity of the public procurement for the provision of public catering for Terézváros; 5 million 715 thousand for the revision of Erzsébetváros' anti-corruption capacity and the public interest data management regulations; 635,000 for training courses held for Angyalföld municipal employees; and for the drafting of new procurement and new public procurement regulations by the Szentendre mayor's office, as well as for the examination of the public procurement and legal compliance of some public service contracts, TI provided a non-refundable grant amount of HUF 4 million.
This meant a total of HUF 15,430,000 in additional income and support for Transparency.
The new branch of business is an interesting phenomenon from several points of view, i.e. TI provides services in exchange for local government support , but it could only be decided based on the specific content of the contracts whether this is against the law or not. In any case, the legal framework clearly regulates the framework within which civil organizations can carry out economic activity from which they can obtain sales revenue, and they issue an invoice to the customer in connection with the activity they perform. The regulation is also detailed regarding the legal title under which benefits received by an NGO can be recorded as grants, and how the amounts received as grants must be kept separately in order to ensure that the regularity of use can be checked.
Source: mandiner.hu
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