Nicosia, Cyprus. Justice Minister Costas Fitiris and auditor-general Andreas Papaconstantinou met on Saturday to discuss the auditing of tender procedures. The justice ministry said the talks focused on transparency and financial management.
Focus on transparency and financial management
The justice ministry said the two officials made special reference to the need to ensure transparency and proper financial management of projects.
Procurement law amendments returned to parliament
The meeting came after President Nikos Christodoulides sent a number of amendments to the public procurements law back to parliament following their approval by MPs.
In a letter to the House legal committee, Christodoulides said the main reason was a provision requiring any party appealing the awarding of a tender to submit a cash guarantee, with the amount to be determined by the tenders review authority.
Revised proposal on guarantee calculation
Disy MP Fotini Tsiridou, the bill’s author, told a subsequent committee session that she worked with the treasury and the legal service to simplify how the guarantee amount will be calculated.
Tsiridou said the figure would be one per cent of the project value for infrastructure projects and €10,000 for other public contracts. She added that the amount would be refunded at the conclusion of the appeal.
Committee to prepare new text
Committee chairman and Disy MP Nicos Tornaritis said the committee accepted Christodoulides’ rejection of the initial bill and that a new text would be prepared.
How do you think the revised guarantee rules could affect appeals in public tenders?