The Swedish Higher Education Authority to pay procurement fine for improper purchase of consultancy services

Following a tip-off, the Swedish Competition Authority investigated the consultancy agreement entered into by the Swedish Higher Education Authority (Universitetskanslersämbetet, UKÄ) in March 2024. The agreement concerned the evaluation of the authority's work on digital organisational development. The amount paid under the contract totals approximately SEK 1.2 million. The agreement was not advertised in accordance with public procurement regulations.

According to UKÄ, the value of the contract was estimated at just over SEK 300,000 at the time it was signed. The agreement lacks both a ceiling amount and a defined term. The significant discrepancy between the estimated value and the actual amount paid indicates that UKÄ did not make a sufficiently careful estimate of the contract's value, according to the Swedish Competition Authority.

"In previous investigations, we have concluded that when it is difficult for a contracting authority to assess the value of a procurement, the estimate should be made in a way that avoids underestimating the value. This reduces the risk of exceeding the permitted threshold for direct award without advertising," says the Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority, Marie Östman.

The Swedish Competition Authority believes that the urgency UKÄ cited when entering into the consultancy agreement was due to the authority’s own actions. Therefore, none of the exceptions in the procurement regulations that allow a contract to be awarded without prior publication of a contract notice were applicable.

The Swedish Competition Authority has now decided that UKÄ must pay SEK 90,000 in procurement fine for conducting an unlawful direct award of contract.

Mathias Johansson, Legal Officer
+46 (0)8-700 15 62
mathias.johansson@kkv.se

Marie Strömberg Lindvall, Press Officer
+46 (0)8-700 15 92
marie.stromberglindvall@kkv.se

Read the decision (in Swedish), dnr 428/2024