Amended order was an illegal direct award of contract

It was in June 2020 that the municipal association VA Syd concluded a contract on purchase and installation of sludge processing equipment in the Källby wastewater plant in Lund. VA Syd consists of the municipalities of Burlöv, Eslöv, Lomma, Lund and Malmö.

In September 2020, VA Syd discovered that the procured sludge processing equipment was of inadequate dimensions, and that the original solution did not match the needs. The association therefore contacted the supplier in December and ordered new equipment. An amended contract was concluded in May 2021.

The investigation of the Swedish Competition Authority shows that the size and capacity of the equipment was almost doubled in the amended contract as compared with in the original contract. The amendment in question was of such extent that this constituted a new procurement. Notice of the contract should therefore have been published in accordance with the Act on Public Procurement in the Utilities Sectors.

“An amendment of a contract can sometimes be necessary, but the contracting authority must ensure that the amendment is made in line with the procurement rules,” says Rikard Jermsten, Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority.

The Swedish Competition Authority holds the opinion that the amended contract is an illegal direct award of contract and has petitioned to the Administrative Court of Malmö that the municipal association VA Syd be ordered to pay an administrative fine of SEK 1,700,000.

Natacha Otte Widgren, Legal Counsel, +46(0)8 700 16 55, Natacha.OtteWidgren@kkv.se
Åsa Lövström, Communications Officer, +46(0)8 700 16 36, asa.lovstrom@kkv.se

Read the application, dnr 197/2022 (in Swedish)