Bought Christmas buffet without following the rules on procurement

Before Christmas 2018, Stockholm University was without a procured agreement for the staff Christmas buffet arrangements. This was because the university’s procurement of Christmas buffet providers had been subject to an appeal and the procurement was stopped. The purchasing section then gave out the information that the various sections of the university could book their Christmas buffet arrangements directly with their chosen restaurant. The value of the purchasing amounted to SEK 2,166,057, which exceeds the ceiling for possible direct award of contract.

“It is important to allow for any possible appeals when procurements are made, otherwise there is a risk of being left without an agreement, which may lead to unconsidered, expensive purchasing and in the worst case even corruption,” says Rikard Jermsten, Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority.

The Swedish Competition Authority is now applying to the administrative court in Stockholm with the demand that the court orders Stockholm University to pay SEK 160,000 in procurement fines.

Read the application (in Swedish), dnr 583/2019