Collaboration with real estate company was illegal direct award

In December 2019, the Swedish National Courts Administration initiated a collaboration project with a real estate company. The assignment involved project management for the planning and construction of a new court building in Jönköping in accordance with the instructions of the Swedish National Courts Administration, for later long-term letting of the building to the Swedish National Courts Administration. Within the project, construction works were procured by the Swedish National Courts Administration, which later transferred the procured works contract to the real estate company.

The Swedish National Courts Administration’s choice of its project partner and future landlord was not procured in accordance with the Public Procurement Act. Therefore, it constitutes an illegal direct award. This is the opinion of the Swedish Competition Authority, which also concludes that such business solutions, where only a part of a larger project is procured, are common among contracting authorities.

‘When a contracting authority does not make a choice of collaboration partner through a competitive process, other suppliers do not get a chance to compete in the procurement, for instance by offering better terms or lower rent’, says Rikard Jermsten, Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority.

In a supervisory decision, the Swedish Competition Authority is now criticising the actions of the Swedish National Courts Administration as the authority, in contravention of the Public Procurement Act, entered into a collaboration with the property company without prior publication of a contract notice.

Marie Strömberg Lindvall, Press Officer, +46 (0)76 542 15 92, marie.stromberglindvall@kkv.se
Anna Görgård, Legal Counsel, +46 (0)8 700 16 67, anna.gorgard@kkv.se

Read the supervisory decision, dnr 502/2020