Karolinska University Hospital faces procurement fine

Karolinska has procured an automatic freezer for more than SEK 2 million without publishing a contract notice. Karolinska claims there is an exception to the procurement rules that allows contracts to be awarded directly in cases where there is only one supplier who, for technical reasons, can provide what the procuring agency needs.

“This exception does not apply in this case as there are several suppliers who can provide equivalent products,” says the Swedish Competition Authority’s Deputy Director General Kristina Geiger.

The Swedish Competition Authority argues that Karolinska has awarded the contract unlawfully and is requesting the Administrative Court in Stockholm to impose a SEK 200,000 procurement fine on Karolinska.

The Swedish Competition Authority found out about the contract award in question within the framework of a current project that is specifically investigating procurements of medical technology.

Read the application, dnr 442/2016 (in Swedish)