Skellefteå Municipality made an illegal direct award

In July 2022, Skellefteå Municipality entered into a contract for the supply of a control room environment, including associated services, without putting the contract out to competitive tender pursuant to the Swedish Public Procurement Act. The value of the contract was SEK 3,700,000.

The municipality believed that it was possible to make an exception for technical reasons and on the basis of an exclusive right, as the supplier was alone on the market in being able to offer the holistic solution the municipality was seeking. No announcement was made of the intention to award a contract. 

The Swedish Competition Authority finds no support for the contention that only one supplier was in a position to provide the combined solution of goods and services. It is therefore not possible to justify an exception from public procurement regulations for technical reasons and on the basis of an exclusive right.

“Only under very limited circumstances may an exception be made for technical reasons. As a general rule, procurements must be put out to competitive tender, so that more suppliers have the opportunity to tender,” explains Rikard Jermsten, Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority.

The Swedish Competition Authority is therefore petitioning the Administrative Court in Umeå to impose a procurement fine of SEK 280,000 on Skellefteå Municipality for an illegal direct award of contract.

Marie Strömberg Lindvall, Press Officer, +46 76 542 15 92, marie.stromberglindvall@kkv.se
Maria Andersson Müller, Legal Counsel, +46 8 700 15 65, maria.anderssonmuller@kkv.se