Södertälje required to pay procurement fines

According to the Swedish Competition Authority, Södertälje Municipality has extended an agreement without advertising and conducting a new procurement process. The agreement in question relates to business support for the Social Welfare and Care Office. The value of the contract amounts to SEK 5 million, which exceeds the limit for a direct award of contract. According to the Swedish Competition Authority, this constitutes an unlawful direct award.

“Unlawful direct award of contracts are a high priority in our supervisory activities,” says Rikard Jermsten, Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority.

“If procurements are advertised and exposed to competition in accordance with the rules, the potential for concluding the best agreement at the best price increases,” he says.

Södertälje Municipality has previously been ordered to pay a penalty/procurement fine as a result of having conducted an unlawful direct award. The Swedish Competition Authority views this as an aggravating circumstance.

Read the application (in Swedish), dnr 567/2017