Contract on Disputed Operating Tables Signed

Ljubljana, 04 August

Health Minister Andrej Brucan and the director of Soca oprema, a supplier of medical equipment, on Friday signed a contract on the supply of 18 operating tables for five Slovenian hospitals, ending a much-criticised public procurement procedure that dragged on for years.

Signing the SIT 336m (EUR 1.4m) contract, Soca oprema director Bojan Bokalic said that his company would do all it can to install the operating tables in the shortest possible time.
Brucan said that 70% of the equipment should be installed until the end of September and the remainder by the end of October.
The contract has been signed despite the appeals by the non-selected bidders Sanolabor and Medicoengineering, which is possible under the recently amended act on public procurement in case people's lives or health might be at risk.
In line with the law, a public contract may be carried out in extraordinary circumstances, provided it is endorsed by the government and approved by the National Review Commission, the public procurement watchdog.
In the coming days the National Review Commission will have to decide on the Sanolabor and Medicoengineering appeals, which will determine the subsequent steps that the two companies take, including potential damage claims.
The operating tables are eagerly awaited by the hospitals, in particular the Oncology Institute in Ljubljana.
The main cancer-treatment centre in Slovenia has new operating theatres in a brand new building, but they are still empty due to the bogged-down tender for the operating tables.

Contract on Disputed Operating Tables Signed

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