Police Clarifies How New Vehicles Were Acquired

The Police of the Republic of Armenia has issued a clarification regarding the process of acquiring new vehicles, stating:

“In recent days, some media outlets have made the process of the Police obtaining vehicles a subject of speculation. We would like to inform that the unfounded and subjective claims regarding the police's actions in this process do not correspond to reality. The fact is as follows:

It has become necessary to organize procurement procedures for acquiring vehicles for the patrol service in the regions of Lori and Shirak. The technical specifications for the acquisition of vehicles were prepared based on the technical specifications of previously acquired vehicles for the patrol service in Yerevan, and this technical specification was subsequently sent by the responsible department to the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia, and the State Oversight Service of the Republic of Armenia for opinions and positions.

Based on the opinions and positions received from the aforementioned agencies, the technical specifications for the procurement of vehicles were refined to ensure maximum participation from potential participants.

On October 28, 2021, a procurement procedure was announced for the acquisition of vehicles through an electronic auction with code RA PD-2022-VEH-1, setting the estimated unit price for a sedan at 12,885,000 AMD, and for an SUV at 17,885,000 AMD. The opening of bids took place on November 15, 2021, with the bid from 'Fine Cars of Armenia' LLC being for a sedan at 27,357,120 AMD and for an SUV at 31,750,560 AMD. The bid was rejected by the electronic auction system as the price offers exceeded the estimated prices.

On November 17, 2021, the procurement procedure for vehicle acquisition was re-announced through an electronic auction with code RA PD-2022-VEH-13, during which no estimated prices were set based on provision a of point 2 of section 21 of the government decision No 526-N dated May 4, 2017. The procedure received bids from 'Sky Motors' LLC, 'Toyota Yerevan' LLC, and 'Fine Cars of Armenia' LLC. The minimum price was offered by 'Sky Motors' LLC, which proposed a unit price of 13,900,000.01 AMD for a sedan and 16,300,000.01 AMD for an SUV, and was considered the first-place participant.

The assessment commission noted that 'Sky Motors' LLC should make adjustments, particularly regarding the inconsistencies in the technical specifications. 'Sky Motors' LLC submitted the adjustments; however, the adjustments for the SUV were not accepted as the technical specifications did not meet the requirements. On December 23, 2021, a letter was received from the director of 'Sky Motors' LLC, Misak Sargsyan, indicating that he would withdraw from further participation in the procurement process. As a result, the assessment commission decided to consider the procurement procedure failed.

On December 24, 2021, another procurement procedure for vehicle acquisition was announced through an electronic auction with code RA PD-2022-VEH-43, during which no estimated prices were set based on the same government decision mentioned earlier. 'Toyota Yerevan' LLC submitted a bid with unit prices of 16,140,000 AMD for a sedan and 18,771,428.57 AMD for an SUV. The documents submitted by 'Toyota Yerevan' LLC met the requirements set out in the invitation, and consequently, a contract for the purchase of vehicles for the state's needs was signed with 'Toyota Yerevan' LLC on January 13, 2022.

On February 8, 2022, a contract was signed with 'Toyota Yerevan' LLC, which provided for financing for 50 units of sedans and 50 SUVs, with a delivery deadline set for 20 days after the entry into force of the contract, but no later than March 1, 2022.

We urge the public to refrain from disseminating vague information and to contact the appropriate police services for verified data. Necessary information regarding the procurement procedures has already been published on the gnumner.am website. The police are also ready to provide the documents related to the vehicle procurement procedures.”