‘Under the name of Bajanagh, they participate in our competitions,’ says Sanosyan

There are numerous issues related to state procurement in Armenia. Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan stated this during a government meeting.

“We have focused primarily on the lowest price; the company that offers the lowest price becomes the winner, along with all its problems. When a company lowers its bid by 40%, it is not a savings to celebrate, but rather a significant risk,” he emphasized.

According to him, it is also necessary to review the process of granting licenses to companies participating in competitions and sending them to a blacklist. “Right now, we have a company that we have sent to the blacklist, which has now initiated legal proceedings against us. They are now participating in our competitions under another name. In other words, we know that it is indeed them; they have registered under the name of Bajanagh or another name, but it is them. This means that we undergo a legal process before sending them to the blacklist, and in the meantime, they are participating in another of our competitions under a different name. As a result, our ministry is faced with a problem, as it has a negative experience working with that company,” Sanosyan noted.

He stated that while the volumes of work being carried out are significant, only 10 out of the 100 facilities under the ministry have issues. “I want to make it clear that there should not be the impression that there are problems across all our facilities,” the minister stressed.

He reminded that the 43 facilities presented in today’s meeting, where works have been carried out under co-funding programs, should have actually been 54. The reason is that the ministry has identified issues at 11 facilities and has not issued payments to them.