ACF: We urge for the termination of the procurement order for converting the Ovcha Kupel Baths into a scientific center on account of identified violations
The Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) urged for the termination of the procurement order for reengineering the Ovcha Kupel Baths and alerted a number of institutions about violations surrounding its organization. The identified violations include unlawful interference with the preservation regime of the building, serious discrepancies in the investment planning and public procurement preparation process, as well as substantial infringements of the Public Procurement Act.
Today is the final day for submitting proposals for the public procurement that has this time been announced by the Sofia Regional History Museum, a cultural institute with the Sofia Municipality. This is the fourth attempt of the Sofia Municipality to organize a procurement order to transform the Ovcha Kupel Baths — a cultural monument — into a scientific center for exceptional achievements. The transformation of the baths is realized in the framework of a project titled “Construction and development of a center for exceptional achievements “Nasledstvo BG,”” the beneficiary of which is the Sofia University “St Kliment Ohridski,” and the funding for which is provided under Operational Programme “Science and Education for Smart Growth 2014 – 2020” of the EU. The previous three procurement orders were terminated on account of numerous discrepancies, including: 1) lack of approval from the National Institute for Immovable Cultural Heritage (NIICH) of project specifications, full planning permission and conceptual design; 2) lack of clarity as to what expenses shall be covered by EU funds, and what expenses by the municipal budget, and; 3) copyright issues. Precisely on account of the problems with the last terminated order, the Mayor of the Sofia Municipality, Yordanka Fandakova, dismissed from office the Deputy Mayor of Culture, Todor Chobanov, and demanded that the appropriate legal procedure be followed on the next attempt.
“We urge for the termination of the ongoing, fourth procurement order, as it is in violation of the law and of the general principles of the Public Procurement Act, the Cultural Heritage Act, the Spatial Planning Act and international agreements for the preservation of cultural heritage.
We urge the competent institutions to ensure the protection of the public interest by terminating the procurement order and by opening an architectural competition that would take into account the needs to adapt and restore the baths, and preserve them as an architectural monument,” says Denitsa Rukanova, legal expert at ACF.
Since January 2021, the ACF experts have been analyzing the documentation of the four procurement orders announced so far, the documentation of the project for building a Center for Exceptional Achievements, and the opinions of the Sofia Municipality, as well as of a number of architects and experts.
In their report of the case to the Sofia Municipality, the Minister of Culture, the NIICH and other competent institutions, ACF identify many substantial violations, the most important of which are the following:
- There has been unlawful interference with the designation and preservation regime of the Ovcha Kupel Baths.
The reconstruction project envisages that nearly half of the building will be converted into a Scientific Center for Exceptional Achievements. This constitutes an interference with the preservation regime of the building under the Cultural Heritage Act (CHA).
According to the building’s file at the NIICH, Ministry of Culture (MC), it can only function and be readapted as baths/balneolotherapy center.
Despite that, the four procurement orders opened by the Sofia Municipality envisage the construction of a scientific center with a conference hall, computer room, audio-visual digitalization studios, coworking spaces, music room, etc. The center will occupy half of the baths’ surface.
“The planned activities are in no way linked to balneotherapy and are incompatible with the regime of preservation of the building as a cultural monument in accordance with its NIICH file and its designation specified in the Cadaster,” comments Atty. Denitsa Rukanova.
- There are serious discrepancies in the investment planning process and in the
preparation of the procurement orders for restoration and adaptation of the building.
The MC and the NIICH have on several occasions refused to approve the Sofia Municipality’s investment projects for renovation of the baths, as the projects envisage additional functions of the building that are not allowed by law.
“Despite the several refusals to approve, there is no evidence to show that the projects were substantially reworked so as to eliminate the identified shortcomings.
Once again the procurement order contains specifications that interfere with the building’s status as a cultural monument and violate the Cultural Heritage Act,” adds Atty. Rukanova.
- There are also substantial violations of the Public Procurement Act (PPA).
During the initial preparation of the project, the Sofia Municipality entrusted its own municipal company, Sofinvest EOOD, with conducting the architectural survey and preparing the conceptual design for the reconstruction of the Ovcha Kupel Baths.
Sofinvest EOOD hired an external contractor to perform the said activities — Arch. Konstantin Peev, and his company, Eksa Art EOOD. The project documentation does not include any explanation as to why Arch. Konstantin Peev and Eksa Art EOOD were selected to create the conceptual design and perform the pre-project surveys. It is only stated that he is registered in the MC’s register under Art. 165(1) of the CHA, but so are many other architects.
At the same time, Arch. Konstantin Peev was also commissioned to draft the conceptual design specifications by the Sofia Regional History Museum.
“There is no evidence of undertaking measures under Art. 44 of the PPA to ensure transparency and prevent the involvement of a third party that has taken part in the preparation of the procurement order documentation, which would violate the principle of equality and fair competition,” adds Atty. Rukanova.
“The methodology for assessing the bids is unacceptable, as it does not take into account the importance of the building as a cultural monument and does not guarantee the quality of the envisaged works and construction materials. There are no quality requirements for the bids, and the scoring is based on low prices, short deadlines, and work plan description,” comment the ACF legal experts.
“ACF urges the competent authorities to perform an inspection, rectify the committed violations, and ensure observance of the law and protection of the public interest,” says Boyko Stankushev, Director of the Anti-Corruption Fund.
“We also emphasize that the architectural competition should be conducted on the basis of new design specifications — only for baths/balneotherapy center, leaving out any ideas of a scientific center. There should also be timely public consultations regarding the project.”
“With regards to the EU funds provided for the construction of a Center for Exceptional Achievements, we urge for the submission of a project amendment request to the management body of Operational Programme “Science for Smart Growth” to build the scientific center, with all its computer rooms and other facilities, in another, more appropriate building in Sofia,” adds Boyko Stankushev.