Vakarų Baltijos laivų statykla won a dispute over the public procurement worth Eur 40 million

Ellex in Lithuania client Vakarų Baltijos laivų statykla, UAB won a dispute over the public procurement worth almost Eur 40 million, which had been announced by the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The purpose of this procurement was to acquire a specialised vessel for the Lithuanian Armed Forces to eliminate pollution incidents and carry out rescue operations in the Baltic Sea. When a consortium of Finnish companies was announced as the winner of the procurement, Vakarų Baltijos laivų statykla appealed against the procurement results. By reversing the previous decision of the Vilnius Regional Court, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal satisfied the client’s claim and obliged the Lithuanian Armed Forces to re-evaluate the tenders.

The Court of Appeal upheld the appeal of Vakarų Baltijos laivų statykla and annulled the decision to recognise the consortium of the Finnish shipbuilding company Uudenkaupungin Työvene and the electrical engineering company Telesilta (part of the Harju Elekter Group) as the winner of the procurement procedure, taken by the Ministry of National Defence on 19 November last year.

The court also overturned the judgement dated 25 February of the court of the first instance – Vilnius Regional Court. The latter then had dismissed Vakarų Baltijos laivų statykla’s claim.

The decision of the Court of Appeal states that “in evaluating the suppliers’ tenders, the respondent (Lithuanian Armed Forces) inappropriately applied the requirements of the technical specification (…), did not ascertain the compliance of the winning supplier’s tender with its (…) requirements, which constitutes a ground for setting aside the appealed judgment of the court of first Instance.”

The court also revoked the interim measures imposed at the request of the shipbuilding company in early January, which means that the tendering procedure can be continued.

Vakarų Baltijos laivų statykla, UAB offered a modern contemporary search and rescue vessel in the procurement of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The US Navy is now purchasing search and rescue vessels under the same Wärtsilä project.

The client was advised by the law firm’s senior associates Šarūnas Neniškis and Aistė Mikočiūnienė, associates Matas Malijonis and Ingrida Grabienė, and partner dr. Karolis Kačerauskas.