Compliance requirements
The bidder must confirm that it, its management and supervisory body members, and its authorised representatives are not subject to exclusion grounds arising from a final conviction within the last five years. The checks cover participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, terrorist offences or terrorism-related offences, money laundering or terrorist financing, and the illegal use of child labour or other forms of human trafficking. Where relevant, the bidder may describe measures taken to restore its reliability.
Exclusion grounds also include breaches of tax or social security payment obligations; the threshold for tax and social security debt is EUR 0, subject to the relevant exceptions for deferred debt and tax debt below EUR 100 under the Taxation Act. The bidder must confirm that it is not bankrupt, being wound up or subject to insolvency proceedings, that its assets are not administered by a liquidator or court, and that its business activities have not been suspended.
Further exclusion grounds may include serious professional misconduct, breaches of environmental, social or labour law obligations, anti-competitive agreements, conflicts of interest, improper involvement in preparing the procurement, serious breaches of previous contracts, false information, or failure to submit required information and documents. The bidder must confirm that contract award would not breach international or Estonian sanctions and that it is not subject to participation restrictions. Companies and relevant representatives established or resident in the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus may not participate. The bidder must also confirm that the goods are not sanctioned goods and do not originate from sanctioned territories, and that subcontractors or suppliers connected with Russian persons or entities do not account for more than 10% of the contract value and are not used to meet the qualification requirements.
Qualification criteria and exclusion grounds
The bidder must be registered in the Estonian commercial register or an equivalent register in its country of establishment and must provide the registration details. A foreign bidder must, upon request, provide an officially certified register extract with an Estonian translation.
For Lot 1, the bidder must have achieved net turnover of at least EUR 7,000,000 in each of the last three completed financial years, expected to be 2023, 2024 and 2025. For Lot 2, the required minimum is EUR 11,000,000 in each of those years. Turnover must be declared in the European Single Procurement Document and, upon request, supported by extracts from the relevant annual accounts or, for a foreign company not required to publish accounts, by a properly certified and apostilled report.
For Lot 1, during the 60 months preceding publication of the contract notice, the bidder must have completed the sale of at least 5 similar new M3 category I or II buses, or provided at least 5 such buses under operating leases with a lease period of at least 36 months. For Lot 2, the corresponding minimum is 9 buses. A similar bus must have at least 24 passenger seats in addition to the driver's seat. The bidder must provide reference details, including the number of buses, customer and contact person, and the contract and completion dates; the contracting authority may request copies of contracts or other objective evidence.
The tender must be unconditional and fully comply with the tender documents. The relevant technical specification form, all required data, documents and drawings, a manufacturer's maintenance manual based on an assumed 10-year service life and 800,000 km mileage, and a signed unconditional manufacturer's warranty commitment must be submitted. The price must be provided on Form 4 as a fixed unit price for one bus in euros, to two decimal places and excluding VAT; it must include manufacturing, delivery, handover, warranty, training and all other contractual costs.
The tender guarantee is EUR 50,000 for Lot 1 and EUR 67,000 for Lot 2. It must be a guarantee issued by a credit institution, financial institution or insurer established and operating in an EU, EEA or GPA country, allowing payment to the contracting authority within no later than 10 banking days and remaining valid for at least the tender validity period. Where applicable, the bidder must also submit proof of representation, a power of attorney for joint bidders, consent and procurement documents when relying on another entity's resources, and a list of known subcontractors stating their roles and the financial value of their work.