Compliance requirements
The tenderer must declare whether it or its representatives have, within the applicable period (including the last five years where specified), relevant final convictions for participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, terrorist offences, money laundering or terrorist financing, or child labour and human trafficking. Other grounds include unpaid taxes or social security contributions; bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, suspended business activity or comparable situations; serious breaches of environmental, social or labour obligations; serious professional misconduct; agreements intended to distort competition; unmanageable conflicts of interest; involvement in preparing the procurement that creates an irremediable competitive advantage; and significant or persistent failures under previous public contracts resulting in early termination, damages, price reduction or comparable sanctions. Grounds also include materially misleading or withheld information, failure to provide requested supporting documents, or attempts to improperly influence the contracting authority or obtain confidential information. National grounds include enabling a foreign national to work unlawfully, being subject to international sanctions, and convictions for tax offences. Tax and social-security debt rules include the applicable national provisions; in Estonia, the notice explains that a tax-debt certificate is not issued for debt below EUR 100 or where payment has been rescheduled. Where legally permitted, the tenderer may provide evidence of remedial measures to demonstrate restored reliability.
Qualification criteria and exclusion grounds
Requirements vary by lot:
- Lot 1: Annual net turnover of at least EUR 500,000 in each of the last three completed financial years (expected to be 2023–2025). The tenderer must have duly completed at least three similar contracts during the 36 months before the procurement; each must be worth at least EUR 50,000 excluding VAT and cover at least one of information-system business or systems analysis, software requirements or technical specifications, ICT architecture design, or consultancy on an ICT strategy, action plan or solution.
- Lot 2: Annual net turnover of at least EUR 1,000,000 in each of the last three completed financial years (expected to be 2023–2025). The tenderer must have duly completed at least three similar contracts during the preceding 36 months, each worth at least EUR 100,000 excluding VAT, involving software development, further development, or a software prototype or proof of concept that included programming. Contracts limited to analysis, consultancy, off-the-shelf software licences or user support do not qualify.
- Lot 3: Annual net turnover of at least EUR 4,000,000 in each of the last three completed financial years (expected to be 2023–2025). The tenderer must have duly completed at least three similar contracts during the preceding 36 months, each worth at least EUR 200,000 excluding VAT, for infrastructure such as servers, storage and backup solutions, network equipment, firewalls or other infrastructure cybersecurity solutions and their required software. Contracts limited to end-user computers and accessories do not qualify.
- Lot 4: Annual net turnover of at least EUR 1,000,000 in each of the last three completed financial years (expected to be 2023–2025). The tenderer must have duly completed at least three similar contracts during the preceding 36 months, each worth at least EUR 50,000 excluding VAT, for laptops and/or tablets. Contracts limited to software or computer accessories do not qualify.
For each reference contract, provide its dates, value, scope and the client’s name and contact details, including email and telephone number. The contracting authority may contact clients to verify the information and proper performance. If relying on another entity’s financial capacity, the tenderer and that entity must accept joint responsibility for proper contract performance.
The tender must include the required team information using the CV form and a collaboration proposal explaining how cooperation with the contracting authority and third parties will be ensured. For Lots 3 and 4, include a general description of the offered products, which will be binding during the framework agreement. A collaboration proposal of up to 30 pages may be submitted to obtain the maximum available points. The offer must confirm compliance with the procurement documents; explain and evidence equivalence where applicable; confirm the ability to communicate and document contract performance in Estonian when needed, including with an interpreter; and confirm the ability to involve partners in the target country internationally when required by a mini-competition. Conditional offers are not permitted. Price and other evaluation indicators must follow the structure specified in the procurement documents; the detailed scoring information is not included in the parsed text.
For Lots 3 and 4, the offered goods must not be subject to international sanctions or originate from sanctioned regions. The tenderer must also confirm that it will not involve, for more than 10% of the contract value, subcontractors or suppliers that are Russian citizens, residents or established in Russia, majority-owned by such persons or entities, or acting on their behalf or instructions. For these lots, the product warranty must be at least two years from handover, cover repairs and a replacement product during warranty repairs, including battery defects, and be provided without additional charges; longer periods may be specified. Environmental requirements may be further detailed in mini-competitions. The tenderer must identify and justify any trade secrets, but may not classify the price or other specified evaluation indicators as trade secrets. Joint tenderers must appoint an authorised representative and provide a power of attorney.