Compliance requirements
A bidder must be excluded if the bidder, or a person authorised to represent, direct or control it, has been convicted of participation in a criminal organisation; breach of integrity duties or a corrupt act; fraud; a terrorist offence or related aiding, abetting or attempt; money laundering or terrorist financing; unlawfully enabling a foreign national to work or breaching the conditions for their employment in Estonia, including by paying less than the statutory wage; or unlawful use of child labour or human trafficking. Exclusion also applies where the bidder has outstanding public tax, contribution or environmental-charge debt, or tax or social-security contribution debt under the law of its country of establishment, or where awarding the contract would breach an international or Estonian Government sanction.
The contracting authority may also exclude a bidder for a material or persistent breach of an essential term of a previous public contract that resulted in termination, withdrawal, a price reduction, compensation or a contractual penalty, or for providing false information or failing to provide information or additional documents requested in connection with exclusion grounds or qualification. The bidder must submit the declarations on the absence of exclusion grounds using Annex 5. In a joint tender, each joint bidder must provide the applicable declarations.
Qualification criteria and exclusion grounds
The bidder must be registered in the commercial register of an EU Member State, an EEA contracting state or a WTO GPA member country (not an observer), where registration is required by the law of its country of establishment. At the contracting authority’s request, the bidder must provide a valid registration certificate; bidders established in Estonia do not need to provide a copy of this certificate.
The bidder must hold a valid licence required under section 13(1)(3) of the Liquid Fuel Act for the sale of fuel. The contracting authority will check Estonian licences through the register of economic activities. A bidder established outside Estonia must provide evidence of the relevant authorisation under the law of its country of establishment. If successful, it must, before contract signature and by the deadline set by the contracting authority, provide evidence that it has applied to the competent Estonian authority for an Estonian licence.
The bidder’s net turnover in fuel sales must have been at least EUR 500,000 excluding VAT in each of the three financial years 2023, 2024 and 2025. If its financial year does not run from 1 January to 31 December, it must provide figures for its corresponding financial years. The bidder must report turnover using Annex 5; supporting annual-report extracts or other evidence may be requested. Estonian bidders need not provide information or documents that are publicly available to the contracting authority through the register. If relying on another entity’s resources to meet the financial requirement, the bidder must provide information about that entity in Annex 5 and its declarations in Annex 5.1.
The bidder must submit the participation declaration using Annex 2 and accept all tender-document conditions; conditional tenders are not permitted. The tender price must be stated in euros in the structure specified in the procurement system, and the offered diesel-fuel margin must be the same for summer and winter fuel. The bidder must confirm that contract award would not breach international or Estonian Government sanctions and provide supporting evidence if requested. Where submitting a joint tender, all joint bidders must sign the Annex 4 power of attorney appointing an authorised representative and confirming joint and several liability. The bidder must identify any claimed trade secrets and explain the designation, or state that the tender contains no trade secrets. The tender must meet the tender-document requirements; any claimed equivalence must be explained and supported by evidence.