Estonia, Financial Services, Legislation, Transport

For example, it is said in the Finance Ministry's inspection report that TLT ignored the procedure for carrying out a public procurement and divided one large bus tender into three simple tenders, which it carried out in January, April and June of 2015. All three contracts in the sum total of 800,000 euros were given to KTK Tehnika.

Procurements can only be organized as simple procurements if the procurement sum is below the international rate, which then was 414,000 euros. At the same time, tenders must not be baselessly divided. The costs of the three bus tenders were 410,000 euros, 171,000 euros and 228,200 euros, respectively.

Even though TLT claimed that tenders were carried out separately because there were no more city buses with a suitable price and mileage on the secondary market at the time and articulated buses, which were sufficiently different, were purchased with a more expensive agreement, the ministry inspectors did not agree with that.

All contracts were signed with KTK Tehnika who sold the buses with one aim -- to service passengers on the city routes of Tallinn. TLT had also previously bought both articulated as well as so-called normal buses with one tender.

The ministry also determined that even though the cheapest offer by Balti Bussi Grupp was successful at a bus tender organized in 2012, a contract was signed with KTK Tehnika. As the terms of the tender did no foresee the possibility of entering into a contract with several companies, the ministry said that TLT entered into an illegal direct contract with KTK Tehnika.