Riga, Feb 13 (LETA) - The Riga municipality hopes to attract as many entrepreneurs as possible for street repairs, Kristaps Kaulins, director of the Riga City Council's Department for Open Space and Mobility, told LETA in an interview.

He explained that the municipality had announced a tender for a general agreement to select bidders who would then compete for specific projects.

The tender was launched for the first time in the previous calendar year, with the idea that it would be in place close to the start of the season so that the municipality could quickly conclude contracts for specific projects.

The procurement process is ongoing and interested suppliers are actively using the opportunity to submit questions and ask for clarifications.

"We are interested in being open, as my aim is to review the allocation of risks, reduce bureaucracy and encourage as much competition as possible, where suitably qualified bidders are already competing with each other on price and timing," said Kaulins.

The procurement is expected to result in two framework agreements, one for large sites and one for small sites. In each part, suitably qualified bidders will be selected to compete for periodic resurfacing contracts for specific sites in a much shorter timeframe in the second phase of the procurement.

"We are not limiting the number of contractors in the tenders, all who meet the qualifications. For example, we select seven bidders who enter into a framework agreement contract. When a specific site comes up, we launch an internal procurement among these shortlisted bidders. This allows us to get to a contract for a specific site in a very short time," explained Kaulins.

In the next step, competition will be only on price, as the qualifications will have already been checked in the first step, there will be very little risk of complaints and time delays, the official said.

As reported, the Riga Municipality Procurement Board has announced a tender to select companies to carry out periodic street resurfacing works, according to information published in the electronic procurement system.

The procurement is divided into two parts - periodic street resurfacing works up to 4,000 square meters and over 4,000 square meters. Companies may submit tenders for both lots.

The tender will result in an agreement with all bidders who meet the requirements set out in the tender specifications.

The deadline for submission of tenders was originally planned for January 30, but has now been extended to February 17.