Finance minister declares Eesti Energia audit procurement invalid

Finance Minister Mart Võrklaev (Reform) has declared the winning tender to hold a special audit into the state-owned Eesti Energia over a technicality.
Thanks to a challenge issued against Eesti Energia's special audit procurement process, the signing of the contract was delayed, which meant set deadlines were missed.
"As a result, it is also impossible to retrospectively meet the deadline for submitting the first interim report as stipulated in the basic procurement documents, and it is not possible to legally reach the signing of the procurement contract through a simplified procedure," the finance minister's statement read.
Võrklaev initiated the special audit last month.
The state, as the owner of Eesti Energia, sought to determine via the special audit whether systemic errors have been made in the company's management, and the extent to which the previous management is culpable.
Earlier this month, Minister Võrklaev declared the winning bid as a joint one worth €195,000 exclusive of VAT, from Sorainen OÜ and Grant Thornton Baltic OÜ.
However, the finance ministry told ERR that the procurement had been canceled because a subsequent challenge necessitated a review of the procurement timeline.
A new procurement process will be held; the audit itself is to take place this year and will cover the period from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2023.
Einari Kisel, a member of Eesti Energia's supervisory board, told daily Postimees at the start of this month that the company's previous management board made decisions which may have caused tens of millions of euros in damage.
"This is not a certain suspicion, but there have been transactions where it seems that risks have been incorrectly assessed," Kisel said.
A challenge submitted on May 17 to the Public Procurement Review Committee means the audit contract cannot be signed by the deadline, rendering the procurement invalid.
The Public Procurement Review Committee took up the challenge on May 20, and according to the law, a decision must be made within 30 days.
Once that decision has been made, at least another 14 days must pass before a new contract can be signed, under the regulations.
In the first quarter of this year, Eesti Energia group's sales revenues were reported at €500 million, net profit at €89 million. Both figures were down on the first quarter of 2023.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming