The State Construction Control Bureau (SCCB) has launched a procurement procedure for the provision of the service of State emergency stocks of oil for 2021. The total necessary amount of stocks accounts for 370,500 tonnes which is equivalent to 90 days of the total oil imports. The estimated procurement contract price is EUR 16 million, excluding value added tax (VAT).
Svetlana Mjakuškina, Director of the SCCB, admits, “In carrying out duties of the supervisor of central stocks, the Bureau has very carefully considered the prior experience in the establishment of the State emergency stocks of oil and has come up with the most efficient solution for the procurement of these stocks within the existing legal framework. The system for the storage of emergency stocks should, however, be reconsidered in its entirety.”
European Union (EU) Directive 2009/119/EC imposes an obligation upon Latvia, like other EU Member States, to maintain at all times compulsory stocks of oil in such a quantity which corresponds to 90 days of average daily imports in the previous calendar year. The State emergency stocks of oil should be stored by the companies selected by a tender procedure which, in the event of an energy crisis or national threat, undertake to sell these oil products to Latvia in the required quantity.
The SCCB intends to organise the procurement in two stages. Conditions of the first stage envisage evaluation of candidates by the Constitution Protection Bureau and require compliance with the requirements of the Law on Procurements in the Field of Defence and Security by also taking into account financial indicators and previous experience of candidates in the provision of the service of State emergency stocks of oil. Tenderers who correspond to the by-laws and provisions of the Law on Procurements in the Field of Defence and Security will be invited to the second stage of procurement. The main procurement criteria will be the lowest price for the provision of the service of emergency stocks of one tonne of oil per month, excluding VAT, without exceeding the total contract price. The place of storage of oil products will also be taken into consideration – the territory of the Republic of Latvia or other EU Member States.
Merchants or their associations that have registered their activities in the territory of EU Member States and countries of the European Economic Area are welcome to participate in the procurement, provided that the Latvian emergency stocks of oil must be kept in the territory of EU Member States and Latvia. Volumes and types of the State emergency stocks of oil will be specified in the second stage of the procurement on the basis of the energy balance drawn up by the Central Statistical Board for 2019.
Information about the procurement is available on the website of the Procurement Monitoring Bureau and in the Electronic Procurement System.
As to the emergency stocks of oil for 2021, the SCCB intends to perform control of not only volume but also quality of oil products. It has already been announced that in May this year the Bureau initiated checks on the places of storage of emergency stocks of oil in Latvia, as well as plans to control the stocks stored abroad in order to make sure of their availability in the event of a country-wide energy crisis or national threat.
On 12 December 2018, the Ministry of Economics (MoE) entered into contracts, until 31 December 2020, with nine merchants – SIA Pirmas, UAB Okseta, UAB Baltic Petroleum, SIA Circle K Latvia, AS Ventbunkers, SIA RDZ Energy, Gunvor SA, Vitol SA and Mercuria Energy Trading SA – within the framework of the procurement “Provision of the Service of Emergency Stocks for the Establishment of the State Emergency Stocks of Oil”. Currently 60 % of the State emergency stocks of fuel are stored in Latvia, while 40 % are stored elsewhere in Europe. In April 2020, the MoE authorised the Bureau to perform control of the emergency stocks.
Starting from 1 January 2020, the SCCB has performed functions of the central structure for the maintenance of stocks organising procurement for the service of emergency stocks for the establishment of the State emergency stocks of oil, as well as administered this service.
Information prepared by:
Jūlija Eizenberga, Public Relations Specialist, State Construction Control Bureau
E-mail: Julija.Eizenberga@bvkb.gov.lv, phone: 67013327, 29482328