The procurement committee has picked Citrus Solutions LLC as the winner in the tender for the construction of a new prison in Liepaja, as reported by Latvian Ministry of Justice.
Citrus Solutions LLC offered to build the new prison complex for EUR 128 845 529 (VAT excluded), whereas UPB JSC offered to build the new prison for EUR 141 488 743.90 (VAT excluded).
After going through offers from contenders, the procurement committee concluded that both offers meet requirements of the tender.
Members of the committee checked and corrected arithmetic mistakes in offers and concluded that neither of the two offers are unjustifiably cheap.
On 26 September the procurement committee made the decision to provide contract rights to Citrus Solutions. The company’s plan is to build a new prison for EUR 125 812 517 within 34 months after the contract’s signing.
The contract price is different from the price listed in the offer because the price for maintenance services over the course of 60 months, which is listed as EUR 2 970 960 (VAT excluded), is not included in the construction contract. It does provide the right to take on such commitment in the future.
As previously reported, the approach used in the Liepaja prison project is called design&build, which combines addition of changes to the construction project, copyrights and construction activities in the same service.
To ensure quality construction work, the winner was requested to take full responsibility over the construction project and construction work.
The new prison in Liepaja is planned to be completed within 34 months of signing the contract with the winner of the tender. In accordance with the 2 November 2021 decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Justice has the right to extend the prison’s design or construction terms until 31 December 2025 if such a need surfaces.
Multiple preparations have been done in regards to the Liepaja prison project so far: an offer has been surveyed and a construction procurement procedure has been picked, which, according to the ministry, will help find the most competitive offer. The territory picked for the new prison has been surveyed and deforested to prepare the future construction site.
There are currently eight prisons in Latvia. Six of them are more than 100 years old.
Buildings and infrastructure are physically and morally outdated – they no longer meet requirements of a prison because they were never built as prisons. These buildings were gradually adapted for work as prisons. The new prison in Liepaja will be the first newly-built prison after restoration of Latvia’s independence.
According to Ministry of Justice, the new prison in Liepaja will assist with re-socialisation of prisoners and help implement a new system for the enforcement of penalties. The ministry estimates that the total project costs will not exceed the previously outlined EUR 146 898 298.
According to information from Firmas.lv, Citrus Solutions was founded in 2005 with base capital of EUR 5 070 999. In 2020 the company’s turnover was EUR 23.7 million. The company concluded the year with profits worth approximately EUR 1 million. Cutrus Solutions is a Tet LLC Group technology company.
UPB was founded in 1991 with base capital of EUR 15 720 304. The company’s beneficial owners include Uldis Pīlēns, Māris Mors and Madara More. UPB’s turnover was EUR 237 million in 2020. The company’s profits were EUR 13.3 million.