IUB Prohibits Signing Contract for €60,000 Tender for Football Stadium Calculations

The Procurement Monitoring Bureau (IUB) has prohibited the Latvian National Sports Centre (LNSC) from signing a contract for a tender worth €60,000 for financial and economic calculations for the construction of a new national football stadium in Riga. The decision was made after reviewing a complaint from SIA "KPMG Baltija," which claimed its proposal was unfairly rejected.

In its complaint, KPMG argued that the contracting authority had interpreted the project manager experience requirement too narrowly, demanding experience only on the public partner side, although the tender documentation did not specify this. KPMG also contended that the authority had unjustifiably concluded that the proposed project manager did not meet the requirement for participation in the development and coordination of financial and economic calculations.

The IUB found both objections justified. It noted that the wording of the tender requirements did not imply that the project manager's experience must be solely on the public partner side, and that the information provided did not allow an unambiguous conclusion of non-compliance. Consequently, the IUB annulled the LNSC procurement commission's decision of April 24, which had named SIA "PricewaterhouseCoopers" as the winner, and ordered the contracting authority to re-evaluate the proposals within 30 working days.

The tender was announced in January of this year. The contract value is €60,000, and the calculations must be completed within five months. Last autumn, the government took note of a report by the Ministry of Education and Science on the possibilities of building a new football stadium, initiating preparations for a potential public-private partnership (PPP) project. Several alternatives were evaluated, with the PPP model on state or municipal land considered the most promising. The working group concluded that none of the options are fully commercially self-sufficient, requiring the public sector to assume part of the financial risk. The government tasked LNSC with preparing the financial and economic calculations by spring 2026.