The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has cancelled the selection of a contractor to build a new cell at the Sevlievo waste landfill. According to the regulator, the winning bid had been artificially reduced by omitting certain costs, making the mayor’s decision to select the contractor “unlawful and subject to annulment”.
The antitrust authority’s decision sends the procedure back to Sevlievo municipality for a new assessment of the bidders’ financial offers. The municipality must also pay €870 in legal costs to the consortium that came second.
A cheaper bid because it did not include everything
The complaint to the CPC was filed by the “RDNO Sevlievo – Cell 3 – 2025” consortium against the decision by the mayor of Sevlievo to select “Eco Tradex Group” to build the third cell at the Sevlievo Regional Waste Landfill.
The second-placed bidder argued that the winning offer did not include all the materials and activities required by the project, contained discrepancies with the drawings and technical specifications, omitted important elements such as pipes, fittings, insulation and other components, failed to account for specific requirements including concrete impermeability, additives and fibres, and relied on unrealistic quantity calculations.
All of this, the “RDNO Sevlievo – Cell 3 – 2025” consortium argued, resulted in an artificially lower price that did not reflect the actual cost of the construction work.
Municipality defends its decision
Sevlievo municipality rejected the complaint, arguing that the evaluation committee was required to assess whether bids complied with the terms of the public procurement procedure, rather than determine whether the bidders’ calculations were correct.
In its submission to the CPC, the municipal administration pointed out that the bidders had declared that their prices included all costs and that it could not be required for every individual element to be listed as a separate line if this had not been an explicit requirement of the tender.
“The legal framework is clear – the commission appointed by the contracting authority monitors compliance of the bids with the conditions and requirements announced in advance and cannot, at the assessment stage, introduce new rules for admissibility that were not previously specified, nor turn the evaluation into ‘design supervision’ of another party’s calculations,” the municipality said.
Its key argument was that even if there were omissions in the level of detail, this would be a risk for the contractor rather than grounds for disqualification.
A different calculation method, not an incomplete bid
The winning bidder, “Eco Tradex Group”, also denied any irregularities.
The company said no materials were missing from its offer; rather, they had been included under different items, while some elements had been grouped together instead of being listed separately.
According to the company, using a different approach to calculating materials and activities did not make its offer incomplete or incorrect.
One year earlier
The procurement procedure for the construction of a new cell at the Sevlievo Regional Landfill for Non-Hazardous Waste was launched in July 2025.
The estimated value of the work was almost €1.5m excluding VAT, with a construction period of nearly one year – 300 calendar days – specified in the tender documents.
The deadline for submitting bids was 25 August, with the offers scheduled to be opened the following day. Four bids were submitted, from “Eco Tradex Group”, “Bulstroy Montazhi”, the “RDNO Sevlievo – Cell 3 – 2025” consortium, comprising “Komunal Engineering” with a 90% stake and “Avangard Build” with 10%, and “Katmar 13”.
Only two bidders reached the final ranking: “Eco Tradex Group” and the “RDNO Sevlievo – Cell 3 – 2025” consortium.
Their offers differed on two main criteria – completion time and price. The consortium proposed the shorter schedule, 228 days, while “Eco Tradex Group” offered to complete the cell within 300 calendar days.
Price, however, was decisive in the final selection, according to the decision. The procurement committee’s records show that “Eco Tradex Group” offered a price BGN 461,000 lower than its competitor.
The regional landfill serves the municipalities of Sevlievo, Dryanovo and Suhindol. It covers around 31 decares and was designed to accommodate three cells. Two have already been built, each with an expected operating life of 17 years.
At waste landfills, a “cell” is a separate isolated section where waste is deposited. Cells are built in stages rather than all at once and each has a defined capacity. Once full, it can no longer be used in order to preserve safety and environmental standards.
The start of construction of the third cell at the Sevlievo landfill indicates that the capacity of the second cell, which is currently in use, is approaching its limit.
It remains to be seen what the outcome of the new assessment of the bids ordered by the CPC will be. The commission’s decision can be appealed, although there is currently no indication that such an appeal has been filed.
