The armored personnel carrier CVRT sits on a concrete pedestal at the entrance to the parking lot of the Ādaži military base. This was the purpose for which the combat vehicle in question was purchased from the UK for a symbolic sum seven years ago.
However, the cost of its installation has doubled in the last three years, to more than EUR 180.000. LTV's "de facto" program found out that the company "Ceļu pārvalde" was initially entrusted with the installation. The company has recently become better known in connection with a fine imposed by the Competition Council for alleged cartel involvement and the abandonment of Riga street repairs due to insolvency.
"Gate guardian" is the official name of the wreck of the CVRT armored personnel carrier. It was purchased in 2017 for the purpose of installing it at the Ādaži military base. The vehicle itself cost GBP 1,500, or around EUR 1,800, but the landscaping associated with its installation cost at least a hundred times more.
The Defense Ministry explained that in 2017, the CVRT armored personnel carrier, which had already exhausted its technical capacity and was deactivated, was brought and handed over to the NBS.
It remained in Ādaži until the beginning of October this year when it was brought to the construction site and erected on a pedestal by a specialized crane.
In between, however, was a request from the NBS Joint Staff in late 2020 to include this environmental object in the defense construction program, followed by two procurement procedures - in late 2021 and in spring 2023.
Defence Minister Andris Sprūds (Progresīvie) claims that he only found out about the creation of such a "militarized sculpture" and its cost last week and immediately launched a civil service investigation.
"In total, we have paid almost 200,000 for an environmental object. Well, one does not argue about taste, but there are many questions about its usefulness. I would say this: my position at the moment, which is why I initiated [the inspection], is that I don't think it's a good use of financial resources," the minister said.
The deadline for the service review is the end of October. Issues to be clarified: how decisions were taken on the implementation of the project idea, the amounts and procedures for design and construction procurement, and the monitoring of their implementation.
At the end of October 2021, when Covid-19 was raging, the State Defense Military Objects and Procurement Center (VAMOIC) launched a tender for the design, construction, and supervision of the project. Two bidders applied in November and on February 14 2022 - 10 days before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine - the contract was awarded to the now scandal-ridden company "Ceļu pārvalde".
De Facto contacted Eldanizs Mamedovs, the former Director General of JSC "Ceļu pārvalde". When asked why the company did not carry out the construction work, he replied: "I don't remember, to be honest. It was a long time ago, and I can't give you any comments at the moment, unfortunately. I am not in Latvia."
The contract amount was already €92,000 excluding VAT, and according to the publicly available draft contract, both the design and the construction work had to be completed within 24 weeks by Ceļu pārvalde.
This means that the armored personnel carrier should have been parked at the Ādaži base already in August 2022.
However, it was not until mid-November 2022 that VAMOIC, as the contracting authority, accepted the construction project developed by Vertex Projekti, a subcontractor of the Ceļu pārvalde. Almost EUR 25,000 was paid for it.
In mid-January 2023, the contracting authority agreed with Ceļu pārvalde to remove the construction works from the contract, but the supervision remained. No contractual penalties were applied.
In May 2023, the tender specifications were approved for a new public works tender, again with only two tenderers, and the winner was R.A.J. with a bid of EUR 153,000 excluding VAT.
Problems continued to haunt the project even after that. In February this year, VAMOIC withdrew from the supervision contract with Ceļu pārvalde because it did not fulfill it. It should be added that in October 2023, Ceļu pārvalde was declared insolvent.
At the end of March this year, a contract worth EUR 1,650 was concluded with Vertex Projekts, the author of the construction project, for supervision services. The contract required the work to be completed within four months. The Defense Ministry explained that the works have now been completed and the site is being taken into operation.
The contractor "R.A.J." board member Roberts Viillers said that he did not understand the outrage of officials: "I don't know, as a builder I find all this absolutely unacceptable. So why, after all, when we were practically there for almost a year, did it not occur to anyone to ask these people: what are you building here?"
Villers claimed that his firm had done everything according to the construction plan and that there had been no significant cost overruns on their part. Everything corresponds to the prices submitted in the tender.
