Press Release, 18.04.2016

The tender for public procurement for the Moscow Spring 2016 festival has been accompanied by numerous violations, and its only participant is connected with the Moscow authorities, says Sergei Mitrokhin, member of the Federal Political Committee of the YABLOKO party and head of YABLOKO’s Anti-Corruption Centre. Sergei Mitrokhin demands that the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Antimonopoly Service checks the organisers of the festivals of the past two years for corruption and declines a contract with a shell company.

It is planned to spend for the Moscow Spring 189,333,690 roubles (approximately 2,543,099 Euro). For the third year in a row, the same company “Moscow Souvenir Plus” has been winning the competition for the festival. This year, the amount of contracts with the company it may exceed 1 billion roubles (about 13,513,513.5 Euro)

YABLOKO’s Anticorruption Centre found out that an open public tender for organisation of the festival was declared invalid on 13 April. There was only one company participating in the tender – “Moscow Souvenir Plus”. Also the deadlines for conducting a tender and applying for it were violated. Documentation was made for already ready objects and timing for the services was technically unrealistic.

Over the past two years, the Department of Trade and Services of Moscow and state company Moscow Real Estate carried out at least 11 purchases for organization of major events in the city. In ten out of eleven purchases there was only one application filed for the teder – from “Moscow Souvenir Plus”. The only competitor of “Moscow Souvenir Plus” in procurement – the company “MF GROUP” first lost in the competition of 9 July 2015, and then was involved in the execution of the contract. “Moscow Souvenir Plus” became the winner of all the tenders.

“Moscow Souvenir Plus” is known for the organisation of festivals for the Government of Moscow. According to experts, the company with a registered capital of 10,000 roubles only (a little over 133 Euro) has received 886,280,871.32 roubles from the city budget since 2014. The company intends to get additional 187,251,019 roubles for the Moscow Spring 2016.

Experts from YABLOKO’s Anti-Corruption Centre believe that there are enough violations in the tender for procurement for the Moscow Spring 2016 festival so that a contract with “Moscow Souvenir Plus” could be abolished.

“The customer stopped accepting applications before the end of the competition, and only one application was filed, when the competition was already over – that was a clear violation. Not to mention the unrealistic deadlines for rendering services and violations in descriptions of procurement objects. According to the rules, the controlling body must decline a contract with a single supplier,” Alexei Karnaukhov, lawyer of the Anticorruption Centre comments.

Opening of the festival is announced for April 22. Given that the contract has not been signed yet, it is given only five days for the development of layouts, approvals and preparation of hundreds of objects. Such a dead line is recognised unrealistic by the Anti-Corruption Centre.

Sergei Mitrokhin has applied to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Moscow and the Moscow Department of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service with a request to inspect the contracts for corruption and fine the Department of Trade and Services for the violations, as well as prohibit concluding a contract with “Moscow Souvenir Plus” for organisation of the Moscow Spring 2016 festival.