The Central Administrative Court for Contracting Resources (TACRC), part of the General State Administration through the Ministry of Finance, has decided to reject the provisional award granted to MBS Ciudad de la Luz S.L., a company linked to the multinational MBS Group, which had been involved in January this year with the Thematic Projects Society for Digital Transformation (SPTD), under the purview of the Department for Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism.
Dated 11 April 2024, the decision partially upholds a challenge brought by the Roots Asset Management S.L. – Drago Broadcast Services S.L. consortium against the award for the contract titled “professional services of an operational management and commercial team for the Ciudad de la Luz industrial audiovisual complex for production and other activities,” a procedure announced by the referenced Society.
Additionally, the TACRC ordered the suspension of the procurement process to be lifted, following a February 22 ruling by the tribunal secretary, acting on delegated authority, which had maintained the prior suspension of the procurement because a challenge to the award had been filed.
According to the challenge against the award, the contract winner was accused of failing to meet “the required solvency standards” by combining solvency from external sources rather than through its own means. It was argued that the economic solvency of MBS Ciudad de la Luz S.L. was provided by MBS Group, which allegedly did not submit a responsible declaration, thereby breaching applicable legal provisions.
The challenge also pointed to “irregularities in the assignment of resources” and a failure to demonstrate that the bidder possessed its own in-house commercialization team.
After reviewing the technical reports submitted by the successful bidder, the TACRC found those documents to be adequately reasoned and concluded there was no evidence of arbitrariness, discrimination, or manifest error. The tribunal emphasized that the evaluation did not focus solely on a water tank in isolation but rather on the overall service organization, available technical means, and the optimal use of space, leading to a dismissal of the challenge on this point.
However, the body did accept the challenge regarding the alleged insufficient technical solvency of the awardee.
The resolution from the TACRC is final in administrative terms. A contencioso-administrative appeal can be filed before the Administrative-Contentious Court of the Valencian Community’s High Court within two months from the day after this notification was received.
Following the ruling, the Department for Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism conveyed to Europa Press that the decisions of the TACRC are respected and that they are examining the ruling from a legal standpoint to determine the next steps.
“Another murky operation by the Council”
The spokesperson for the PSPV-PSOE in Les Corts, José Muñoz, criticized that the courts have overturned another questionable deal by the Consell. He noted that the contract amounted to 3.1 million euros (excluding VAT) for a five-year term with a 6.5% commercialization share for the company.
Muñoz alleged that after the PP took control of the Consell, changes were made to the technical committee appointed by the Thematic Projects for Digital Transformation Society (SPTD) to score the six proposals. This score, he argued, formed the basis for the selection in favor of MBS and asserted that the scoring was not sufficiently justified in the documentation.
He criticized what he called manipulations that favored subjective judgments in the bid evaluation and warned that the ruling casts doubt on the objectivity of the PP in managing public resources.
“With the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, the worst of the PP returns. They do not learn. This week, ex-officials admitted contract irregularities in ITV operations, and now we face strange actions that lack justification, which the courts have thankfully stopped,” he stated.
“This is a technical matter,” supporters of the Conselleria contended, criticizing the PSPV-PSOE for its interpretation of the Ciudad de la Luz ruling. They argued the earlier government initiated the tender and that the ruling does not call into question the procedure, the technical committee, or the ranking, but accepts the challenge based on the claim that the American company did not prove it had its own commercial team.
The department maintaining the project also asserted that the evaluator was the same individual appointed by the previous government, with the difference that the evaluator would work alone unless assistance was required, rather than being supported by two predesignated persons. They noted that the tender’s terms had already faced challenges under the previous administration and that contesting appeals are a common practice, something Muñoz should recognize.
Ultimately, it was explained that the TACRC operates under the Ministry of Finance as a technical body, not a court of justice as the socialist spokesperson implied.
The Conselleria suggested that the PSPV should applaud the current Ciudad de la Luz team for its management and the pace of productions attracting significant economic impact to the Valencian Community, noting that reforms were needed after the government changes to address the prior financial situation of the Digital Transformation Society.