[attach id=249738 size="medium"]Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli[/attach]

Aggrieved bidders in the Government gas project will not be able to appeal the selection board’s decisions, according to the call for expressions of interest.

This appears to contradict Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi’s statements on Tuesday’s edition of Bondìplus where he said an appeals board would be specific-ally set up and bidders would be able to progress to the next round.

The document states thatbidders would be entitled to seek redress by filing a complaint in court, without halting the process at any stage, The Times has learnt.

It also restricts the type of action the court could demand if it ruled in favour of an aggrieved bidder.

“If the court finds for the complainant, the damages shall be limited to the costs incurred by the complainant in making its submission,” the document says.

If the exclusion was made “in bad faith or was manifestly unreasonable”, damages shall include any other direct, foreseeable damages that the complainant proves to have incurred.

The document specifies that bidders “shall have no right or interest to seek to stop the award of any of the energy contracts”, adding that nothing “shall be deemed to prohibit the continuation of this competitive procedure”.

Speaking on the TVM chat show, Dr Mizzi said that companies would have “the right to appeal”. He said there would be a “specific board” to which bidders could appeal at any point of the process, including the initial stage.

Asked whether such appeals process was included in the document issued by the Government, Dr Mizzi replied: “The appeals procedure is explained in the document, yes.”

When asked whether an aggrieved bidder would be able to progress to the next step of the process if the appeals board ruled in his favour, Dr Mizzi said: “Of course, if they are vindicated, isn’t that natural? Without a doubt.”

Dr Mizzi said that a similar procedure would be set up for the request for proposals, which is the next step of the bidding process.

When asked whether complaints would be made through court action, Dr Mizzi said: “One always has the right to go to court because we live in a free society, absolutely, but there will be a structure that is going to be defined by a legal team through which they can appeal and it will be very transparent.”

Asked to explain the apparent contradiction, a spokeswoman for Dr Mizzi last night said that the reference made by the minister during Bondìplus was in relation to the redress procedure to be applied at request-for-proposals stage, which is still being formulated in conjunction with the legal team.

She said that bidders who are not selected at expression-of-interest stage and who feel aggrieved by that decision would have access to a redress procedure in an independent and impartial court.

“Enemalta has therefore guaranteed adequate protection of bidders’ rights, while ensuring that the project timelines are respected.”

During the programme, Dr Mizzi explained briefly why the call for expressions of interest envisages a fixed-price contract of “a minimum of five years” rather than the 10-year contract promised before the election, as reported by The Times yesterday.

“We are leaving the doors open and looking at all options,” he said, pointing out that the contract would still be “long-term”.

“If it makes more sense for us to opt for five years, we will go for five. If it makes more sense to opt for 10, we will go for 10,” he said, pointing out that the price of gas could vary.

If a five-year contract is chosen, the rest of the contract would specify that the price would be tied to the inter-national price of gas.

Asked about the Government’s decision to go for a five-year contract, a spokesman for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said: “The expression of interest has been designed in such a way as not to exclude any feasible option in the long term. The Government is sure that the call for expressions of interest will be successful and that we will deliver the pledged decrease in energy bills with all necessary safeguards for consumers in the long term.”

About 40 interested parties have collected the document calling for expressions of interests, according to Dr Mizzi.