As part of the Swiss Contribution, Switzerland is supporting the Ózd Water Supply Rehabilitation Project with more than 1.5 billion HUF (more than 7 million Swiss francs). As a pilot project, the public procurement processes are accompanied by an independent monitor expert, and the municipality and bidders sign the so called Integrity Pacts – an anti-corruption tool developed by Transparency International – in which they declare full transparency in their behavior. Today, Ózd municipality, the independent monitoring expert and Transparency International Hungary signed an Integrity Pact in view of the up-coming construction phase. Present were also the Ambassador of Switzerland, the Vice President of the National Development Agency and the CEO of VÁTI Non-profit Ltd., the Intermediate Body.

Ózd as a pioneer in transparent public procurement

This is the first Integrity Pact pilot in Hungary involving construction activities. Ózd municipality under the previous and current mayor has endorsed the Integrity Pact initiative, showing support across the political spectrum. Also, the National Development Agency (NDA) and the Intermediate Body VÁTI NonProfit Ltd. have been supportive of the initiative. VÁTI – as part of the common transparency efforts – will upload all closed and ongoing tenders in the framework of the Swiss Contribution Program on their webpage by mid-December. While the Swiss Party has contracted Proactive Management Consulting as the monitor expert, Transparency International (TI) Hungary acts as an advisor. As part of the project the most critical parts of the water supply network will be replaced as well as the control system completely renewed. After the project management, the PR services and planning services having been procured (publicly), the launch of the tender for the construction works are planned for early 2013. All documents of the procurements are publicly disclosed on the Ózd website. There were no appeals so far in the public procurements. “We are grateful to the Swiss Confederation for their contribution which will greatly help us to complete a project in order to supply our town with clear and transparent drinking water based on a reliable service. The Integrity Pact signed today will provide the contractors a clear, transparent and reliable partnership during the project” – Ózd mayor, Pál Fürjes said. In addition, the Ambassador of Switzerland stated that the signing of the Integrity Pact demonstrates the commitment of the Swiss and Hungarian partners on integrity and transparency, with the Swiss Contribution Program being in the full implementation phase.

Integrity Pact Pilot

The goal of the pact is to reduce any chances of corrupt practices during procurement through a binding agreement between Ózd municipality and bidders for the construction contracts. The Integrity Pact has been signed by the Ózd municipality, the monitor expert Proactive Management Consulting and TI-Hungary, and countersigned by the NDA and the VÁTI Non-profit Ltd. “The goal of today’s signing ceremony is awareness raising to have all bidders – when submitting their bid – sign the declaration to join the Integrity Pact to reflect their commitment to transparency” – states Noémi Alexa from TI-Hungary. They will agree in the IP that they will not accept bribes during the procurement process and respectively that they will not offer bribes.

The winning bidder will conclude a contract on construction works with Ózd municipality containing integrity sections on a mandatory basis. The responsibility of the monitor expert is to ensure everybody keeps their commitment to the Integrity Pact. For this purpose the monitoring expert is entitled to access without restriction all project documentation of Ózd, the bidders and the subcontractors and provides a strong supervision of the performance of all stakeholders. In this way the Integrity Pact ensures the correct implementation of procedures, resulting in increased trust in the law and government institutions. The Integrity Pact provides a strong prevention of any illegal actions of the stakeholder and due to the strong media presence contractors would face substantial negative consequences to their business would they commit any illegal action. Otherwise, the Integrity Pact refers to the same sanctions (and partly repeats them) contained in the Hungarian Civil Code and Public Procurement Act.