Allegations of competitive advantages: 21DX denies irregularities in awarding contracts for test operations in Berlin – Berlin
The Munich company 21DX denies any unfair influence on the allocation of the operation of test centers of the state of Berlin. The co-founder and managing director Martina Samwer told the Tagesspiegel that at no time had 21DX obtained an unfair competitive advantage or been granted one.
Also, there were and are no personal acquaintances or contacts between the company and the Senate side beyond business communication. The “Checkpoint” had previously featured the familiar-looking, partly very personal tone in the mails Reported between senior proponents of 21DX and the Health Administration’s “Overall Testing Coordinator”.
Samwer says the way it was communicated and reported gave the public the wrong impression. The informal tone is due to the intensity of the working relationship.
21DX was founded in July 2020. In November 2020, when the company received its first Senate order, 21DX said it had over 100 employees. So far there have been three tenders in Berlin for the award of the operation of test centers.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the Senate initially had difficulties finding a possible provider to set up the necessary infrastructure. Later there were several offers, some of the lots were awarded to different companies. In the course of the second tender, the Senate asked 21DX to detail the specifications. This later became part of the tender documents.
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21DX Managing Director Samwer says that this was done in accordance with public procurement law and communicated transparently. 21DX neither gained a competitive advantage nor was it granted.
The Public Procurement Chamber’s decision on a complaint related to the third tender is expected on Monday. One company was excluded from participation because the Senate did not consider the required reference to be sufficient.
By the time the decision was made on the main issue, the Public Procurement Chamber had not declared the contract to 21DX invalid, but had provisionally declared the extension of the interim contract from November 25, 2021 to take effect from January 1, 2022. If the tender is repeated, 21DX can also take part in it again. This is then taken into account again among the permitted offers.