Dear fellow citizens and participants in the international architectural competition "New Heart for the Old City"

We would like to inform you that on April 3, 2019, the Supreme Administrative Court of the Republic of Bulgaria passed the final decision about the complaint by a participant. The Court upheld the decision of the Commission for the Protection of Competition, which dismissed all of the complainant's claims as unfounded.

On the basis of the completed court procedure, we can confidently announce the procedure finalized and, respectively, the international architectural competition for a successful one.

The prizes will be awarded to the authors of the 8 awarded projects, and we will proceed to the next negotiation phase with the designer of the 1st place project (architect Claudio Nardi, Italy).

Soon we will announce details of about a forthcoming official event where the authors of the awarded projects will be able to personally present their ideas to the public in Veliko Tarnovo.

Dear participants,

We inform you that on 05 March 2019 at 11am was the final hearing before the Supreme Administrative Court. We expect that the decision will be published in one month from now.   We remind you that the decision on Supreme Administrative Court is final and is not subject to an appeal.

The project team

Dear participants,

We would like to inform You, that an appeal was made before the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC), against Decision № АКТ-1409-13.12.2018г. Now we are expecting the SAC to set a date for a court hearing. After the hearing the court will come up with a decision that is final. In this moment we are unable to know the exact  time line of this events, namely on which date the hearing will be set and how long after that the decision will come.

When we have new information we will inform You accordingly.

Dear participants,

Please be informed that with Decision № АКТ-1409-13.12.2018г. The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) REJECTED the complaints of the two participants against Decision № РД-24-106 / 17.10.2018 of the Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Veliko Tarnovo. The CPC's decision is not final and is subject to an appeal before the Supreme Administrative Court. After the two week deadline (starting with the official receiving of the decision) for the appeal, we will contact you again to inform You if there is a filed appeal.

We wish you Merry Christmas and happy Holidays!

Dear participants,

We would like to inform you, that at this point the competition procedure is not yet finished. The final decision of the mayor has been appealed before the Commission for Protection of Competition /CPC/ by two of the participants. The two complaints will likely be unified in a single litigation. To this moment, CPC has not reached a decision and we are still waiting for a date to be set for the court hearing.  The decision of CPC is not final and it is subject to an appeal before the Supreme Administrative Court. Veliko Tarnovo municipality made a request for permission to pay the award money before the appeal is over, but the CPC did not allow it. The moment we have new information regarding the competition, we will publish it accordingly.

Thank you for your understanding!

Best regards,

The project team

The protocols of the work of the Selection Committee as well as the final report pursuant to Art. 88, Para. 4 of the Public Procurement Act are published on the Profile of the Buyer of the Municipality of Veliko Tarnovo, on the day when the Decision for Classification issued by the Contracting Authority is sent to the participants in the competition.

The procedure of the Competition for a Project has not reached this stage as of this time. The European Single Procurement Documents (ESPDs) of the participants are being considered at the moment and their compliance with the criteria for removal pursuant to Art. 54 of the Public Procurement Act and the selection criteria is being assessed. A protocol shall be drawn up as a result of this, which shall be sent to the classified participants and they shall be provided with possibility to correct inappropriately filled up ESPDs or to present missing documents and/or information. 5 /five/ working days are anticipated for these actions in the law, counted from the day following the receipt of the Protocol. After this term expires, the received answers shall be reviewed and an assessment shall be made whether they satisfy the requirements in the Protocol. This work shall be reflected in a new Protocol, which the final classification shall also be prepared and included in.

Then the entire work of the Selection Committee shall be reflected in a Report, which the protocols from its work shall also be attached to and they shall be handed over to the Contracting Authority for approval. The Law anticipates a 10- /ten/-day term from the receipt of the Report for this approval, and the term shall commence to elapse from the day following the receipt. After the approval, the Contracting Authority shall have a new 10- /ten/-day term for issuance of a Decision for the classification of the participants in the competition in conformity with the Report of the Selection Committee. This Decision shall be sent within a three-day term from its issuance to all the participants, and the protocols and the Report from the work of the Selection Committee shall also be published on the day of the sending.

The particularization should be made in connection with the stated hereinabove that it is difficult to determine specific terms for the completion of the procedure by a Decision, as there is a number of factors available at hand, which may not be anticipated by the Contracting Authority and by the Selection Committee. The aspiration is that a Decision for classification should be issued as soon as possible with a view to the great public interest in the competition.

After the expiration of the term for an appeal of the Decision a conclusion of a Contract for acquisition of the copyright over the designs of the buildings by the winners in the competition shall be initiated.

A new procedure under the Public Procurement Act shall be conducted at a following stage – negotiation without a preliminary announcement with the Participant classified in the first place, within the framework of which the specific parameters for the development of a technical detailed design of the building shall be agreed.

Dear participants, please send to e-mail address info@velikotarnovocentre.com , lading number and courier delivery services company information which you used to send your documents for participating in the competition.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF DESIGNS ENTERING FOR COMPETITION (see page 81 of the Competition Program)

The design entered for competition shall be presented in a sealed opaque package (1), inscribed with:

a. the name of the applicant or participant, including the consortium members, when applicable;

b. address for correspondence, telephone and e-mail address, where possible fax;

c. name of the competition.

The package (1) shall be accompanied by the boards presenting the design, which shall by no means contain participant's identification information. In a separate opaque envelope (2), the documents under art. 89, para. 3 of the Regulation for Implementation of the PPA. When the boards are submitted in a digital form, the carrier shall not contain any identification information of the participant.

Dear participants,

Please be advised that deadline for submitting questions to Contracting Authority concerning the competition expired on 10.07.2018.

After this deadline, the Assignor will not provide answers to questions and clarifications.

The answers to questions and explanations before the announced date can be found on the Buyer profile on Veliko Tarnovo municipality website, competition website and Facebook page.

Deadline for submission of proposals concerning competition is 17.00 hrs / + 2 GMT / on 20.07.2018 in Veliko Tarnovo Municipality building, Veliko Tarnovo, postal code 5000, 2 “Mother Bulgaria” sqr.

We wish you success!

Dear participants, we would like to remind you that the deadline for submission of proposals for the competition is 17.00 / + 2 GMT / 20.07.2018.

Only proposals submitted to the Municipality of Veliko Tarnovo will be accepted until the above mentioned day and time.

Proposals received after 17.00 / + 2 GMT / 20.07.2018 will be returned to the senders for their account and will not be subject to evaluation.

You should send your project proposals within the deadlines specified above, as the cost of delivery is at your expense. Proposals sent on behalf of the recipient, will not be accepted.

Again we take the opportunity to remind you that in the Questions & Answers section of the site you can find useful information to assist you in developing your projects.

The participants may request from the Contracting Authority a clarification on the decision, the contract notice, the terms of reference for the public procurement and the descriptive document, in writing, up to 10 days before the deadline for submission of the design proposals.

The person who has made the inquiry shall not be specified in the clarification.

The Contracting Authority will not provide clarifications, if the inquiry has been received after the above specified time limit.

The clarifications will be published in the buyer profile and in the competition website.

According to art. 33, para. 1 of the PPA, persons can ask for clarifications in written form. In para. 2, point. 33 of the Addendum of the law gives the definition: “Written” or in “written form” is every expression, consisting of letters or numbers, that can be read, reproduced and messaged afterwards, including information, that is submitted and transmitted electronically. Taking this definition into account, a question asked in a form of a graphic (map) does not comply with the form that is written in the law and for this reason should not be answered.

The questions in this procedure should be asked in written form only, for the purpose of complying with the law and ensuring the equality of all the potential participants in the competition.

FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE COMPETITION:

According to the conditions of the competition, there is ONLY ONE requirement about the professional qualification potential of the participants – ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE ARE ARCHITECTS WITH A DIPLOMA OR DESIGN TEAMS THAT HAVE AT LEAST ONE MEMBER WHO HAS SUCH DIPLOMA.

There is not a requirement for possessing a full design certification.

There is not a requirement for acquiring the diploma in certain country or university/college.

AFTER the competition is over:

If the winner expresses his/hers desire for drawing the technical design of the building, then he/she needs to have the design certification, according to the requirements of the Bulgarian law, namely:

To have recognized professional qualification and permission to practice (design certification) in accordance with the Chamber of architects and investment design engineers act and a design certification in accordance with the Cultural heritage act.

It is permitted to comply with these requirements using the capacity of a third person. This could happen by signing a civil contract with such person or by other means such as creating a consortium.

* More detailed information about the conditions for participation in the competition can be found on page 76 of the Brief.