Press release · Municipality of Apokoronas

Apokoronas water project back on track after procurement dispute resolved

May 6, 2026 Original source ↗

Summary

The municipality of Apokoronas has confirmed that the public tender for the Kokkino Chorio water supply project is proceeding after three formal objections were reviewed and settled by the national public procurement authority. The process triggered scrutiny after the lowest bid — a discount of 46.47 percent — was accepted by the evaluation committee, then partially revised following the authority's rulings. The contract is expected to be signed within approximately two months, pending a mandatory pre-contract audit by the Court of Auditors.

Kokkino Chorio water supply project moves forward after procurement review

The public tender for a new water supply system in the village of Kokkino Chorio in Apokoronas has cleared a significant hurdle. Following three formal objections and a review by the national procurement authority, the process has been confirmed as lawful and the contract is expected to be signed within about two months.

What happened in the tender

The tender was published in October 2025. Ten companies submitted bids, offering discounts on the estimated project cost ranging from 10 percent to 46.47 percent. The average discount across all bids was 32.21 percent. Under Greek procurement law, any bid more than ten percentage points above that average is automatically flagged as unusually low and must be justified in writing.

The three top bidders fell into this category. The municipality's three-member evaluation committee — composed of registered municipal technical staff — sent them a formal written request for explanations through the national e-procurement platform. All three responded on time.

When the committee reconvened in a public session on January 16, 2026, it reviewed the justifications and concluded that the explanations provided by the lowest bidder were clear and sufficient. It recommended awarding the contract to that bidder, and the municipal committee approved the recommendation.

Three objections and a ruling

Three unsuccessful bidders then filed formal pre-award objections with the national public procurement authority. The authority's panel reviewed all three and issued rulings numbered 564/2026, 565/2026 and 566/2026. The rulings led to a correction of the municipal committee's original decision — effectively setting aside the recommendation in favour of the lowest bidder.

The municipality notes that its evaluation committee acted in line with standard practice across Greece for tenders of this type, where the lowest price is the sole award criterion. According to the municipality, the committee had no prior rulings from the oversight authority to guide it at the time, and the authority's new decisions can now inform future tender processes.

The municipality also argues that had the committee itself rejected the lowest bidder, that company would likely have filed its own objection — and the outcome would have been equally uncertain.

What happens next

The tender process is continuing. According to the municipality, the contract is expected to be finalised and signed within approximately two months. Before that can happen, the Court of Auditors must complete a pre-contract legality check, which is required by law for public works contracts of this scale.

A political dispute in the background

The municipality issued its statement in direct response to public claims of a lack of transparency made by an opposition councillor who is also a member of the municipal committee. The municipality states that this councillor has had access to all official documents throughout the process and has been formally informed in writing. The characterisation of those claims as "deliberate misinformation" is the municipality's position.

Project: Water supply system, Kokkino Chorio
Tender published: October 2025
Number of bidders: 10
Average bid discount: 32.21%
Formal objections filed: 3
Oversight authority rulings: 564/2026, 565/2026, 566/2026
Estimated contract signing: within approx. 2 months (subject to Court of Auditors review)

Official source

Source translation

Machine-translated from the official source document.

PRESS RELEASE – Municipality of Apokoronas – On transparency, legality and truth in public works

May 6, 2026, 7:39 AM

With a sense of responsibility towards the citizens of Apokoronas and with absolute respect for the institutional functioning of the Municipality, the Municipal Authority is obliged to restore the truth in the face of public statements that seek to create impressions of an alleged lack of transparency and delays in public works.

The reality is clear, documented and completely recorded in the official report of the Head of the Technical Service of the Municipality:

The public electronic tender procedure for the project "Water Supply of Kokkino Chorio" was conducted in full compliance with the institutional framework (Law 4412/2016 as in force), using the ESIDIS system and with evaluation by a competent three-member committee, composed exclusively of serving municipal employees registered in the Register of Members of Tender Committees. The data of the tender are irrefutable:

Ten (10) economic operators participated with significant discounts.
The average of the discounts amounted to 32.21%.
Offers with a deviation of more than 10% from the average were characterised, in accordance with the law, as abnormally low.
The Committee requested written justification through the prescribed procedure.
The responses were evaluated and deemed sufficient, in accordance with the legislation.

The Committee acted on the basis of the principle of legality and the protection of the public interest, applying the provisions that ensure that the selection of the contractor is made with the criterion of the most economically advantageous offer. Furthermore, the procedure was institutionally reviewed through pre-award objections, which were examined by the competent independent authority; these decisions are binding and confirm the legality of the procedure, and the project is already in progress, with an estimated completion time of approximately two months from the start of implementation.

Nevertheless, it raises legitimate questions that public references to lack of transparency continue to be made by the leader of a municipal group, who is institutionally a member of the Municipal Committee, has access to all official documents and has already been informed in writing by the competent service. The insistence on inaccurate claims cannot be considered mere ignorance. On the contrary, it creates deliberate misinformation and undermines the credibility of the institutions.

The Municipal Authority states clearly that it will not allow the work and integrity of the Municipality's employees to be questioned. These people are the backbone of the Municipality's operation and serve the public interest with professionalism, knowledge and responsibility. Trust in institutions is non-negotiable. Transparency is not a slogan – it is a daily act, and the truth cannot be distorted for petty political gain. In Apokoronas, we choose the path of responsibility towards citizens, towards the history of the place, towards future generations.

The Municipal Authority of Apokoronas

TO: Municipal Committee

RE: Publications regarding the project "WATER SUPPLY OF KOKKINO CHORIO"

The views of the Tender Committee are as follows:

On 31.10.2025, the Municipality of Apokoronas published announcement No. 12698/31-10-2025 of an open electronic competitive tender for the selection of a contractor for the execution of the public works project entitled "WATER SUPPLY OF KOKKINO CHORIO" with the award criterion of the most economically advantageous offer based on price, as defined in Law 4412/2016.

The evaluation of the public electronic competitive tender is carried out by the three-member tender committee composed of municipal employees registered in the Register of Members of Committees for Procedures for the Award of Public Works Contracts (Mi.M.E.D.), in accordance with Article 221 "Bodies conducting award and execution procedures for public contracts – Delegating provision" of Law 4412/2016 as amended and in force pursuant to Law 4782/21, paragraph 8: The tender committee consists of three (3) technical employees, of category PE or TE, with their alternates, who serve at the contracting authority, registered in the Register of Members of Committees for Procedures for the Award of Public Works Contracts (Mi.M.E.D.). A representative of contractors, indicated together with their alternate by the pan-Hellenic contractor organisations, may attend the committee's proceedings without voting rights. Specifically in cases of tenders with a budget lower than one million (1,000,000) euros, in which the award criterion is the most economically advantageous offer based on price alone, the tender committee may consist of employees of the contracting authority, one of whom must mandatorily be a technical employee registered in the Register of Members of Committees for Procedures for the Award of Public Works Contracts (Mi.M.E.D.).

In the tender for the project "WATER SUPPLY OF KOKKINO CHORIO", ten (10) bidders participated:

1st with average discount 46.47%
2nd with average discount 46.00%
3rd with average discount 43.16%
4th with average discount 40.78%
5th with average discount 40.51%
6th with average discount 31.22%
7th with average discount 27.31%
8th with average discount 23.27%
9th with average discount 13.42%
10th with average discount 10.00%

Since the average of all submitted bids was: ((46.47+46.00+43.16+40.78+40.51+31.22+27.31+23.27+13.42+10.00)/10 = 322.14/10) = 32.214%, the offers of the three leading economic operators deviate by more than 10 percentage points and therefore, in accordance with article 4.1 of the tender announcement and articles 88 and 89 of Law 4412/2016, as amended by the provisions of Law 4782/2021, they are presumed to be abnormally low and require explanation.

The Tender Committee requested, as required, that an invitation be sent via the ESIDIS electronic system for the 3 economic operators to submit explanations for abnormally low offers. The invitation No. 14110/03-12-2026 "Invitation to submit explanations for abnormally low offers" was sent to the three leading economic operators, who submitted their justifications within the deadline.

The Tender Committee on January 16, 2026, a Friday, at 1:00 p.m., convened again in public session and studied the justifications for the abnormally low offers of the economic operators who were called and the drafting of the 1st minutes.

The committee found that the justifications of the economic operator with the highest discount were clear, sufficient and in accordance with article 88 of Law 4412/2016 as amended and in force, observing the principle of economy that public bodies are obliged to observe, which constitutes a general principle of budgetary law, derives from article 33 of Law 4270/2014 and in particular from the constitutionally enshrined principle of legality governing the action of administrative bodies (AEPP 251/2018), since the award criterion of the tender is the most economically advantageous offer based on price.

The Tender Committee acted as tender committees across the country act in the overwhelming majority of cases (which we remind are composed of employees and not lawyers) with the criterion of the most economical offer.

The entire tender procedure was recorded in Minutes No. 1 of the Tender Committee, which was forwarded to the municipal committee for approval and was ultimately approved by decision 6/2026 of the municipal committee.

After the adoption of decision 6/2026, three pre-award objections were filed before the Single Public Procurement Authority (EADHSY), which were adjudicated by the 9th panel of E.A.DI.SY., and three decisions were issued: 564/2026, 565/2026 and 566/2026.

The panels of EADHSY are composed of lawyers with appropriate training and specialisation in public tenders who study the objections and decide according to their judgement, experience and in accordance with the law. These decisions are mandatorily implemented by the contracting authorities unless someone wishes to appeal to the Greek courts for their annulment.

The evaluation committee of the present tender, which recommended to the municipal committee the 1st minutes and as a result decision 6/2026 was adopted, which was annulled by EADHSY, considered it rash and with serious consequences to reject the most economical offer when the tender has this criterion, especially without being able to rely on another relevant decision of EADHSY as it could rely upon after the issuance of the above decisions in a subsequent tender.

Even if the committee had done so and cancelled the economic operator with the highest discount as the 9th panel of EADHSY did, it is given that no time would have been saved in the tender process, as that economic operator would again have filed an objection against that decision with EADHSY and again the municipal committee would have had to comply, at its discretion, with a new decision from it.

The tender for the public works project entitled "WATER SUPPLY OF KOKKINO CHORIO" is in progress and it is estimated that in approximately two months (because it is being reviewed pre-contractually for its legality by the Court of Auditors before the signing of the contract) it will have been contracted and will begin to be executed.

The President of the Tender Committee Evangelia Kastrinaki, Civil Engineer