In Lviv, preparations are under way to relaunch auctions for the right to lease locations for mobile trading in the city’s parks. This decision was taken after most of the winners of the previous auctions failed to sign the documents required to conclude lease agreements. The news was announced by the Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, Liubomyr Zubach.
According to the official, so far the protocol with the winner has been signed for only one location — in Saint John Paul II Park. As for the other trading spots, the entrepreneurs who won the auctions did not conclude the agreements within the prescribed time limits.
«Unfortunately, we have to relaunch the auctions for mobile trading in our parks because of the bad-faith conduct of certain entrepreneurs. At present, the protocol has been signed for only one location — in Saint John Paul II Park. We hope that the lease agreement will also be concluded in the near future» — Liubomyr Zubach
Liubomyr Zubach noted that the City Council has recorded signs of deliberate overbidding during the auctions, which in effect disrupted them. Demand for these locations, he said, is high: at least ten participants took part in each auction, most of whom offered economically justified prices. The city is interested in holding fair and transparent auctions.
The repeat auctions are expected to be announced by the end of the month, with the first lots to be published in the coming days. At the same time, Lviv City Council is preparing additional safeguards to prevent similar situations in future.
As the Deputy Mayor explained, under the rules of «Prozorro.Sale», participants who refused to sign the protocols after winning an auction will be disqualified. This, in turn, makes it possible to set a higher guarantee deposit. Whereas previously it amounted to a few hundred hryvnias, the deposit can now be raised to the maximum permitted level — up to 10 minimum wages, which is approximately 86,000 UAH.
The City Council is calling on entrepreneurs to take an active part in the repeat auctions and stresses that the city is open to transparent and fair competition. Officials also point out that some participants may have deliberately driven up bids to discourage others from taking part in the auctions, but such attempts are to be curbed through higher guarantee deposits.
As a reminder, at the end of June Lviv put up for auction mobile trading locations in the parks «Horikhovyi Hai», «Piskovi Ozera», «Vysokyi Zamok», «Sknylivskyi», «Bodnarivka», «Zalizna Voda», Ivan Vyhovskyi Park, «Levandivskyi», «700th Anniversary of Lviv» Park, Ivan Franko Park, Saint John Paul II Park and «Zamarstynivskyi».