Operation Duster Pick-Up for dignitaries. “Errors in the purchase documents”: Bolojan's Chancellery explains why it canceled the lease of 19 cars

The Chancellery of Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan canceled the tender for the lease of 19 cargo vans for 3 years “due to changing needs” and some “errors/omissions in the procurement documents”, according to an announcement published in the Public Procurement Electronic System. So far, since September, the Government has leased 17 Dacia Duster Pick-Up vans, vehicles that it now wants replaced through the new auction.

At HotNews' request, the Chancellery claims that it decided to reduce the number of cars needed from 19 to 17, “on the background of a rigorous reassessment of the needs of the institution and the imperative to optimize public spending.” The vehicles would be used by several dignitaries, including secretaries of state and state councilors, directors and heads of cabinet in the Government.

The Prime Minister's Chancellery, led by Mihai Jurca, should have received by Monday, February 23, several offers at the open auction for the supply in operational leasing of a maximum of 19 vehicles category N1 (vans – no), of the SUV/pick-up type, for 3 years, without acquiring ownership of them, contract estimated at over 2.1 million lei (without VAT).

The acquisition takes place in the context of the expiration of the operational leasing contract concluded last fall, through which 17 Dacia Duster Pick-Up vans were leased through a direct purchase procedure, without an auction.

Bolojan's chancellery decided to rent vans, instead of cars, in order not to violate the current legal prohibitions on the purchase and rental of new vehicles.

What errors led to the cancellation of the purchase

The Chancellery sent a tender cancellation notice in SEAP, with the following reasons:

• “Decision of the buyer due to the change in needs. Errors/omissions were identified in the procurement documents (specifications, estimate note and report of need) that make it impossible to draw up offers that satisfy the needs of the contracting authority, as it is necessary to approve the cancellation of the procedure in accordance with the provisions of Art. 211 letter b) in conjunction with Art. 212 paragraph (1) letter c) and (2) of Law no. 98/2016 on public procurement”.

The government explains why it canceled the auction

HotNews requested clarifications from the Prime Minister's Office regarding the errors/omissions identified in the specifications.

“The initial procedure, published in SEAP on 22.01.2026, was launched in the form of a 3-year framework agreement, benefiting beforehand from a conditional approval issued by ANAP. However, following the validation stages and the analysis of requests for clarifications, the contracting authority identified an incompatibility between the instrument of the framework agreement and the specificity of operational leasing services.

Within a classic framework agreement, the quantities are estimated in a minimum-maximum range, there is an inherent uncertainty for operators regarding the final volume to be contracted.

In the case of operational leasing, the mobility requirement is structural and permanent, and the fleet represents a fixed and indivisible logistic unit. Unlike a purchase of goods where the delivery can be in installments, the substantiation of the leasing rate (monthly rent) depends directly on a certain and guaranteed volume of units”, says the institution.

Under these conditions, the Chancellery says that it has reached the conclusion that “maintaining the structure of the framework agreement generates prudential bidding risks from the operators (due to the uncertainty of the volume), which made it impossible to obtain an optimal rate”.

“Consequently, it was decided to cancel the procedure based on Art. 211 letter b) and Art. 212 paragraph (1) letter c) and (2) of Law No. 98/2016, to allow the transition to an open auction (with firm quantity), the only way to guarantee a competitive price and eliminate the risks related to the immobilization of the fleet”, the Chancellery says.

Why was it decided to reduce the number of rental cars?

HotNews reported to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister that in SEAP there is a document with corrections to this purchase.

Among the corrections made by the Chancellery is the reduction of the estimated value of the largest subsequent contract from 729,600 lei to 576,000 lei. What is the explanation?

“Regarding the mentioned values, we specify that in the documentation a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 19 vehicles were initially provided as a result of some clarification stages, trying to harmonize the requirements with the specific rigors of a framework agreement (respectively establishing the maximum quantities per agreement and subsequent contracts).

Following the re-evaluation, it was found that maintaining this structure would have required the rigid contracting of a fleet of 15 or 19 units for the entire duration of 36 months, without the possibility of a real optimization in relation to the dynamics of operational needs. This finding substantiated the decision to cancel, in order to recalibrate the purchase,” says the Chancellor.

“Following the reanalysis, it was decided to reduce the maximum amount from 19 units to 17, based on a rigorous reassessment of the institution's needs and the imperative to optimize public spending.

The new quantity of 17 certain units for the leasing contract has been recalibrated based on an updated market study, taking advantage of the economic advantage of a “guaranteed firm quantity”, the Chancellery claims.

The auction will be resumed. What happens to the 17 Duster Pick-ups already leased

The institution also specified that “the procedure will be resumed in the form of an open auction for a fixed number of 17 vehicles over a period of 3 years, thus ensuring a unitary and transparent calculation base for all bidders”.

“In order to ensure the continuity of critical public services and prevent the blocking of the activity of dignitaries and specialized structures, given the absence of an approved national budget at the time of the initiation of the proceedings, the institution resorted to the legal mechanisms provided for by Art. 104 paragraph (1) letter c) of Law No. 98/2016 for strictly limited periods, thus maintaining the mobility necessary for the uninterrupted management of institutional attributions and complex administrative processes.

We underline the fact that the cancellation decision represented an act of administrative responsibility, assumed to correct the identified form errors and to ensure an optimal alignment of the documentation with the specifics of the relevant market. Through this approach, a solution was obtained that guarantees a superior use of public resources and an economic foundation fully adapted to the nature of operational leasing services. This recalibration ensures obtaining the most advantageous market conditions, while also protecting the financial interests of the institution through the predictability of the volume of contracted units”, the Prime Minister's Chancellery also specified.

Article 104 para. (1) lit. c) from Law no. 98/2016, invoked by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, gives the right to a public institution to make a direct purchase without an auction.

We remind you that in September of last year, the Chancellery bought, through direct purchase, operational leasing (rental) services for 3 months for 17 Dacia Duster Pick-Up vans.

Mihai Jurca explained in a conference at the Government that the law currently forbids institutions to rent a certain type of vehicle. So, he said, because the Government wanted to reduce expenses in this chapter, the prime minister's office decided to rent, for three months, cars in the “utility” category and that in this way “costs were 10 times lower”.

According to the specifications published in SEAP, “the period of use of the vehicles will be 3 months with the possibility of extension by additional act”.

Currently, Dacia Duster Pick-Up cars can still be seen in the Government yard.