Postal service auction
launched for third time

Remarks of Public Procurement

Authority are heeded this time

The Ministry of Telecommunications (MoT) has launched, for the third time, the auction to select an operator of the postal service to replace LibanPost which has been managing the sector since 1998.

Potential bidders could access the book of terms and conditions through the electronic platform of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) from June 7 to July 12, 2023, MoT said.

Re-launching the auction was made upon the request of PPA which had objected to what it had considered flaws in the award process in the second auction which was canceled as a result. PPA had said that the auction must be re-launched after amending the appendices of the contract and the book of terms and conditions. One of the amendments requested by PPA was to increase MoT’s share in postal service revenues by computing it as a percentage of total postal revenues, not of gross profit. The second auction was awarded to the only bidder, a consortium of Merit Invest and Colis Privé which are owned by the CMA CGM group, while no bids were submitted in the first auction which was launched last February.

The share of the State, which has been increased to ten percent from the current five percent, must be based on revenues of the operator minus direct expenses substantiated by a receipt, according to a source in a senior position. Only these expenses which are paid to a third party for the purpose of executing the transaction that has generated the revenues could be deducted from revenues, not general expenses such as salaries and depreciation of assets, said the source who declined to be named.

He said that the authorities have not carried out any feasibility study to assess the revenues generated by an operator of the postal service due to lack of funds and that the criteria for qualifying bidders must be well-defined in order attract the right operator. The source said that in light of the current disinterest of investors in projects in Lebanon, auctions and tenders launched by the State ought to be better publicized such as involving Lebanese embassies in the process.