FRC to continue as the service provider for the reception centre in the Åland Islands

Based on an overall price comparison, the tender at the lowest price was submitted by the FRC’s district of Southwest Finland. However, according to a condition in the internal competitive tendering, the same tenderer may be chosen as the service provider for two categories at most. The FRC’s district of Southwest Finland had already won one category and the FCR’s Satakunta district had won another. The Finnish Immigration Service also applied the restriction to tenderers that are related parties, in other words, the different districts of the FRC were considered to be related parties. Since the FRC had already won the tendering competitions in two other categories, the Finnish Immigration Service chose Babando Oy, which offered the second lowest price, as the contract supplier in the Åland Islands category.

The FRC’s district of Southwest Finland appealed against the decision to the Market Court, which in its decision of 18 September 2023 overturned the decision made by the Finnish Immigration Service in spring. The Market Court considered that the Finnish Immigration Service could not presume that the FRC’s districts that participated in the competitive tendering are related parties merely based on the fact that they belong to the same FRC organisation and are under the same central administration.

The Finnish Immigration Service made a new procurement decision on the Åland Islands on 28 September 2023, choosing the FRC’s district of Southwest Finland, which submitted the tender at the lowest price, as the service provider. The district of Southwest Finland will thus continue its operations started in 2022.