Brief
The objective is to procure audit services to verify reimbursement request files related to direct expenses, specifically: - salary incentive payments for all personnel who received such incentives, - expenses for domestic/international travel (transport, travel allowances for APIA personnel on duty, and travel related to delegated measures), in accordance with the technical assistance measure (M20) provisions under the 2014-2020 National Rural Development Program (PNDR). These services will ensure that the reimbursement request files are eligible for payment, preventing unjustified salary incentive payments to personnel and optimizing public fund usage. Detailed technical specifications and requirements for the requested services are outlined in section 3 of the specifications document. The context for providing these services is specified in the specifications document. According to the technical assistance measure provisions, direct expense verifications will be outsourced to an independent entity. Therefore, it is necessary to initiate procurement procedures for audit services to verify reimbursement request files submitted by the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture to the Agency for Financing Rural Investments (AFIR). A framework service agreement will be established for a period of 3 years from the signing date by both parties, covering a single lot with one economic operator. Economic operators can request clarifications 18 days before the deadline for submitting offers. The contracting authority will prepare and post responses to all clarification requests in the SICAP system 11 days before the offer submission deadline. Based on the framework agreement, subsequent contracts for external audit services will be concluded according to the contracting authority's needs. The decision to procure and establish a framework agreement with minimum and maximum limits is based on the uncertainty regarding the number of activity reports to be audited at the time of drafting the specifications document. It is estimated that a maximum of 6 subsequent contracts will be concluded within a year. The framework agreement will be governed by unit rates/activity reports for salary incentive expenses and unit rates/travel expenses related to the two types of expenses subject to auditing. Subsequent contracts will be concluded in accordance with the unit rates/activity reports and unit rates/travel expenses specified in the framework agreement, updated as necessary. The specifications document contains both the general requirements of APIA for awarding the framework agreement and estimates of the minimum and maximum quantities of services that will be subject to the framework agreement, as well as estimates of the minimum and maximum quantities of services that could be the subject of a single subsequent contract during the framework agreement's duration.
