* Admissibility date reflects the date the case was officially registered. All other dates pertain to the date in which a stage was completed.
Case Description
Complaint
On 10 April 2015, the EIB Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM) received a complaint alleging that following the completion of the works attributed to the complainant's company, the main contractor has not paid the retention amount for the completed works. As a result, the complainant considered that the retention amount should be paid by the project promoter. In addition, the complainant took the view that the money was currently retained by the promoter, because the EIB had not granted the promoter an authorisation to pay.
EIB-CM Action
The EIB-CM has reviewed possible maladministration by the Bank in that it failed to exercise its due diligence duty in relation to the Sarajevo Bypass project, namely regarding the allegedly non-payment of the retention amount by the main contractor or by the promoter on behalf of the contractor. The EIB-CM carried out a review of the complainant’s allegations, examined the correspondence provided by the complainant, as well as the correspondence exchanged between the promoter and the EIB services on this matter and the contractual conditions concluded between the promoter and the main contractor. In addition, the EIB-CM held internal consultation meeting with the relevant services.
Conclusions
It appears that the complainant does not challenge the EIB’s action or omission but rather the compliance of the main contractor with its contract. In this regard it is important to recall that the EIB-CM is not competent to investigate complaints concerning other organisations or companies. Therefore, the raised allegation falls outside the remit of the EIB-CM. As a result, the EIB-CM proceeds to close the file with no recommendations.