Procurement of firefighting equipment

This is an EU‑financed open public procurement (not a grant) led by the Ministry of Public Works of Montenegro for supply, delivery, commissioning and warranty support of firefighting equipment to strengthen civil protection and emergency response. The procurement is divided into three lots: Lot 1 for eleven 4x4 forest fire trucks, Lot 2 for two passenger vans (8+1) and two cargo vans, and Lot 3 for wildland firefighting backpacks (500), two self‑supporting reservoirs and 700 protective suits, with award to the lowest compliant price and non‑electronic submission required by 22 December 2026, 15:00 Montenegro time. Selection thresholds and guarantees include Lot 1 minimum average turnover €4,500,000 with tender guarantee €50,000, Lot 2 turnover €250,000 with tender guarantee €2,000, and Lot 3 turnover €1,400,000 with tender guarantee €15,000. Contracts are DDP Podgorica with performance guarantees (5–10% per dossier), required FAT/SAT testing, specified warranty/after‑sales obligations and full tender dossier and templates available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

What is funded

Scope

Open tender (EC-ENEST/TGD/2026/EA-OP/0121) to supply, deliver, commission where applicable and provide warranty support for firefighting equipment divided into three lots to strengthen operational capacity of the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro (fire suppression, civil protection, disaster risk reduction, emergency response). Funding source: Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III) 1.

Who can apply

Open to natural persons and legal entities established in EU Member States, eligible countries under IPA III, and international/regional organisations; consortia allowed. Subcontracting permitted. Tenderers must meet financial, professional and technical selection criteria specified per lot (turnover, past supplies, staff) 1.

Budget and contract conditions

Estimated total value not specified in notice; procurement financed under IPA III. Contracts are unit-price, DDP Podgorica, award by lowest price per lot. Tender guarantees and performance guarantees required (specified amounts per lot in tender dossier). VAT rules and payment schedules published in tender dossier 1.

How to apply

Download full tender dossier and templates from the Funding & Tenders Portal, prepare technical and financial offers per lot, include required declarations and guarantees, and submit paper tenders to the contracting authority address (Ministry of Public Works, Podgorica) by the deadline 1.

Footnotes

1. 1Tender details and full tender dossier available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal: Procurement of firefighting equipment (Call EC-ENEST/TGD/2026/EA-OP/0121) F&T Tender page

Opportunity summary

Lots, deliverables and implementation periods

This procurement is divided into three separate lots. Contracts are awarded lot-by-lot; a tenderer may bid for one, several or all lots. If awarded multiple lots a single contract may be concluded covering those lots.

Eligibility and applicant types

Selection and award requirements (what evaluators will check)

The tender dossier defines both selection (financial, professional, technical capacity) and award (lowest price) criteria. Tenderers must provide documentary evidence as requested in the tender dossier; missing documents or non-compliant tenders will be rejected. All correspondence and tender documentation must be in English.

Financial and contractual conditions

Submission process and templates

Procurement rules, ethics & compliance

The tender procedure follows the EU rules for external actions procurement (Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 and practical guide / ePRAG rules referenced in the tender dossier). Exclusion and rejection clauses apply (fraud, corruption, sanctions, breaches). Ethical conduct rules, anti-corruption, respect for human rights, environmental legislation and core labour standards are mandatory. The contracting authority may apply administrative sanctions including exclusion and financial penalties up to 10% of contract value for breaches. The contracting authority reserves the right to cancel the procedure for stated reasons in the tender dossier.

Administrative, technical and evaluation stages

Geographic and beneficiary scope

Target sector and project stage

Funding type and financial scale

Application type and contact / documents

Risk, success rates and co-funding

Important contractual and operational provisions to note

How to prepare a compliant tender — practical checklist

Follow the tender dossier order. The contracting authority emphasises that failure to submit required documentation will lead to rejection. Key documents to include and check:

Summary and final explanation

Footnotes

1. 1Full tender dossier and the additional information contract notice were published on 20/10/2026 and are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal opportunity page: Tender dossier and documents.

Executive summary

This is an EU financed public procurement procedure, not a grant scheme. The Ministry of Public Works of Montenegro is purchasing firefighting vehicles, transport vans, wildland firefighting equipment and personal protective equipment to strengthen the operational capacity of the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro in fire suppression, civil protection, disaster risk reduction and emergency response.

The procedure is an open procedure under the EU Instrument for Pre accession Assistance, IPA III, and the Multiannual Operational Programme on Environment and Climate Change in favour of Montenegro for 2024 to 2027. Offers are evaluated on the basis of the lowest compliant price. No maximum total contract value or estimated value for the lots is stated in the available contract notice and tender dossier.

The authoritative opportunity record and procurement documents are available at EU Funding and Tenders Portal opportunity.

Opportunity identification

Procedure status and key dates

The contract notice was published on 20 October 2026. The tender deadline is 22 December 2026 at 15:00 Montenegro time. The public opening session is scheduled for 29 December 2026 at 13:00 Montenegro time. The contracting authority is not required to answer clarification requests received after 1 December 2026 at 23:59 Montenegro time.

The tender dossier indicates an indicative award notification in March 2027 and indicative contract signature in May 2027. These dates are provisional and may change.

All tenders must remain valid for 90 days from the submission deadline. The contracting authority may request an extension of up to 40 days in specified circumstances. The successful tenderer remains bound for an additional 60 days after the initial validity period.

Key timetable

The following dates and requirements should be treated as operational deadlines for bid planning.

Lots and required supplies

The procurement is divided into three lots. Tenderers may bid for one, several or all lots, but must offer the complete quantity specified for each lot selected. Each lot forms a separate contract, although the authority may conclude one contract if the same tenderer wins more than one lot.

All lots must include the additional provision of spare parts and or consumables. Tenderers must provide recommended lists and unit prices. The spare parts and consumables prices are generally not part of the primary evaluation, except where differences are substantial and affect the assessment.

Eligibility and who can apply

Participation is open to natural persons who are nationals of, and legal persons effectively established in, an EU Member State or a country or territory eligible under Article 11 of Regulation EU No 2021/1529 establishing IPA III. International and regional organisations may also participate.

Participation is permitted individually or through a consortium. A consortium may be permanently established or created informally for this procurement. All consortium members are jointly and severally liable to the contracting authority. An ineligible consortium member can cause exclusion of the entire consortium.

Subcontracting is allowed. Subcontractors, consortium members and capacity providing entities must comply with the applicable eligibility and exclusion requirements. The tenderer remains responsible for demonstrating that the necessary resources will be available for contract performance.

The procurement documents state that all supplies may originate in any country in the additional contract notice. However, the tender dossier also contains an origin clause requiring goods to originate in the EU or in countries and territories authorised by the applicable IPA III instrument unless an exception applies. Tenderers should follow the specific origin declarations and evidence requirements in the final tender dossier and should not assume that unrestricted global origin is sufficient without documentary confirmation.

Participation restrictions

A natural or legal person may submit no more than one tender in any capacity, whether as an individual tenderer, consortium leader or consortium member. For lots, only one tender may be submitted per lot. A person participating in more than one tender may cause all affected tenders to be excluded.

Tenderers must not be subject to EU restrictive measures, exclusion situations or rejection grounds under the applicable EU external action procurement rules. Declarations on honour are required from the tenderer and, where relevant, each consortium member, subcontractor and capacity providing entity.

Selection criteria by lot

The tender dossier establishes separate economic, professional and technical capacity thresholds for each lot. The criteria are minimum eligibility requirements and are assessed before the price comparison of technically compliant tenders.

For partially completed reference contracts, only the portion completed during the relevant reference period is counted. Evidence must identify the completed value and the tenderer's specific contribution. Acceptable evidence may include an approval of a report or deliverable, proof of payment, a certificate from the contracting entity, consortium documentation and evidence of transfers between consortium members.

A tenderer may rely on the capacities of other entities where permitted. The capacity providing entity must meet the relevant eligibility and selection requirements and must commit its resources to the tenderer. For technical and professional capacity, that entity must perform the tasks for which its capacity is relied upon. Entities supporting economic or financial capacity become jointly and severally liable for performance.

Financial parameters and funding conditions

The procurement does not provide grant funding or a reimbursement rate. The successful supplier is paid under the resulting supply contract according to the accepted unit prices and applicable contractual payment provisions.

The estimated value of the overall procurement and the individual lots is not stated in the available notice or tender dossier. Tenderers must therefore develop their own compliant price based on the technical specifications, quantities, delivery obligations, warranty support, training, spare parts, consumables and all other contract costs.

All financial data and tender prices must be expressed in euros. Where historical financial information is originally stated in another currency, the tender dossier refers to the September 2026 InforEuro exchange rate for conversion.

Prices must be submitted on a delivered duty paid basis to the specified locations in Montenegro. Amounts are to be quoted excluding taxes, with VAT shown separately where applicable. The financing arrangements provide for full exemption from the applicable taxes and customs charges identified in the financing agreement between the European Union and Montenegro. Tenderers should verify the precise treatment with their national authorities and price the offer according to the tender templates.

Tender guarantees

An original signed tender guarantee is required for each lot tendered. The required amounts are €50,000 for Lot 1, €2,000 for Lot 2 and €15,000 for Lot 3.

The tender guarantee must remain valid for 45 days beyond the tender validity period. It is released to unsuccessful tenderers after completion of the procedure and to the successful tenderer after contract signature and submission of any required performance guarantee. It may be called if the tenderer fails to comply with its tender obligations.

Performance guarantee

The tender dossier provides for a performance guarantee between 5 percent and 10 percent of the contract value, with the final percentage to be confirmed in the contract documents. The guarantee is generally released within 60 days of the final acceptance certificate, except for any portion relating to after sales service. For contracts of €150,000 or less, the authority may decide not to require a performance guarantee on objective grounds.

Submission requirements

The submission method is non electronic. Tenders must be sent by post, courier or hand delivered to the Ministry of Public Works in Podgorica. The tenderer bears the risk of late delivery. A tender that arrives late may be rejected even where it was deposited with a postal or courier service before the deadline in circumstances permitted by the procurement rules.

The tender must consist of one original and three copies, signed consistently. It must be enclosed in a sealed outer envelope marked with the contracting authority address, procurement reference, lot numbers where applicable, the required instruction not to open before the tender opening session, and the tenderer's name.

The technical and financial offers must be presented in separate sealed envelopes within the overall submission package, unless the volume requires separate packages for different lots.

Required tender content

The submission should follow the order requested in the tender dossier and include the following elements.

Technical offer containing a detailed description of the proposed supplies and evidence of conformity with the technical specifications.

Lists of manufacturer recommended spare parts and consumables, including unit prices where requested.

Proposal for after sales service for three years with itemised prices.

Proposal for spare parts and consumables for three years with itemised prices.

Training proposal, including identified training needs and proposed arrangements.

Commercial warranty description meeting the contractual requirements.

Financial offer based on delivered duty paid delivery, including training costs where applicable, with taxes treated as required by the tender dossier.

Completed and signed supply tender form and declarations on honour.

Completed identification form and supporting corporate documentation.

Evidence that the person signing the tender is properly authorised, such as statutes, power of attorney or a notarised statement.

Evidence of the required tender guarantee for each lot selected.

Language and documentary evidence

All written communications, tenders and contract documents must be in English. Supporting documents in other languages should be accompanied by an English translation. Documents requested to prove exclusion and selection compliance should generally be dated no more than one year before the tender submission date.

The contracting authority may request documentary evidence at any stage before award and will normally request it from the tenderer proposed for award at short notice. Failure to provide valid evidence within the requested period can lead to rejection and potential award to the next lowest compliant tenderer or cancellation of the procedure.

Evaluation and award

The evaluation begins with an administrative conformity check. Tenders containing substantial departures from the tender dossier, restrictions, missing required information or unauthorised conditions may be rejected without an opportunity to correct the defect.

Technically compliant tenders are then evaluated financially. The sole award criterion is price, and the contract is awarded to the lowest priced tender that meets all administrative, eligibility, selection and technical requirements. The authority may correct arithmetical errors in accordance with the tender rules. The tenderer is bound by the corrected amount if it accepts the correction.

Variant solutions are not permitted. Tenderers may offer discounts for awarding several lots, but discounts must be clearly allocated to the relevant lots and announced during the public opening session.

Contract delivery and acceptance

The contractual delivery period begins from the date specified in the commencement order and ends when the provisional acceptance certificate is issued. The supplied goods must be delivered, unloaded, sited, installed and commissioned where applicable at the locations specified in the technical specifications.

Provisional acceptance requires the delivered items to have been installed and tested where applicable and found compliant with the technical specifications. The contractor must also demonstrate compliance with the contractual communication and visibility requirements. Final acceptance follows remediation of defects or damage arising during the warranty period.

The contracting authority may vary the quantities at the time of contracting and during the contract validity using the quoted unit prices. Although the quantities may be varied by up to 100 percent in the relevant contractual provision, the total contract value resulting from the variation may not increase or decrease by more than 10 percent of the original financial offer.

Commercial and compliance obligations

Tenderers and contractors must comply with EU values, human rights requirements, applicable environmental legislation, core International Labour Organization labour standards, data protection requirements and anti corruption rules.

Conflicts of interest, attempts to influence the evaluation, collusive arrangements, false declarations, unusual commercial expenses, bribery or fraudulent conduct may result in rejection, contract termination, financial penalties or exclusion from future EU financed procedures.

The EU is financing the procurement but is not itself a party to the resulting contract and is not responsible for contractual disputes between the contracting authority and the supplier.

Applicant assessment

The opportunity is most suitable for established manufacturers, authorised distributors and specialist suppliers with documented experience in emergency vehicles, firefighting equipment, personal protective equipment or comparable transport supplies. The financial thresholds and mandatory guarantees are particularly significant for Lot 1.

Lot 1 presents the highest qualification and financial burden because it requires a minimum average annual turnover of €4,500,000, a prior reference contract of at least €600,000 in specialised vehicles and a €50,000 tender guarantee. Lot 3 may suit specialist protective equipment and firefighting equipment suppliers, subject to the €1,400,000 turnover requirement and prior contract evidence. Lot 2 has the lowest financial threshold but still requires a relevant vehicle supply reference and a €2,000 tender guarantee.

Potential bidders should confirm early that they can provide complete lot quantities, meet the delivery periods, support warranty obligations in Montenegro, provide three years of after sales service and spare parts, submit the required original guarantees and deliver a fully compliant paper tender by the deadline.

Recommended bid preparation checklist

1. Download and review the complete tender dossier, technical specifications, technical offer templates, budget templates and draft contract.

2. Select the lot or lots to be tendered and verify that the entire quantity for each selected lot can be supplied.

3. Confirm the tenderer's eligibility, nationality, ownership and exclusion status, including the status of consortium members, subcontractors and capacity providers.

4. Prepare turnover evidence for the last three closed financial years.

5. Prepare evidence of at least two relevant personnel on average during the required professional reference period.

6. Prepare documentary evidence for the required reference supply contract, including value, dates, scope and the tenderer's specific contribution.

7. Obtain the correct tender guarantee for every lot selected and ensure that it remains valid for the required period.

8. Prepare technical compliance tables, warranty terms, training proposals, after sales support, spare parts and consumables schedules.

9. Price the offer in euros on a delivered duty paid basis and separate taxes as required.

10. Submit one original and three copies in the required sealed packaging by post, courier or hand delivery with sufficient time for physical receipt in Podgorica.

11. Submit clarification requests no later than 1 December 2026 at 23:59 Montenegro time.

12. Retain proof of dispatch or hand delivery and verify that the package is correctly marked and addressed.

Key risks and points requiring confirmation

The published notice does not state the estimated financial value of the procurement or the individual lots. Bidders must rely on the quantities and technical requirements in the tender dossier when determining commercial viability.

The notice describes submission as non electronic. The physical submission address and packaging rules in the tender dossier therefore take precedence over general portal messages concerning electronic submissions.

The available documents contain both a statement that supplies may originate in any country and a tender dossier origin clause referring to EU or authorised country origin. This should be resolved through the final tender dossier, any issued clarification and the applicable IPA III rules before pricing or sourcing goods.

The tender dossier contains a provisional performance guarantee percentage expressed as a range. Bidders should verify the final percentage in the completed contract documents or any subsequent clarification before finalising financial arrangements.

The authority may cancel the procedure if no suitable tender is received, prices exceed available financing, project parameters change, force majeure applies, irregularities or fraud affect the procedure, or the proposed price is considered disproportionate to market conditions.

Source documents

The primary source is the European Commission Funding and Tenders Portal record for Procurement of firefighting equipment: Opportunity record.

The additional contract notice and tender dossier are published within the same official opportunity record. They contain the definitive eligibility, selection, technical, submission, guarantee and contractual requirements and should be checked for amendments before submission.