Legal regulations

Our company, as the Employer, conducts proceedings for the award of public and non-public contracts for supply, services and construction works on the basis of the Act of 11 September, 2019 – Public Procurement Law (the PPL Act) together with secondary legislation and the PSE Procurement Procedure.

Conditions of participation in the procedure:

Contracting parties who may compete for the PSE contract are those who are not subject to exclusion from the contract award procedure and who meet the following conditions:

• have appropriate technical potential and persons capable of performing the contract;
• have expertise and experience;
• hold powers to perform specific activity or operation if the provisions of law impose an obligation to hold them;
• have the economic and financial situation allowing to perform the contract.

Contract award procedures

The manner of conducting proceedings is specified in detail in the PPL Act and the PSE Procurement Procedures.

In order to maintain transparency of operations, we prepare and conduct public and non-public procurement proceedings in accordance with the fundamental principles of procurement under the provisions of the PPL Act and the Procurement Procedure, i.e. the principles of:

• fair competition,
• impartiality and objectivity,
• equal treatment of contractors,
• transparency.

As the Employer, we comply with the above-mentioned principles both in the preparatory phase and in the conduct of procurement proceedings, in the preparation of the terms of reference, in the appointment of the tender committees and in conducting procurement proceedings. Activities associated with the preparation and conduct of the procurement proceedings are performed by persons who ensure impartiality and objectivity.

Principle of fair competition

The principle of fair competition is the most important principle of conducting and awarding tender procedures. It is to make it possible for any interested party to have equal access to procurement information and to the procurement itself. It applies to, among others, the description of the conditions of participation in the proceedings as well as the manner of submitting declarations, requests, notifications and information.

Sometimes individual tendering procedures impose a minimum number of potential contractors, guaranteeing the principle of fair competition.

Conducting a procedure in a manner that ensures fair competition requires adherence to the following rules:

• admitting multiple contractors to participate in the procedure,
• setting requirements that guarantee access to the contract only to reliable contractors,
• defining the terms and conditions of the contract in a way that allows contractors to prepare competitive bids.

Principle of equality

The principle of equality, also known as the “principle of equal treatment of bidders” means that the Employer cannot apply requirements that favor a particular contractor, since all contractors must be treated equally, with the observance of identical criteria. Compliance with the principle of equal treatment consists primarily in applying the same measure to all contractors, i.e. setting the same requirements, applying the same verification of fulfillment of the requirements and consistency in their enforcement.

Conducting the procedure in a manner that guarantees equal treatment of contractors requires adherence to the following rules:

• defining requirements in a manner that is the same for all contractors interested in being awarded with the contract,
• specifying the same manner for everyone to confirm compliance with the requirements,
• determining – by comparing the information and documents submitted by the contractor with the requirements – whether the contractors meet the requirements and making decisions specified in the terms of the contract according to the results of the evaluation.

Principle of transparency

Transparency means clear and unambiguous rules of conduct. One of the requirements for the implementation of the principle of transparency in conducting proceedings is openness, understood as allowing all interested participants in the proceedings to have access to information on an equal basis, and taking all actions with maximum impartiality and objectivity.

Contracts awarded

PSE collaborates with a wide range of suppliers. In 2022, we awarded 483 contracts for the implementation of investment tasks, supply of goods and purchase of services to 328 contracting parties for a total amount of PLN 2,409,701,639.

PSE's major groups of contracting parties are:

• investment, modernisation and repair contractors with regard to network assets,
• suppliers of apparatus and equipment,
• companies providing services.

In 2022, 98.36 percent of the value of contracts was awarded to contracting parties from Poland, 1.47 percent to contracting parties from other European Union countries (except Poland), and the remaining 0.17 percent – to contracting parties outside the European Union.

PSE's purchasing policy is pursued in accordance with the provisions of law . Our objective in working with suppliers is to build lasting relationships and partnerships

All activities performed by our contractors are carried out as PSE S.A.'s activities and affect the perception of PSE as an investor. For this reason, of particular importance to our company is to have high standards and consistent guidelines for contractors to collaborate with local communities.

In 2022, our company concluded a number of investment agreements and placed a large order for upgrading systems software, with a value of PLN 82 million. In terms of transmission, agreements were concluded with a total value which was PLN 79 million higher than in 2021 (agreements mainly for system and availability services), and in terms of operation, expenditures increased by PLN 55 million. In total, the value of signed agreements calculated on a year-to-year basis increased by PLN 447 million in 2022.

Ethics and transparency in the relations with business partners

In accordance with the PSE Procurement Procedure, all persons directly or indirectly involved in procurement proceedings are required to comply with generally applicable law, the rules under the Code of Ethics, the compliance system, good purchasing practices and other internal regulations in force in our company.