National Lottery of the Republic of North Macedonia, Announces Tender for Awarding Join Venture Contract for Establishing Three Trade Companies for Organizing Internet (Online) Game of Chance.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT NO. 01-POTD/2023

FOR SUBMISSION OF BIDS FOR AWARDING JOINT VENTURE CONTRACTS FOR ESTABLISHINGTHREE TRADE COMPANIES FOR ORGANIZING INTERNET (ONLINE) GAMES OF CHANCE

1. THE SUBJECT OF THIS PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

A public announcementfor bids is announced for the award of joint venture contracts for the establishment of three trade companies for organizing internet (online) games of chance.

The total base capital of the new company(individual company) will be 4.431.572 EURand will consist of monetary and non-monetary deposits.

The subject of the contract is a joint venture by the National Lottery and the selected bidders, for the establishment of three legal entities – trade companies for organizing Internet (online) games of chance, whereby the bidders shall provide the joint venture trade company with financial resources and know-how for organizing Internet (online) games of chance for the period of 15 (fifteen) years with the possibility of extension.

The non-monetary investment of the National Lottery consists of the right to organize internet (online) games of chance, with an estimated total value of 2.260.102 EUR (two million two hundred sixty thousand one hundred and two euros), which will represent 51% of the capital of the trade company for organizing internet (online) games of chance.

The investment in the joint venture by the partner that as a shareholder/partner invests in the trade company in the establishment procedure, consists of money in the amount of €2.171.470 (two million one hundred seventy one thousand and four hundred and seventy euros), which will be for but not limited to operating expenses (material and financial) which will ensure the unhindered functioning of the company (adequate business premises, procurement of vehicles, service training for employees, salaries for employees, marketing campaigns, etc.), and are in accordance with the documentation to the public announcement and the accepted bid of the partner, an integral part of this contract which will represent 49% of the capital of the trade company for organizing internet games of chance.

The following conditions apply to the bids for the selection of three partners for submission of bids for awarding joint venture contracts in the three new trade companies for organizing internet (online) games of chance:

1. DOCUMENTATION ON THE PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
2. All interested legal entities can pick up the documentation on the public announcment, which consists of tender documentation feasibility studyand an assessment for the establishment of three new trade companies for organizing internet (online) games of chance, upon payment of 2.000,00 EUR on the account of the NationalLottery as follows:

­for domestic legal entities, €2.000,00 (two thousand euro) in denar equivalent at the intermediate exchange rate of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, on the day of payment (Depository Bank NLB Tutunska Banka – Skopje on transaction account number 210064368460158);

­for foreign legal entities amount of 2.000,00 EUR (Correspondent Bank: NLB Tutunska Banka – Skopje, IBAN: MK 07210701000626140, SWIFT: TUTUNMK22).

2. The documentation on the public announcment (tender documentation, feasibility study and the assessment for establishing three new trade companies for organizing internet (online) games of chance) after the executed payment, can be picked up at the registered seatof the NationalLottery, 18th floor in MRTV building in Skopje, until September22.09.2023.
3. The documentation can be picked up, by presenting a:

а. document on the identity of the bidder – excerpt from the relevant Register;

1. proof of payment for the documentation on the publicannouncement;
2. signed and certified confidentiality statement and
3. appropriate power of attorney from the bidder for the person authorized to collect the documentation.
4. The documents from item 3, which are not in Macedonian language, should be translated into Macedonian language by an authorized court translator.

III.   PARTICIPATION GUARANTEE

The interested party that wants to submit a bid is obliged to submit a guarantee in the amount of at least 5.00% of the amount of the total investments in the form of a bank guarantee.

1. THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PUBLICANNOUNCEMENT

Any legal entity interested in the joint venture in the companies that will organize internet (online) games of chance should meet the general and special conditions.

Aright to submit a bid has every interested domestic and foreign legal entity – bidder, which is registered to perform an activity related to the subject of the contract and which has picked up the tender documentation from the National Lottery with proof of payment for the same.

Interested bidders in the public announcement will be able to apply and participate if they themselves meet the conditions of the public announcement or meet the conditions together with other companies in which the bidder has a capital connection of at least 50% or more, i.e. a company, groups of companies, branches, or legal entities that will prove the capital connectioneither with a decision of establishment, or excerpt from the trade or court register, or other appropriate legal act as proof of capital connection.

The companies with which the interested bidder is capitaly connected, with an appropriate statement transfers the right to the bidder of the public announcement, as the holder of the right to fulfill the conditions of the public announcement.

The bidder can participate in only one bid within the same procedure for awarding a joint venture contract.

All bids will be rejected if the bidder participates in more than one independent and/or bid with capital connected companies.

The persons who participated in compiling the tender documentation may not be bidders or members of a group of bidders in the procedure for awarding the contract.

The bidder must meet the following general conditions:
With the bid, the bidder must submit accompanying documentation that will prove:

– personal status;

– economic and financial situation;

– technical or professional ability;

The requested documentation should be submitted in original in Macedonian language or in a copy with a stamp and signature of the responsible person, marked “True to the original “.

– Personal status

The Selection Committee will exclude any bidder from the procedure for awarding a joint venture contract, who alone or together with a capital connected company:

-in the last five years has been pronounced a legally binding sentence for participation in a criminal association, corruption, tax evasion and contributions, terrorism or criminal offenses related to terrorist activities, money laundering and terrorist financing and abuse of child labor and human trafficking;

– has been pronounced a legally binding sentence related to giving false data in a procedure for public tender, public call or RFP, or for fraud or for a criminal act, which refer to the organization of games of chance;

– has been sentenced to a secondary ban on participating in an RFP procedure, awarding public procurement contracts and public-private partnership contracts;

– has been sentenced to a secondary ban, temporary or permanent prohibition to perform a certain activity;

– is in bankruptcy or in liquidation proceedings;

– has unpaid taxes, contributions and other public duties, unless the Vendor is approved deferred payment of taxes, contributions and other public duties in accordance with special regulations and pays them regularly;

– to whom a misdemeanor sanction of prohibition to perform a profession, activity or duty has not been pronounced, respectively a temporary prohibition to perform a certain activity;

– gives false data or does not submit the data requested by the National Lottery within the given deadline;

– originated from a country or the tenderer is affiliated with a capital company by ownership or management structure subject to UN, US or EU sanctions.

Ability to perform professional activity

In order to prove the ability to perform the professional activity, the bidder should submit a document for registered activity as proof that it is registered as a legal entity for performing the activity related to the contract in question.

• Economic and financial situation

To qualify as eligible to perform the contract in question in terms of its economic and financial performance, the bidder individually or jointly with the capital connected companies must meet the following minimum requirements:

– To have income from organizing internet (online) games of chance of no less than 40.000.000 (forty million euros) in total in the last three financial years (2020-2022) and to prove the same with revised financial report from the last three financial years.

If the bidder is performing the activity in a period of less than three years, the minimum condition for determining the economic and financial situation is that the bidder has realized the income in the years for which there is data.

– Technical or professional ability

In order toqualify as eligible to perform the contract in question in terms of its professional and technical capacity, the bidder individually or jointly with the capital connected companies must meet the following minimum requirements:

– The bidder must have a registered legal entity based in the Republic of North Macedonia;

– The bidder must have experience in organizing internet (online) games of chance for at least 3 (three) years on the day of submission of the offer;

– The bidder must have at least 8 (eight) years of experience in development, support and marketing of internet (online) games of chance platform and game content in 2 (two) countries/jurisdictions in Europe of which 1 (one) country/jurisdiction in the Balkans (Crna Gora, Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo, Hrvatska, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Slovenia, Greece) on the day of submission of the offer;

– The bidder must have at least 10 (ten) own-developed and certified games (i.e. innovative gaming products of a bidder) within its platform on the day of submission of the offer, which games were certified by a renowned certification body in Europe;

– The bidder must have its own-developed internet (online) gaming platform;

– The bidder must have its online gaming platform up and running satisfying the following standards and features:

(a)   Communication Security: All SaaS (Software as a Service) applications must enforce the use of TLS 1.2 or higher for all forms of communication in order to ensure secure communication and protection against potential eavesdropping, tampering, or message forgery (this includes both data-in-transit and data-at-rest);

(b)   RNG: Random Number Generator (RNG) must be certified by a renowned certification body in Europe for at least 2 (two) countries/jurisdictions where its gaming platform is up and running on the day of submission of the offer;

The bidder who submitted a bid for the joint venture in the new trade companies that will organize internet (online) games of chance, in addition to the general conditions, must also meet special (specific) conditions.

The special (specific) conditions should be met by the new trade companies for organizing the Internet (online) games of chance, arise from the provisions of the Law on Games of Chance and Entertainment Games (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia no.24/11…178/16 and Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia no. 251/22).

The bidder must meet the following special requirements:

– To conclude the joint venture contract for a period of at least 15 (fifteen) years;

– To submit a bank guarantee for fulfillment of the contract in the amount of 5% of the value of the investment, for a period covering the first 3 (three) years from the conclusion of the contract;

– To invest the required investment of €2.171.470 (two million one hundred seventy one thousand and four hundred and seventy euros) for a period of 3 years, according to the dynamics as follows:

1. In the first year: minimum of €771.470,00 (seven hundred thousand four hundred and seventy euros);
2. In the second year: €700.000,00 (seven hundred thousand euro),
3. In the third year: €700.000,00 (seven hundred thousand euro);

–  To provide the investment according to the required technical specifications and the proposed dynamics of the venture. The bidder can undertake the investment in full, in the up above mentioned dynamic or in higher amounts from the ones determined up above, with the sum of all investment reaching €2.171.470 (two million one hundred seventy one thousand and four hundred and seventy euros);

– Owns Certificate for hardware and software platform (host), stating information by whom and when the Certificate was issued;

– To confirm that it will provide/prescribe procedures for the system restart and recovery in case of temporary malfunction.

1. MANNER AND DEADLINE OF DELIVERY AND VALIDITY OF THE BID
2. The bid for awarding contracts for joint venture in the new trade companies for organizing internet (online) games of chance should be in written form in Macedonian language. 2. The validity period of the bids is 180 days from the day of opening the bids.
3. The bidder encloses the original copy in a sealed inner envelope containing the name of the bidder with full and correct address.

The inner envelope is enclosed in a closed outer envelope which:

–              is addressed with the correct address of the NationalLottery;

–              contains the number of the public announcment;

–              in the upper left corner there is a mark “Не отварај ” or “Do not open”, so as not to open before the time and date for opening the bids.

If both envelopes are not closed and marked as required, the NationalLottery assumes no responsibility for cancellation or early opening of the bid.

Bids opened prematurely for non-compliance with the closing conditions and their marking will be rejected as untidy.

The bids are submitted to the following address:

Joint stock company for organizing games of chanceNationalLottery of the Republic of North Macedonia,

               Bul. Goce Delchev, No. 8, 1000, Skopje

               in person at the registry office,

               marked “FOR PUBLIC ANNOUNCMENT No.01-POTD/2023 “

4. The final date for submission of bids is 23.10.2023 until 11 am local time.
5. The procedure on the public announcementfor collecting bids is conducted by the Commission.

VII. ADDITIONALINFORMATION

For additional information, interested persons can contact the professional services of the National Lottery, every day from 08:00 to 16:00 on tel. 02/5511991 or visit the website of the Joint Stock Company for organizing games of chance, State Lottery of the Republic North Macedonia: www.loto.mk.

Confidentiality

STATEMENT

By ……………………………………………………………….

address: …………………………………………………………

Representative of …………………………………………….

Based on: (power of attorney) ………………………..

I hereby declare that:

1. I will use the attached facts, information, documents and reports that are an integral part of the documentation on the public announcment only for the purposes of submitting a bid for awarding a joint venture contract in a new trade company for organizing internet (online) games on chance.
2. I will not allow unauthorized access to the documentation on the public announcmentto third parties.

Date and place:                                               Signature:

   ___________                    ___________