The Tenders Review Authority has cancelled a foreign ministry decision to award a contract for visa application services in 17 embassies, following serious complaints from a rival bidder.

The complaints were lodged by the TLS Group through its lawyers, who argued that one of the successful companies, VFS, operates offices in the north of Cyprus. They also claimed that both winning companies, VFS and BLS, had failed in similar contracts abroad and that their almost identical bids suggested possible coordination.

The authority found that the foreign ministry had approved the companies without checking first whether they met the competition’s conditions. Ministry officials admitted during the hearing that such checks would have been carried out only after the contract was signed. The authority rejected this approach, ruling unanimously last Friday that the decision had to be cancelled and reviewed.

The tender had been launched on January 20. Bids closed on February 21 and were opened on February 24. A private consultant advised that BLS should be awarded Armenia with a fee of €1.90 per visa and VFS should be awarded Japan with a fee of €25 per visa. For the other 15 embassies, both companies had offered the same lowest price of €1.90 per visa, leading to a draw between them. The foreign ministry’s tender council approved this recommendation on May 22.

TLS challenged the outcome, arguing that the process was flawed. Their lawyer, Christos Topouzis, cited three main points. First, that VFS should have been excluded because it has offices in the north, which would breach section 6.2 of the tender. Second, that both VFS and BLS had seen contracts terminated in Estonia and Sri Lanka after failing to meet obligations. Third, that their identical bids for 15 embassies were abnormally low and raised concerns of prior coordination.

The review authority accepted that the foreign ministry had not carried out a proper investigation into these matters before making its decision. In its ruling, it said the awarding of the contract without such checks “was not reasonably permissible” and should be annulled.

The general director of the foreign ministry, ambassador Theodora Constantinidou, was asked to comment on the matter, especially the claim about VFS operating in the north. She declined to respond, noting that another complaint is still under examination by the authority. She said the ministry will make an official statement once the process is complete.