The Presidential Circular on the "Effect of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Public Procurement Contracts" dated 01.04.2020 and numbered 2020/5 ("Circular") was published in the Official Gazette dated 02.04.2020 and numbered 31087.
Pursuant to the Circular, in the contracts executed as a result of the tenders made within the scope of the Public Procurement Law numbered 4734 (including its exceptions) as well as the regulations exempted from this Law, the applications claiming that the performance of the contractual work became impossible, temporarily or permanently, partially or completely, due to the COVID-19 outbreak shall be made by the contractors to the contracting authority together with evidentiary documents.
Relevant authorities shall evaluate the applications pursuant to Article 10 of the Public Procurement Contracts Law numbered 4735 and other legal provisions and shall obtain the opinion of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance before reaching a decision.
If, as a result of the evaluation carried out by the authorities, it is determined that the resulting situation
- is not arising from the contractor's fault,
- prevents the contractor from fulfilling its contractual obligations, and
- the contractor is not able to overcome the impediment,
a time extension may be granted or the contract may be terminated.
You may access the full text of the Circular here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
