empowered to enter into commitments on behalf of the members of the joint venture or consortium. Each member of such joint venture or consortium must provide the proof required under Article 3.5 as if it, itself, were the tenderer. 

## 19. Opening of tenders 

19.1 The purpose of the opening session is to check whether the tenders are complete, whether the requisite tender guarantees have been provided, whether the required documents have been properly included and whether the tenders are generally in order. 

19.2 The tenders will be opened in public session on 9 November 2020 at 12.00 hrs at the premises of Public Works Administration, Arsenija Boljevića 2a, floor III, Podgorica 81000, Montenegro by the appointed committee. The committee will draw up minutes of the meeting, which will be available on request. 

In the case that at the date of the opening session some tenders have not been delivered to the contracting authority but their representatives can show evidence that it has been sent on time, the contracting authority will allow them to participate in the first opening session and inform all representatives of the tenderers that a second opening session will be organised. 

19.3 At the tender opening, the tenderers’ names, the tender prices, any discount offered, written notifications of alteration and withdrawal, the presence of the requisite tender guarantee (if required) and such other information as the contracting authority may consider appropriate may be announced. 

19.4 After the public opening of the tenders, no information relating to the examination, clarification, evaluation and comparison of tenders, or recommendations concerning the award of the contract can be disclosed until after the contract has been awarded. 

19.5 Any attempt by tenderers to influence the evaluation committee in the process of examination, clarification, evaluation and comparison of tenders, to obtain information on how the procedure is progressing or to influence the contracting authority in its decision concerning the award of the contract will result in the immediate rejection of their tenders. 

19.6 All tenders received after the deadline for submission specified in the contract notice or these instructions will be kept by the contracting authority. The associated guarantees will be returned to the tenderers. No liability can be accepted for late delivery of tenders. Late tenders will be rejected and will not be evaluated. 

## 20.Evaluation of tenders 

## 20.1 Examination of the administrative conformity of tenders 

The aim at this stage is to check that tenders comply with the essential requirements of the tender dossier. A tender is deemed to comply if it satisfies all the conditions, procedures and specifications in the tender dossier without substantially departing from or attaching restrictions to them. 

Substantial departures or restrictions are those which affect the scope, quality or execution of the contract, differ widely from the terms of the tender dossier, limit the rights of the contracting authority or the tenderer’s obligations under the contract or distort competition for tenderers whose tenders do comply. Decisions to the effect that a tender is not administratively compliant must be duly justified in the evaluation minutes. 

If a tender does not comply with the tender dossier, it will be rejected immediately and may not subsequently be made to comply by correcting it or withdrawing the departure or restriction. 

