1.9 Activity related to acquisitions (goods and services) within the company

The procurement process intends to gain a competitive advantage for the company in a transparent and fair procurement process, characterised by good faith with all potential suppliers in both the pre-contractual and contractual phases.

The employees involved in the procurement activity (of goods and services), i.e. in the negotiation, initiation and conclusion of procurement contracts with the company’s suppliers are required to comply with the procurement procedures in force. They must include objective criteria for the selection of suppliers that can be proven by an appropriate documentation.

If a supplier acts in relation to the Company in a manner that does not comply with the principles of this conduct Handbook, the Company may take any necessary action, including the refusal to cooperate with that supplier in the future.

In the procurement process, the company is guided by the following principles:

• Avoiding, as much as possible, the company’s dependence on a single supplier;
  
  
• Avoiding to exert any pressure on a supplier so that it accepts the contractual conditions advantageous to the company;
  
  
• Avoiding to exert any influence on a supplier with the promise of a possibility to conclude a contract in the future;
  
  
• Avoiding the conclusion of longterm contracts implying periodic (short-term) renewals involving price revisions to the company’s advantage by exerting pressure of any kind by the company’s employees;
  
  
• Avoiding as much as possible the dependency on suppliers that have only one main customer: the company – so as to minimize the company’s risk of postponing, cancelling or inability to purchase the requested product or service; at the same time, it is possible to avoid the risk of influencing the company’s employees by illegal means of receiving benefits, advantages, etc. from a supplier; Preserving the documents upon which the contract negotiations were based (analysis of suppliers’ tenders on the basis of competitiveness principles, the cost estimates received, the criteria of contract awarding, the contracts concluded and the proof of service provision by these suppliers).