The National Center for Teacher Professional Development, due to the public interest and in response to the information disseminated on May 30 through the media by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information, clarifies that the Center announced an electronic bid on July 9, 2015 for the procurement of 11 economy class flight tickets. The tickets were purchased for transportation of foreign volunteer teachers under the project "Teach and Learn with Georgia" to Georgia. The initial stage of the procurement included price survey in which 6 companies participated. The bid was announced at the lowest price, which was determined as a result of the price survey for that moment. As for the cost of the tickets, it depends on the duration and complexity of the route (no direct flights). The volunteers whose transportation required purchasing the tickets were located in the various states and cities of the USA, which respectively was reflected in the ticket price of each program participant.

The bid was held in full compliance with the legislation and procedures. The Center is not able to cancel the bid only for the reason that there is a sole supplier, therefore the doubts and accusations addressed to the Center shall be deemed baseless.

In addition, the doubts expressed regarding the selection of procurement category is wrong and lacks the relevant grounds. The procurement of tickets falls into the sole subcategory - "Transport tickets" and the category - "Travel agencies, tour operators and tourist assistance services" provide procurement of tourist services.

As for the quality of awareness among the service providers, it should be noted that prior to the price survey, the Center hosted a meeting with the major vendors of the market, at which all the companies received the particular information concerning the coming bid. To evidence this, the meeting minutes are stored in the Center archive. Such unfounded assumptions only serve to challenge unhealthy agitation.

The Center for Teacher Professional Development is pleased that the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information is actively cooperating with the public authorities and promotes the improvement of quality of public access to information and transparency related to public procurement in the country, however, we would like the research carried out by the organization to be more competent and reflect the real picture.