Prior information notice: Advanced oxide and metal etcher & plasma etch cluster tool

This notice constitutes solely a prior information notice pursuant to Section 57 of the Finnish Public Procurement Act, issued for the purpose of shortening the time limits of the forthcoming procurement procedure. PLEASE NOTE: For technical reasons, it has been necessary to indicate a tender submission period in this notice; however, tenders should not to be submitted in response to this notice, nor is there any requirement to express interest in participating at this stage. The contracting authority intends to apply an open procurement procedure, in which all economic operators may participate once the invitation to tender has been published. The selection criteria will be defined in the invitation to tender. PRIOR INFORMATION NOTICE The contracting authority (VTT) here states that, due to urgency, it is practically impossible to comply with the standard deadlines for the open procurement procedure set in section 56 § of the Finnish Public Procurement Act. The procurement will be carried out as an open procedure. The contracting authority aims to publish the invitation to tender in the beginning of February 2026, but it is not committed to this date. The time limit for submitting tenders will be shortened at the invitation to tender stage so that it is nevertheless at least 15 days. The justified reasons for urgency and therefore shortening the deadlines are as follows: The procurement will be financed as part of a larger EU-wide research project, which VTT will be joining. The project schedule and funding conditions determine the timeline within which the procurements must be carried out. The project schedule and funding conditions are not determined solely by VTT. VTT’s funding depends on the successful completion of the procurements within the overall project schedule and on the equipment being deployed within the given timeframe. For this reason, the contracting entity has decided to shorten the deadlines for procurement procedure set in 56 §, to ensure that it can fulfill its obligations within the specified schedule. SCOPE OF THE BECOMING PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE The object of the procurement are two plasma etch clusters for dielectric and metal etch processes in the VTT Micronova cleanroom. The subject of the procurement will be defined in more detail in the procurement documents.