SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), December 28 (SeeNews) – Bosnian state owned-motorway company Autoceste FBiH said it has received a letter from the European Investment Bank asking it to repeat the tender for the construction of the Pocitelj-Zvirovici motorway section, part of pan-European Corridor Vc.
The EIB considers that there has been a violation of the procurement process due to the disclosure of confidential information in certain media, Autoceste FBiH said in a statement on Wednesday.
In its letter the EIB also said that confidentiality provisions of the financial agreement concluded between Bosnia and the bank were violated.
The bank has offered the road company an expert to assist it in repeating the procedure.
"The management of the company does not in any way want to jeopardize the relationship it has with the bank as one of the key financiers in the construction of Corridor Vc, and will continue to communicate with the bank with the desire to implement the process of appointing an expert and re-tendering as soon as possible," Autoceste FBiH said.
In July, Autoceste FBiH said it has received 5 bids in its tender for the construction of the Pocitelj-Zvirovici: China's Gezhouba Group Company Limited; a joint venture company formed by Austria's Strabag and Bosnia's Euroasfalt; Turkish company Cengiz Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.; a joint venture between Turkish companies Fernas and Ozgun Insaat; and a consortium of Azerbaijan's Azvirt Limited Liability Company and Power Construction Corporation of China.
In March of this year, the company cancelled the previous tender for the construction of the motorway section launched in 2014, saying its aim was to speed up the completion of the project.
According to media reports, the tender was cancelled because the company chose a consortium consisting of engineering firms Euroasfalt and Strabag as the best bidder, even though the price offered by a tie-up of local company Hering and Zagreb-based Viadukt was 20% lower. In turn, the EIB blocked the funds and ordered the tender be cancelled.
The 11.75-km long Pocitelj-Zvirovici motorway section is located in the southeastern part of the Federation, one of the two entities that form Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other is the Serb Republic.