July 26 (SeeNews) - Turkey's Cengiz has submitted the lowest bid in Slovenia's tender for the construction of Karavnke tunnel's second pipe, local media reported.
Five bidders participated in the tender called by state-owned motorway company DARS, with Cengiz offering to do the job for 100 million euro ($111.4 million), news portal Siol.net reported on Thursday, when the bidding deadline expired.
The other bidders were Greece's J&P Avax with an offer of 115 million euro, a consortium of Slovenia's Kolektor CGP, Riko and Turkey's Yapi Merkenzi with 121 million euro, a consortium of Austria's Implenia Osterreich, Implenia Switzerland and local firm CPG Novo Mesto with 121.4 million euro, and a tie-up of Slovenia's Gorenjska Gradbena Druzba and Czech company Metrostav with 122.1 million euro, Siol.net said.
DARS will now evaluate the bids, after its previous choice of Cengiz was disputed by unsuccessful bidders.
The procedure for selecting a contractor has been unfolding for more than a year and a half since DARS opened the first tender in December 2017. Complaints by interested bidders disputing DARS' decisions, most of them filed by Kolektor CGP and Gorenjska Gradbena Druzba, have impeded the process.
The two Slovenian firms claimed that Cengiz, which had submitted the lowest bid in the previous tender and was declared winner, did not meet the requirements for the job. They also requested an audit of DARS's dealings, claiming the motorway company had violated public procurement procedures.
Slovenia's state audit commission established that DARS had not violated the procedures, according to earlier media reports. The commission is expected to come up again with a decision if new complaints are submitted, the media said.
In March 2018, DARS said it received nine offers for the construction of Karavanke's eastern pipe, ranging from 89.3 million euro to 140.3 million euro, with Cengiz submitting the lowest bid.
The eastern tube of the Karavanke tunnel through Slovenia, to the border with Austria, will be 3,546 metres in length.
($=0.897366 euro)