October 20 (SeeNews) - A tender procedure for awarding a contract for the introduction of an electronic system for road toll collection in Bulgaria has been temporarily blocked by complaints from two tie-ups, according to data from the competition regulator.
The complaints were submitted by Tollnet and BG Pat, according to information posted on website of the Commission for Protection of Competition.
"After reviewing the complaints, the state will request that the authorities, in particular the Commission for the Protection of Competition, shortly pronounce themselves on the issue and in order to avoid a further delay of the procedure, it will seek preliminary execution of the contract with the contractor," regional development minister Nikolay Nankov said in a separate statement late on Thursday.
Last week the government's Road Infrastructure Agency awarded a 150 million levs ($90.2 million/76.7 million euro) contract to a consortium led by Austria's Kapsch Group to develop and introduce the electronic road-toll collection system.
The system must be introduced within 19 months.
The tender was first launched in April 2016 but has since been suspended and restarted several times due to complaints filed with the Bulgarian competition authority.
The e-toll collection system will cover 16,317 km of motorways and major roads in Bulgaria. Vehicles heavier than 3.5 tonnes will pay toll charges based on distance travelled, while charges for lighter vehicles will be set for certain periods of time.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)