BRATISLAVA, July 26, (WEBNOVINY) — Until the end of the tender for the selection of a contractor for the modernization of the 12-kilometer track section Zlatovce – Trencianska Tepla, Slovak railways network operator ZSR will not specify the reason for exclusion of construction company Skanska SK, a.s. from the bidding. „In the ongoing tender, the law requires an obligation to observe confidentiality; that is why it is not possible, until the valid end of the tender, to give any further details on the reason for exclusion of Skanska from the tender,“ the spokeswoman for ZSR Martina Pavlikova informed. In its statement, the company also protested against the „constant media attacks“ concerning the tender.
The largest construction company in the Czech Republic Skanska a.s. registered in Prague, plans to legally challenge the tenders it considers dubious and request compensation for lost profit. Skanska considers the tenders flawed and wants clearer conditions for the award of public sector contracts. Last week, the Czech branch of the Swedish construction company Skanska AB reported that it is choosing a law office, which will receive all documented cases of the bidding from which the company was excluded. „We will sue all cases,“ the General Director of Skanska Dan Tok stated for the Czech daily Hospodarske noviny. In Slovakia, the company operates under the name Skanska SK and its head office is in Bratislava.
Skanska SK has informed that their request to correct the decision of ZSR to exclude Skanska SK has failed. Allegedly, ZSR expelled Skanska SK from the tender because it received insufficient explanation of its bid. „On Tuesday, our company was served the rejection of the request for remedy against our exclusion from public tender. We insist that our detailed explanation was in accordance with the requirements of the procurer and our exclusion is illegal,“ the spokeswoman for Skanska SK Magdalena Dobisova informed SITA news agency last week. The company also stated that in the seven days statutory deadline it wants to lodge an objection with the Public Procurement Office for the exclusion from the tender. In the competition with four presented bids, Skanska SK submitted the lowest price, EUR 200.987 million. Estimated value of the contract is EUR 296.12 million excluding VAT.
ZSR announced a tender to modernize the track Zlatovce – Trencianska Tepla earlier this year. According to the conditions of the tender, the construction works should last three years and four months and will be co-financed from the EU Cohesion Fund and the state budget through the Operational Program Transport. This is the third phase of construction within the modernization of the railway Nove Mesto – Puchov in length of about 59 kilometers. The first and second, as well as, fourth and fifth phase of construction on this track has already begun.
Skanska SK a.s. operates under this name from April 1 of this year after a merger of six companies. Registered in the Business Register since August 3, 1994, its predecessor company names were Skanska BS a.s., Prievidza, from January 2005 to the end of March this year, and Banske stavby a.s. Prievidza from August 1994 to January 2005.
SITA
