A total of 19 bids were submitted for the three Lots under the project for modernization of the railway line between the towns of Kostenets and Elin Pelin. The large number of offers is yet another proof that the procedure is as transparent and competition-based as can be, said the Deputy Minister of Transport, information Technology and Communications, Velik Zantchev, at the bids opening today at NRIC headquarters.
“The investment in the section goes over 1 billion leva, making it the largest railway project within this program period of OP Transport and Transport Infrastructure. Deputy Minister Zantchev further explained that due to the claims in the past 10 months the project is being jeopardized and thus measures will be undertaken to speed up the work of the committees and the subcontractors.
Mr Zantchev also commented that claims made by companies without a significant legal interest jeopardize strategic projects and may result in loss of EU financing. “MTITC and NRIC have proposed numerous amendments to the Public Procurement Act to limit unscrupulous claims”, explained the Deputy Minister. Part of the proposal have already been included in the draft amendments. “Under the new PPA, companies have to prove their legal interest when filing a claim for a specific project and the “temporary suspension” measure will be imposed only after legal proceedings are initiated by the Commission for Protection of Competition. Up until now, companies with minimum capital could claim million-leva tender procedures and the law allowed for suspension of the procedure once there was a claim filed at the CPC.
*****
The project “Modernization of the railway line Elin Pelin – Kostenets” is financed under OP Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014-2020 and amounts to 1.024 billion leva.
The section is with a total length of 51 km, and the project velocity reaches 160 km/h for conventional trains. Some 20 km of tunnels and 23 bridges and viaducts will be constructed within the project. The same-level crossings between different transport modes (railway, road and pedestrians) will be eliminated. The deadline for review of the bids by the Committee is four months, namely by the end of November.
3D visualization of the railway section Elin Pelin-Ihtiman-Kostenets can be found here.
