Orders are expected to be launched again in a month
The Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov terminated four public procurements for the supply of railway rolling stock under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. These include the purchase of 7 double-deck and 35 single-deck trains, 20 push-pull train sets and 18 shunting locomotives. According to Minister Gvozdeykov's instructions, there is already a work plan for the preparation of the changes, with the aim to relaunch the public procurement within a month.
The analyses carried out show that the previous team of the Ministry of Transport and Communications has committed several significant procedural flaws, namely — the mandatory prior control procedure, which is carried out by the Ministry of Finance according to the requirements of the NRRP, the envisaged repair mechanism is risky and inappropriate, and the requirements for the 18 shunting locomotives are unjustifiably high.
Changing some of the technical conditions and eligibility criteria will allow for more competition and will broaden the range of participants in the different activities.
The changes to the tender conditions will also allow the maintenance of rolling stock to be carried out in the most efficient way, which will be chosen and guaranteed by the bidders. ‘The currently envisaged mechanism for the provision of repair bases for maintenance is high-risk due to the fact that their construction will be a commitment under other public procurement contracts, for which there is not even funding until 2025,’ Minister Gvozdeykov stressed. He added that the procedure for renting them is not clear enough, which also creates additional risks.
The provision of rolling stock maintenance should be carried out entirely on a market basis, thus encouraging participants to invest in the country in the long term by building modern repair facilities where other rolling stock can also be repaired. With the construction of a state-owned repair facility on lease, this will not be possible, as it can only be used for the purpose of maintenance of the rolling stock under the NRRP, the reasoning of the decision further states.
It is envisaged to divide the order for the supply of 18 shunting locomotives into two lots, respectively for the supply of 9 locomotives for shunting at depots and 9 locomotives for shunting from depots to railway stations. Until now, the tender conditions required all 18 locomotives to have vehicle type and marketing approvals, as well as a pantograph. This condition is inappropriate as some of the shunting is only done inside the depots and half of the locomotives will not exit them. The planned changes will realise significant savings and reduce pressure on the state budget. Another expected effect is to broaden the range of participants here as well.