ZAGREB, April 26, 2018 – The Administrative Court in Zagreb has dismissed a complaint filed by the Austrian construction company Strabag against the selection of the China Road and Bridge Corporation to build the Pelješac Bridge and access roads.
The State Commission for Supervision of Public Procurement Procedures (DKOM) stated on Thursday that it had received the Administrative Court ruling, which also turned down Strabag’s proposal that the construction of the bridge should be temporarily suspended.
In mid-January, the state-run road operator Hrvatske Ceste (HC) said that of the three bids submitted for the first stage of construction work on the Pelješac Bridge, it had selected the one by the China Road and Bridge Corporation worth 2.08 billion kuna, not including VAT.
An Italian-Turkish consortium offered 2.55 billion kuna for the project and Strabag offered 2.62 billion kuna. Both of them appealed to the DKOM against the HC decision. In March, the DKOM turned down the appeals as unfounded.
On Monday, executives of the HC road operator and the Chinese consortium signed a 2.08 billion kuna contract for the construction of Pelješac Bridge and access roads. The total value of the project is 526 million euro, including VAT, and the value of eligible costs is 420 million euro, of which 85% will be covered by the EU.
The bridge will be 2.4 kilometres long and 55 metres high and will have four lanes. It will connect the southernmost part of Croatia with the rest of the country and facilitate an unimpeded flow of goods and people throughout the year and especially during the tourist season.
