ZAGREB, March 26, 2018 – The appeals against the selection of the bid by a Chinese consortium to build the Pelješac Bridge were rejected because the State Commission for Supervision of Public Procurement Procedures (DKOM) found that the contracting authority, road operator Hrvatske Ceste, had not violated the public procurement procedure, DKOM chairman Goran Matešić said on Monday.
“With the rejection of the appeals, the decision has become enforceable and the agreement has been concluded. There is still a possibility for an administrative action, but it will not delay the start of construction work,” Matešić told a press conference.
The DKOM announced on its website on Monday that the appeals by the Austrian construction company Strabag and the consortium of the Italian company Astaldi and Turkey’s IC Ictas Isaat Sanayi were unfounded.
On January 8, Hrvatske Ceste chose the China Road and Bridge Corporation to build the Pelješac Bridge and access roads. The Chinese consortium demanded 2.08 billion kuna to complete the project, while the Italian-Turkish consortium demanded 2.55 billion kuna and Strabag 2.62 billion kuna, all excluding VAT.
The Chinese Embassy in Zagreb welcomed the DKOM’s decision, saying that it was important not only for Croatia, but would also mark a turning point in the process of cooperation between the two countries. The Embassy said in a statement that the decision to award the project to a Chinese company was “a positive signal of welcome” for more Chinese companies to invest and do business in Croatia.
We believe that this project will help deepen the mutual political trust between the two countries, strengthen the alignment of their development strategies, expand the cooperation in the economic sector, trade and other areas, and raise Chinese-Croatian relations to a new level, the statement said.
The Embassy said it would encourage the Chinese corporation to actively cooperate with Croatian companies in building the bridge, use local labour as much as possible, share its technology and experience in bridge building with the Croatian side, and complete the project within the agreed time frame so that it would become an example of cooperation between China and Croatia.
