Minister Tolušić says that someone is obstructing the tender for construction of the Pelješac Bridge.
Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolušić, who until yesterday was Regional Development and EU Funds Minister, said on Thursday that there was an obstruction of the public tender for bids for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge. However, he added that the obstruction would not slow down the project and that the first phase of the tender should be completed by the end of this year, and that contracts would be signed in spring, reports Index.hr on October 20, 2016.
Croatian Roads public company announced on 21 June a call for bids for the construction project whose first phase is valued at 1.75 billion kuna. However, the tender was suspended on 7 October due to complaints by participants.
“We have received complaints from potential contractors which in that way try to extend the deadlines. One company with two employees and a turnover of 100,000 kuna a year has filed a complaint about the documentation for the Pelješac Bridge. That is ridiculous and that demonstrates the absurdity of Croatian public procurement laws. Because of such things, since similar incidents will take place in the future as well, we need to change the laws”, said Tolušić, responding to reporters’ questions during the handover of duties at his new ministry.
Tolušić added that it was obvious that a company with two employees certainly did not intend to build the Pelješac Bridge and argued that there was certainly something else to it. “This will not slow us down. I expect that the State Commission for Supervision of Public Procurement Procedures will reject the appeal as soon as possible”, said Tolušić.
It is believed that the first phase of the tender, which includes financial, economic and legal indicators and the legal status of bidders, will be completed by the end of the year, after which the second phase will commence, which will conclude with the selection of winning companies. “I believe that the spring could be a realistic deadline for signing of contracts for the Pelješac Bridge, if there are no further obstructions”, concluded Tolušić.
It was recently announced that the European Commission was waiting for the Croatian request for funding of the Pelješac Bridge, which was promised to Croatian citizens 13 years ago.
