ZAGREB, April 17, 2018 – The Austrian construction company Strabag on Monday confirmed that it had filed a complaint with the Administrative Court in Zagreb against the selection of the China Road and Bridge Corporation to build the Pelješac Bridge and access roads, the largest infrastructure project in Croatia.
“We confirm, that we filed a complaint against the award of the Pelješac bridge today at the Administrative Court in Zagreb. We have filed a motion for a temporary restraining order, too. We also invoked the EU commission,” Strabag said briefly.
Jutarnji List daily reported this weekend that Strabag and the consortium of the Italian company Astaldi and Turkey’s IC Ictas Isaat Sanayi would file a complaint against the selection of the China Road and Bridge Corporation to build the Pelješac Bridge and access roads.
Pelješac Bridge, which is to connect the southern Dalmatian peninsula of Pelješac with the mainland and thus connect Dubrovnik-Neretva County with the rest of the country, will facilitate the transport of people and goods throughout the year, notably during the peak tourist season.
The state-run road operator Hrvatske Ceste said on January 12 that, of the three bids submitted for the first stage of construction work on Pelješac Bridge, it had selected the one by China Road and Bridge Corporation worth 2.08 billion kuna, not including VAT.
The Italian-Turkish consortium offered 2.55 billion kuna for the project, Strabag offered 2.62 billion kuna
Later in January, the State Commission for Supervision of Public Procurement Procedures (DKOM) received appeals by the two bidders against the selection of the China Road and Bridge Corporation to build the Pelješac Bridge and access roads. In March, the DKOM turned down as unfounded the appeals.
Asked to comment on Strabag’s appeal, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković said on Monday he could not and was not allowed to comment on judicial complaints and court proceedings.
