LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), January 31 (SeeNews) – Slovenian state-owned motorway company DARS said it has signed a deal with Turkey's Cengiz for the construction of a second pipe of the Karavanke motorway tunnel - a project estimated to cost 120 million euro ($132.3 million), VAT included.
Under the terms of the contract, Cengiz should submit by February 27 a bank guarantee ensuring the proper execution of its contractual obligations, DARS said in a statement on Thursday.
DARS announced the forthcoming signing of the contract and its value in a separate statement earlier this week. The contract's value without VAT is 98.5 million euro, DARS said at the time.
In December, DARS named Cengiz as the winner of a tender for construction of Karavanke's second pipe after lowering its offer to 98.5 million euro from originally proposed 99.6 million euro.
The other two bidders have also reportedly lowered the price of their offers but have failed to outbid Cengiz. A consortium comprising Slovenia's Kolektor CGP, Riko and Turkey's Yapi Merkenzi slashed its offer to 104 million euro from 121 million euro, while a consortium of Austria's Implenia Osterreich, Implenia Switzerland and Slovenian firm CGP Novo Mesto lowered its offer to 115 million euro from 121.4 million euro, according to media reports.
The procedure for selecting a contractor has been unfolding for more two years now since DARS opened the first tender in December 2017. Complaints by interested bidders challenging previous DARS decisions have slowed down the process.
The future eastern pipe of the Karavanke tunnel on Slovenian territory, to the border with Austria, will be 3,546 metres in length.
($=0.90718 euro)