The Chinese group “China Gezhouba Group Co. Ltd” submitted incorrect information and false documentation in the offer for the construction of the Prenj tunnel on the route of the highway on corridor Vc, in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
This was confirmed by the Public Enterprise Motorways of the Federation of BiH (FBiH). It is a company from Wuhan.
In September of last year, the state-owned company Motorwaysof the FBiH opened a tender for the submission of documentation for the contractor for the construction of the Prenj tunnel.
This is the most important infrastructure project in BiH, according to this company.
Motorways checked the data and found that this Chinese company does not have valid documentation, which is why it was disqualified.
Who else submitted false documents?
Eight bids were received for the construction of the tunnel. Among them was another offer from a company from China, three from Turkey, and one from India. In addition, two consortia from Turkey and South Korea applied for the tender. In addition to the Chinese group, a company from Turkey also submitted false documentation.
“The company from Turkey, Ozaltin Insaat Ticaret ve Sanayi A.S., also submitted incorrect data in the offer for the construction of the Prenj tunnel,” it was told by Motorways of the FBiH.
“In March 2023, the commission sent the evaluation report to the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) for review. To date, we have not received the bank’s confirmation,” it was said from Motorways, explaining that this bank is the creditor for the construction of the tunnel.
“Currently, three companies have entered the shortlist for the contractor”, they add in this entity company, without specifying which companies they are.
BiH requested a loan from the EBRD to finance the construction of priority sections of the highway on the Vc corridor. The amount of the loan is EUR 97 million. The European Investment Bank (EIB) will also participate in financing the construction of the tunnel.
Within this project, the estimated value of the construction of the Prenj tunnel is about 500 million BAM (250 million euros).
Construction will begin in the middle of this year, and the works will last six years. Completion is planned by the end of 2028, which will complete the entire Corridor Vc.
What is known about the Prenj tunnel?
Expert traffic engineer Seval Kovacevic points out that the Prenj tunnel is the project of the century and that the construction of this facility must be approached thoroughly and constructively.
He emphasizes that the big problem is that there are no specialized companies in BiH that would work on the Prenjtunnel.
Also, he told that the main bearers of such projects must be exclusively specialized companies that have manpower and machinery at their disposal, which, he says, is not the case in BiH, Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.
