Cluj-Napoca subway project put on hold to update costs

Cluj-Napoca City Hall has decided to temporarily suspend the public tender for the design and construction of the city’s subway line after companies requested an update of the costs, mayor Emil Boc announced on Monday, August 22. According to Economedia.ro, the contract was initially estimated at EUR 1.3 billion.

The decision to put the tender on hold was taken after consultations with the Ministry of Transport, as the project is partially financed with money from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (PNRR). The deadline for submitting bids for the contract expired on Monday.

“After consulting the transport minister, we decided to temporarily suspend the procurement procedure until we update the technical-economic indicators of the investment. This is necessary to update the cost of building the subway considering that in recent months the prices have increased at an accelerated rate,” mayor Emil Boc said.

According to him, companies sent letters informing the Cluj authorities about their interest in the project and their worries about the higher costs.

“During the last four days, I have received three letters from companies that have built 19 subway lines on four continents informing us that they would like to participate, but unfortunately, because of the price approved last year and the prices of today, they can’t do so,” Boc said.

In this context, the authorities had two options: to cancel the tender or to suspend it temporarily until the costs were updated. According to mayor Boc, the exact market value is to be determined in the coming period, and then companies will be able to submit their offers.

The subway in Cluj-Napoca would be the only such project outside Bucharest. The tender for the design and execution of the city’s subway line was launched in March this year.

(Photo source:Liudmila Habrus/Dreamstime.com)