Cluj metro project saga: Turkish companies contest the tender winner

The association of Turkish companies Dogus-Tefken Insaat took the City Hall of Cluj-Napoca to the National Council for the Resolution of Appeals (CNSC). Not too long ago, another Turkish company, Gulermak, won the tender for the often-delayed metro project in the heart of Transylvania.

Dogus-Tefken Isaat's offer was lower by EUR 200 million than Gulermak's, but they were disqualified due to missing CVs and some documents that were not translated from English despite having asked to postpone the deadline for submitting offers to the tender for the project's construction.

"The evaluation of the offers was carried out by the evaluation commission and by 18 co-opted experts from Romania and abroad with experience in such complex projects. At the same time, we mention that each evaluation stage was approved by the observers appointed by the National Agency for Public Procurement. The evaluation criterion established for awarding the contract is "the best quality-price ratio". The technical component was scored 45%, and the financial component 55%", Cluj-Napoca City Hall said, as quoted by Economedia.

The local government was ready to sign the construction contract this month, but given this latest development, the process may take another month to complete, pushing it even further from its initial completion plan of 2026.

According to art. 8 and art. 24 of Law 101/2016 on public procurement, companies are allowed to submit their appeal by a maximum of 10 days after the announcement, and the council should resolve the merits of the appeal within 20 days from the receipt date.

The ambitious metro project will have its route start from Florești, a nearby commune with medium-density residential areas, all the way to Bulevardul Muncii in the north and Europa Unită in the south. It boasts 20.1 km in length with 19 stations plus a depot.

(Photosource: Emil Boc/Facebook)