Will the construction of the station building at the new BAS begin ahead of the anniversary of the opening: The consortium around Jadran awarded the contract for the second time

A little less than a year ago, all bus departures from the old BAS in the Sava Amphitheater were transferred to the new, unfinished BAS in Block 42, and whether the construction of the missing station building at the new bus terminal will finally begin ahead of that anniversary should become clearer in the coming weeks, as the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency has again awarded the contract for the works to the consortium gathered around Jadran. The consortium also includes G4S Secure Solutions doo Belgrade, ABA Professional doo Belgrade, Dot networks doo Belgrade, Dot smart solutions doo Belgrade, Traco-invest doo Belgrade, Celik doo Backi Jarak and Armont doo Stara Pazova, and the value of the awarded contract is around 6.7 billion dinars.

Let us remind that, the first time around, the contract for the second phase of the construction of the bus terminal in Block 42 in New Belgrade, or for the construction of a station building in the new complex of the Belgrade Bus Station (BAS), was awarded at the end of June this year, after several halts and delays in the completion of this tender, but it was quickly halted due to the submission of a request for protection of rights.

Two more groups of bidders submitted bids for the tender, including Strabag and Energorpojekt. However, both of these bids, although the other two consortiums offered a lower price for the work than the consortium that was ultimately awarded the contract, were assessed as unacceptable for several reasons. Even after the subsequent decision, the situation did not change.

When it comes to the group of bidders that won the job, let us remind that the largest share, in terms of value, or the percentage of work to be done, will be held by Belgrade-based Jadran, namely 63.53% of the work.

Partially annulled procedure

This tender for the construction of the BAS central building in Block 42, the success of which is still uncertain, was announced in October last year and was originally supposed to be completed on November 22, but in the meantime, it was been interrupted and extended, and most recently on April 11 to April 17, when it was expected to be finally awarded, but this did not happen until today. Since the autumn, when this public procurement was launched, this procedure was partially annulled by the Republic Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures, and then in March the public procurement procedure was resumed, and the deadline for the application of interested contractors was extended to April 3.

The decision on the aforementioned partial annulment of the tender was made by the Republic Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures based on a request for protection of rights submitted by the company Strabag. As previously stated in the documentation, that company filed a request at the end of last year, complaining, among other things, about the actions of the contracting authority when preparing the tender documentation, stating that “preference is given to certain manufacturers of technical equipment and competition is directly excluded.” Strabag also pointed out that the bidder was required to have engineers with an expert Cisco certificate, and as they stated, “the criterion set in this way aims to further limit competition and give advantage to bidders offering Cisco equipment.” The applicant then pointed out that they had contacted the contracting authority with a request to make appropriate changes to the document “Technical specifications with a price structure form” when it comes to flooring, stone cutting works, drywall and tiling works. They also stated that the technical specifications and project documentation were inconsistent in certain parts. The Republic Commission assessed certain allegations by Strabag as well-founded, and others as unfounded.

After that, the tender documentation for the public procurement was amended in several ways, thus removing the possibility of advance payment, and the maximum deadline for the execution of works was reduced from 730 to 640 days.

What is included in the tender?

This tender, as a reminder, concerns the second phase of the construction of the new bus station complex. According to the architectural design that, at the request of the investor, the City of Belgrade, was developed by the Institute of Transportation CIP, the station building is planned as a free-standing building, with a floor plan of SB+GF+1+RF (retracted floor).

The main entrance to the central station building will be from Antifasisticke borbe Street, while the entrances and exits to the station platform are planned on the opposite - northwest side of the building. The building will be equipped with five main entrances and exits for passengers and users of the BAS bus station services, and the formation of a station square with access roads and two parking lots for short-term parking (accompanists and visitors). The covered pedestrian square will be located above the underground garage of the building.

The new, unfinished bus station in Block 42 opened to passengers at the beginning of last fall when all intercity and suburban transport was transferred to it from the old station in the Sava Amphitheatre, which was soon razed to the ground. A small annex was set up as a temporary station building for passengers, the future heated corridor between the new BAS and the New Belgrade railway station. What passengers still complain about when it comes to the new BAS is the poor public transport connections with several parts of the city, the lack of canopies on the platform area for suburban traffic and, above all - the lack of a central station building.

D. Aleksic

Jadran d.o.o. Beograd

G4S Secure Solutions d.o.o. Beograd

Aba professional doo Beograd

DOT Networks doo Beograd

DOT Smart Solutions doo Beograd

Traco-Invest doo Beograd

Armont d.o.o. Stara Pazova

JP Direkcija za građevinsko zemljište i izgradnju Beograda

Republička komisija za zaštitu prava u postupcima javnih nabavki Republika Srbija

BAS Beogradska autobuska stanica a.d. Beograd

Čelik d.o.o. Bački Jarak

Jadran doo Beograd

G4S Secure Solutions doo Beograd

ABA Professional doo Beograd

Dot networks doo Beograd

Dot smart solutions doo Beograd

Traco invest doo Beograd

Čelik doo Bački Jarak

Armont doo Stara Pazova

Belgrade Land Development Public Agency

Republic Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures

Belgrade Bus Station

BAS

new BAS in Block 42

construction of station building at new BAS