Another attempt to purchase vehicles for GSP fails – Tender for procurement of 85 trams officially suspended

In the past year and a half, the procurement of new vehicles for the needs of GSP Belgrade, primarily buses and trams, has not been going smoothly and according to the plans of the authorities in Belgrade. In the previous period, the procurement of solo and articulated vehicles was suspended, as well as last year’s purchase of 100 short trams, and now, as experts in this type of public procurement expected, the tender announced at the beginning of this year, which concerned the procurement of 85 trams, has been officially suspended too.

Let us remind that, at the dawn of the new year, GSP Beograd announced a public procurement procedure for 85 trams, and the estimated value was around 22.1 billion dinars (around EUR 188.6 million). This tender required that the vehicles be articulated three-part vehicles (as opposed to the previously requested two-part vehicles), that the maximum width at the widest part of the tram must be in the range of 2.20 to 2.40 m and that the capacity of the vehicle must be at least 30 seats, i.e. that the vehicle must be for at least 130 passengers. Originally, this tender was supposed to be completed on February 4.

The Center for Local Self-Government and the trade union Canter - GSP Beograd believe that it is not surprising that the tender for the purchase of 85 short trams for GSP Belgrade has been suspended. In a joint statement, they emphasized that this happened due to a request for the protection of the rights of bidders, adding that the city authorities are solely responsible for this development.

– The Center for Local Self-Government and the Trade Union Centar have repeatedly warned the public and relevant institutions that the tender announced in this way favors the Turkish factory Bozankaya and that this fact, in addition to being contrary to the interests of Belgrade, will also cause other bidders to complain about discrimination, as well as question the legality of this procurement. This city government is repeating the same mistake from February last year, when a similar tender for the procurement of trams was withdrawn also due to complaints from several European factories about discrimination and suspicions of rigging – emphasize the CLS and the GSP Trade Union.

As indicated in the statement, it is in the interest of the citizens of Belgrade to procure new trams through a fair and honest tender, because this is the only way to obtain the highest quality product at an affordable price, as well as to take into account the possibility of carrying out part of the production in Serbia, which would greatly facilitate vehicle service, procurement of spare parts and maintenance of the system, the statement says.

– Such a large-scale tram procurement is being carried out for the period of exploitation of the next three or even four decades, so the interests of any individual mayor, city administration or business lobby must not be above the interests of Belgraders – conclude the Center for Local Self-Government and the Trade Union Centar.

In the previous tender from February last year, let us remind, GSP requested 100 trams, and valued the procurement at 30 billion dinars. That tender was suspended in April, with the explanation that “circumstances with the client have changed,” and that additional consideration of the technical solutions from the tender documentation is necessary. The Centar - GSP Beograd trade union welcomed the decision to suspend it at the time and pointed out that the tender documentation required criteria that were most favorable to the Romanian manufacturer Astra from Arad, Romania, so there was a reasonable suspicion that this procurement was tailored to one manufacturer. It is unacceptable, as the union stated, for the tender for the procurement of 100 new trams to be designed in such a way as to require the procurement of 100 short trams, 17 to 20 meters long and with a capacity of only 95 passenger seats, of which 30 are seats, without the possibility of combining two trams into one train.

Let us remind that, in January, the tender for the purchase of 150 buses for the needs of GSP Beograd also failed because no bidders responded.

The initial procurement for 300 buses, which was launched almost a year ago, was first postponed several times, during the tender the specifications of the vehicles being purchased were changed, and then the Republic Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures issued a decision establishing illegalities in that procedure, so the entire tender was suspended. A few months later, a new procedure was launched, but for half the number of vehicles.

The tender for 150 buses was announced in early November last year and envisaged the procurement of 70 articulated and 80 solo vehicles. The tender was originally supposed to be completed by November 24, but the deadline for submitting bids was then extended.

When it comes to the cancellation of previously announced procurements for the purchase of 170 new solo and 130 articulated gas buses, they were stopped by force of law due to the obvious elimination of all competition and favoritism of the Chinese manufacturer Higer, whose intermediary is the domestic company DAT Holding from Belgrade, the Trade Union Centar GSP Beograd stated at the time. Let us also remind that these two unsuccessful tenders, before being suspended, were also extended on several occasions.

D. A.

JKP GSP Beograd

DAT HOLDING DOO BEOGRAD

Higer RS Gornji Milanovac

Centar za lokalnu samoupravu Beograd

GSP Beograd

Bozankaya

DAT Holding

Higer

Centar for Local Self Government

Trade Union Centar GSP Beograd

purchase of trams for GSP Beograd

purchase of buses for GSP Beograd

short trams

gas powered buses