Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.14
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
ICGB AD, company engaged in construction of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), envisaging transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria, has sent invitations to the candidates who qualified after pre-selection phase in the procedure for design, procurement and construction (EPC) of IGB, the company told Trend.
Reportedly, the selection of a contractor is carried out through a restrictive procedure in two phases as per the Public Procurement Act - pre-selection, followed by review, evaluation and ranking of offers.
The first phase of the procedure is completed with the entry into force of the decision for pre-selection and the project company proceeded to sending the invitations to the candidates for the real competition.
As a result of applying the requirements for participation and the selection criteria, the candidates qualified for second phase are as follows:
DZZD "IGB-2018" with members: Bonatti S.p.A. (Italy), GLAVBOLGARSTROY
INTERNATIONAL (Bulgaria), GP Group AD (Bulgaria);
Consortium MAX STREICHER – TERNA with members: Max Streicher (Italy) and Terna (Greece);
Consortium Spiecapag Trace IGB 2018 with members: Spiecapag (France) and Trace Group Hold AD (Bulgaria);
J&P AVAX S.A (Greece);
Joint Venture CPP-AKTOR with members: China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co. Ltd. (China) and Joint Construction Company AKTOR (AKTOR AD) (Bulgaria).
“The successful finalization of the first phase of the procedure for selection of constructor is a serious progress on one of the most important tenders for the IGB project. All companies proceeding in the procedure have extensive experience and we are certain that they have the capacity to successfully carry out the project”, announced ICGB’s Executive Officers Teodora Georgieva and Konstantinos Karayannakos.
According to them, the active international presence in the first phase of the procedure is a sign for serious competition, which will guarantee the high quality of work when completing the project for the gas interconnector with Greece.
“Most candidates qualified for phase two are major international companies participating in consortiums with Italian, French, Chinese, Greek and Bulgarian companies. Only the Greek company J&P AVAX S.A. participates on its own.”
The project company notes that according to the initially announced requirements of the documentation for the public procurement only 5 participants were to be shortlisted for second phase. This number has been achieved by ICGB through implementation of the selection criteria. The rest of the candidates did not fully meet the selection criteria and therefore the Contracting Entity did not invite them to the next stage of the procedure.
The deadline for submission of offers for the second phase of the tender is 35 days after receiving the invitation, meaning that it’s expected for all participants to submit their proposals by the 3rd week of March. According to the tender’s schedule, ICGB intends to finalize the technical assessment in a month after receiving the offers and plans to announce the Contractor by the end of April.
IGB is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to TAP via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets.
The initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn