Baku, Azerbaijan, May 14
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
The project company ICGB successfully completed the public procurement for design, procurement and construction (EPC) of the gas interconnector Greece – Bulgaria (IGB), the project company told Trend.
Reportedly, the final value of the contract will be 144 850 000 euros.
“Initial interest in the restricted procedure was expressed by 11 Bulgarian and foreign companies and consortia. The participant that best covers ICGB’s technical and financial requirements is J&P AVAX S.A. The company received final score of 83.8 points of maximum 100 and offered a price of EUR 144 850 000,” said the company.
The Executive Officers of ICGB Teodora Georgieva and Konstantinos Karayannakos announced they are pleased with the successful completion of the procedure and the progress made. The two noted that the tenders for the construction and the line pipe supply are the most important and final steps for the start of the construction activities for the gas interconnector.
“The contract will be executed in 18 months after the start of the construction activities. ICGB expects mobilization and relies on the contractor’s professionalism regarding compliance with the set budget and the project’s schedule,” said ICGB.
The tender was announced on April 30th 2018 and was held as a restricted procedure in two phases – preselection and submitting of offers by the admitted to second phase candidates. Five companies and consortia were invited to submit offers:
DZZD "IGB-2018"
Consortium MAX STREICHER - TERNA/ICGB
Consortium Spiecapag Trace IGB 2018
J&P - AVAX S.A
Joint Venture CPP-AKTOR
By the end of the extended deadline only two of the invited candidates submitted offers - DZZD "IGB-2018" and J&P - AVAX S.A. Both offers comply with the set technical requirements and were opened during a public meeting of the committee. According to the technical evaluation, the proposal of DZZD "IGB-2018" contains more advantages on the criteria that evaluates quality of implementation. The offer of J&P AVAX S.A. also fully complies with the technical specification, including demonstration of advantages that significantly enhance the minimum requirements of ICGB.
DZZD "IGB-2018" offered price of 229 700 000 euros for the construction of the interconnector which is significantly above the tender’s estimated value. According to the procedure’s rules, this gives grounds for exclusion from further participation in the public procurement. Thus, the participant that best covers the technical and financial criteria is J&P AVAX S.A.
In compliance with the Public Procurement Act requirements (PPA) the Contracting Entity has published on its website in the Buyer’s profile section the Award Decision together with detailed description of the whole process of conducting the procedure and arguments for the decisions taken. All procurements carried out by ICGB are completed with full transparency, providing equal access to all interested parties and in compliance with the acting legislation.
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