Field activities are expected to be re-activated for the construction of the railway toward Bulgaria in the beginning of the second half of the year after the pre-qualification phase and the tender to pick a contractor for the first two sections are completed, says Hari Lokvenec, Director of the state-owned public enterprise Macedonian Railways – Infrastructure.
The project’s pre-qualification phase, opened on January 5, closes on February 15 at 10:00 am. Next week, it will be known how many companies have expressed interest to be part of the tender that is to be issued before picking a company that will build the sections Kumanovo-Beljakovce and Beljakovce-Kriva Palanka.
“The number of companies interested in taking part in the project for construction of the first two stages of the railway to Bulgaria isn’t insignificant. To us, it’s very important because our main goal is to pick the best company out of many others before finally finishing the project, which had been launched last century, and making it a reality for the Macedonian citizens,” Lokvenec tells MIA in an interview.
The objective, he adds, is by the end of February to have evaluated and selected a short list of qualifying companies that could participate in the main tender with their own bids. It involves one tender with two lots.
“I hope by the end of February we will get the short list and issue the tender since it is an international tender. The period for preparing documents for the final offer is 90 days. It means that the process should end by the end of May, the deadline for submitting bids. It will be followed by a period of couple of weeks during which we would get the contracting company after undergoing the process of final evaluation,” explains Lokvenec.
According to him, the company and everyone involved are doing their best allowing the project to become reality.
“Regarding the tender being opened for the Bulgaria railway and the start of construction works, hoping it will start in July, the entire company and everyone involved in the realization and doing their best to turn it into reality. I believe we are able to detect all the hurdles and those that are predictable throughout the process and remove them,” Lokvenec tells MIA.
It is believed that the first and second stage could be implemented together within 36 months’ time.
The financial construction for the two stages is provided through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. EUR 60 million in investment grant through IPA 2 has been provided for the third section. According to the director, the country should start spending the financing as soon as possible.
The duty of the company, and the state, to provide complete documentation and all precondition involving the third stage should be completed in the coming few months, Lokvenec says.
“The current stage involves preparation and approval of the infrastructure project, which is in parallel with approving the main project, completing the tender documentation. At the same time, we a trying to secure additional grants, whose amount I hope will be higher that the ones we’ve secured for the other stages in February,” he adds.
A working group at a technical level has been set up for the railway connection with Bulgaria, but it is yet to start working after being prevented by the coronavirus pandemic, Lokvenec says.
