Six associations of companies have applied for the construction of the Rail Baltica main route in the tender / Article

Applications submitted by:

• an association of individuals, Webuild NGE-TSO JV, consisting of the French companies Webuild SpA, NGE Contracting SASU and TSO SAS,
• the association “OHLA – Gulemark” Rail Baltica “Joint Venture” consisting of “Obrascon Huarte Lain”, “Gulermak Agır Sanayi Insaat ve Taahhut” and “Gulermak Sp.z oo” (Spain, Turkey, Poland),
• ERB Rail Baltica JV, made up of Eiffage Genie Civil SAS, Budimex and Rizzani de Eccher (France, Poland, Italy).
• an association of persons consisting of Aldesa Construcciones, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and TEK Baltic Ltd. (Spain, China, Latvia),
• an association of persons formed by the Turkish companies Ic Ictas Insaat sanayi ve ticaret and Dogus Insaat ve ticaret,
• DL E&C-Lotte E&C-Nurol, an association of two South Korean companies and one Turkish company, DL E&C Co., Lotte Engineering & Construction Co. and “Nurol Insaat ve Ticaret”.

The Procurement Commission will specifically assess the candidates’ compliance with the procurement qualification requirements, including previous experience in railway construction, in accordance with European Union standards.

The Minister of Transport Tālis Linkaits (“Conservatives”) emphasized that in this geopolitical situation, the implementation of the Rail Baltica project must be ensured as soon as possible, creating a new, strong transport corridor and strengthening European connectivity.

“In the context of the events in Ukraine, it is important to realize that the Rail Baltica project goes beyond the passenger and freight transport opportunities we are talking about. At present, the Rail Baltica transport corridor is also vital for the security, well-being and basic functions of the country,” he said.

In his turn, Kaspars Vingris, Chairman of the Board of the company “Eiropas dzelzceļš”, pointed out that the activity of construction contractors in this tender can be assessed as high enough, taking into account the high requirements for applicants corresponding to the scale of the project.

“The first stage of the procurement should be evaluated successfully also because no complaints were received from potential bidders during the procurement, which would cause to terminate or change the initially established procurement requirements,” Vingris said.

In total, the tenderer received 83 questions from potential bidders, to which the Procurement Commission provided answers. Vingris pointed out that significant, internationally recognized construction companies with many years of experience in the construction of high-speed railway infrastructure have applied. For the first time in the competitions organized by the European Railways, the geography represented by potential candidates is so wide, even outside Europe.

“The experience so far shows that the companies are ready to get involved in the implementation of Rail Baltica projects, forming associations that create the best synergy of knowledge, experience and practice, creating a highly competent team for the implementation of work,” said Vingris.

The Procurement Commission plans to hand over the requirements of the 2nd stage of the tender to the qualified tenderers at the beginning of April this year in order to receive the tenders of the tenderers in September 2022. It is planned to conclude a contract with the winner of the second procurement stage at the end of 2022, and to start construction works in the first half of 2023.

CONTEXT:

On November 12, the company “Eiropas dzelzce līnijas” announced the largest procurement for the construction of a railway track in Latvia. The aim of the tender “Rail Baltica main line construction works in Latvia” is the early involvement of a construction company to ensure the construction works of the “Rail Baltica” railway line infrastructure in Latvia outside the city limits of Riga.

The winner of the tender will have to provide more than 200 kilometers of infrastructure for the main route of the Rail Baltica railway line in the territory of Latvia outside the city limits of Riga, including site preparation, construction of embankments, railway bridges, roads and overpasses, road construction.

The Rail Baltica railway route in Latvia stretches for about 260 kilometers, starting at the Lithuanian-Latvian border and continuing through 10 municipal territories: Bauska, Ķekava, Olaine, Mārupe districts, the capital Riga, continuing in the direction of Estonia through Salaspils, Ropaži, Sigulda, Saulkrasti and Limbaži county.

–