Železnice SR fights cheap Kazakhs
A consortium led by Kazakh firm Integra (also including Todini, Alpine and Cedis), submitted the lowest bid in a tender for renovation of 13 km rail track Poprad-Lučivná, totaling €90.9m. Companies Swietelsky, Strabag, Eurovia and Eltra bid €91.8m, and a consortium of TSS Grade, Doprastav and Tempra asked for €97.5m. The expected price was €96m. Železnice SR, a rail infrastructure operator, is not happy with the Kazakh inroads, as it very much prefers its traditional local suppliers. It faces the same issue in the tender to renovate the Bratislava-Czech border rail tracks, where Integra’s bid is also the lowest (€212m, as opposed to expected price of €300m). Železnice SR is working hard to exclude Integra from both tenders, to no avail so far.
Železnice SR’s tenders have always been shrouded in doubts. One of the reasons is the case of a bag with €300,000 in cash, forgotten at a petrol pump by its former CEO, Štefan Hlinka.
