ZAGREB, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Croatia will sign a contract with a Chinese consortium on the construction of the Peljesac Bridge on April 23, Croatian Minister of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butkovic confirmed on Wednesday.
Butkovic told Xinhua that the construction of the bridge would begin immediately, despite the appeal submitted to court on Monday by the competitors, who attempted for the second time since January to challenge Croatian authority's decision of awarding the project to the Chinese bidder.
A Chinese consortium led by China Road and Bridge Corporation won the bid for the construction of the first phase of the bridge and its access roads in January, when local road operator Harvatske Ceste (Croatian Roads) decided the Chinese offer was better than the ones from Austrian construction firm Strabag and an Italian-Turkish consortium.
The decision was challenged days later by the competitors who accused the winner of offering "dumping prices" and enjoying "state aids".
The appeals of the other bidders delayed the whole procedure and were rejected by Croatia's State Commission for Control of Public Procurement Procedure (DKOM) in late March for lack of evidence. DKOM decided that the Chinese consortium had fulfilled all technical conditions for the project and that the price claims in the appeal were not accurate.
The Chinese consortium will begin preparations immediately, but it will take some time until the construction site is organized, according to Butkovic.
"All things have been put to an end for us, and as far as Strabag's appeal is concerned, we will see how the court proceeds," said the minister.
The Peljesac Bridge, with an estimated value of over 400 million euros (485 million U.S. dollars), is one of the most strategic infrastructure projects in Croatia. EU fund will cover 85 percent of the total cost.
It is designed to be 55-meter high and 2.4 kilometer-long with four lanes, connecting the southernmost part of Croatia around Dubrovnik with the rest of the mainland.
