THE PUBLIC Procurement Office (ÚVO) is to decide on whether to ban more construction companies involved in a 2004 cartel agreement in the public tender for the D1 highway from future tenders. Firms Skanska and Inžinierske Stavby are among those which could join the companies from the cartel that are already banned from public procurement, Doprastav and Strabag, the Sme daily wrote on July 9.
The state has already closed most of the tenders featuring the companies from the cartel agreement and has granted the orders to more expensive bidders. The move could affect the construction of a section of the expressway between Zvolen and Pstruša, for which Skanska offered the lowest bid. The ban from public procurement, which could be valid for 3-5 years, will not prevent subsidiaries and parent companies from participating in future tenders, Sme wrote.
The Antirtrust Office (PMÚ) and the Supreme Court decided that Doprastav and Strabag participated in a cartel in the tender to build the D1 section between Jánovce and Jablonov 10 years ago, the TASR newswire wrote. The companies whose fates are to be decided in the coming days are Skanska, Inžinierske Stavby, Mota-Engil and Betamont, as confirmed by ÚVO spokesman Ján Mažgút on July 8.
(Source: Sme, TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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