Hungary’s Public Procurement Arbitration Board (KDB) has invalidated the results of a tender for infrastructure developments worth billions of forints after it found professional experts were misrepresented in the bids of both the winner and the runner-up, the National Infrastructure Development Company (NIF) said on Monday.
The tender, for infrastructural developments in the area around Zahony (NE Hungary), which Hungary wants to transform into a logistics hub for the entire region, was declared invalid after KDB found false data about professional experts listed in both the bids of Colas and the Szelesnyomtav consortium.
Colas was earlier announced the winner of the tender, submitting the lowest offer of net HUF 3.89bn. Szelesnyomtav was the runner-up.
As a result of the decision, Colas will be excluded from all public procurements for a period of three years.
NIF said it will announce a new winner as soon as possible. If a contract is signed by September, the project can still be completed by the original deadline.
KDB also fined NIF HUF 5m for letting the discrepancies in the bids pass unnoticed.