Spotlight: Appeals against Chinese consortium winning Croatian bridge project bid groundless: ambassador

ZAGREB, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese ambassador to Croatia Hu Zhaoming said on Monday that appeals filed by the competing companies against Croatia's selection of a Chinese consortium to build the 2.4-km-long Peljesac bridge were "groundless" and rejected accusations of "dumping prices" and "unfair competition".

On Jan. 12, a Chinese consortium led by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) won the bid to construct the first phase of Peljesac bridge and its access roads. Then the Austrian construction company Strabag and a consortium of Italian Astaldi and Turkish IC Ictas appealed against Croatia's decision, surprisingly.

In their appeals, they attacked the Chinese company for allegedly "resorting to dumping prices" in order to win the tender. They also claimed the Chinese company "received state aid" for entering the EU market, thus making them face "unfair competition".

DUMPING PRICES?

"I am not surprised by their appeals. They have a right to do so. What surprises me are the arguments they reached," the ambassador told a press briefing held in his embassy.

"They believe that China's offer is actually a dumping price and they also claim they are facing an unfair competition because the Chinese company is state-owned. I think that both arguments are groundless," said Hu.

Croatian state-owned highway operator Hrvatske ceste (Croatian Roads) found the Chinese offer of 2.08 billion kuna (about 340 million U.S. dollars) without VAT to be the most favourable. Strabag's offer was the most expensive, 2.62 billion kuna (about 432 million U.S. dollars), while the Italian and Turkish consortium offers to build the bridge for 2.55 billion kuna (about 426 million U.S. dollars).

Speaking to the press, the ambassador pointed out that the estimated cost of this bridge by Croatia was 1.8 billion kuna (about 300 million U.S. dollars).

"I believe that the price by the Croatian side was endorsed by relevant agencies, including the European ones. If 2.08 billion kuna is a dumping price, what about 1.8 billion kuna," said Hu.

According to his opinion, these companies are not challenging the Chinese company. "They are actually challenging the authority of the Croatian government as well as the European institutions," said the ambassador.

TIMING OF ATTACKING CHINESE COMPANY

He reiterated that the Peljesac bridge project was opened for international bidding and that the Chinese company did not hide its identity.

"It also passed the qualification evaluation, so those companies knew from the very beginning that they were facing a Chinese company that is state-owned," said Hu, expressing surprise that they only raised these issues once the best bidder was selected.

He also noted the good relations between China and Austria, as well as with Italy and Turkey and the fact that the companies in these countries cooperate bilaterally with Chinese companies, including the state-owned ones.

"Why it has never been a problem in these countries, but has become a problem in Croatia. I just cannot understand that," said Hu, accusing the aforementioned companies of "playing a political card" against the Chinese consortium.

He expressed his belief that the relevant institutions and agencies in Croatia would make an early verdict on the appeals so that the contract can be signed soon and the construction to begin as soon as possible.

The Peljesac bridge, which will be 55-meter-high and 2.4-km-long with four lanes, will connect the southernmost part of the southeastern European country and Dubrovnik to the rest of the mainland. With the bridge, Croatia will have a continuous land link that bypasses the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Neum corridor, a strip of the Adriatic coastline which is a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is currently the only land-based communication route between Dubrovnik and the rest of mainland Croatia. Enditem