Estonia's Skinest Rail files complaint over Budapest metro tender

By bne IntelliNews July 17, 2015

Skinest Rail has filed a complaint with the European Commission against Budapest public transport company BKV for throwing out its bid to modernise trains on the city’s M3 metro line, the Estonian train manufacturer announced on July 16.

BKV awarded the contract to Russia’s Metrovagonmast on July 8, after disqualifying Skinest. The Estonian company claims that the eight points cited by the Hungarian transport operator as reasons to disqualify the bid are formal in character. It said in a press release that it trusts the European legal forum will arrive at the same conclusion.

The same day the result of the tender was announced, the Hungarian parliament approved legislation to simplify and speed up certain development investment projects in Budapest. The bill, dubbed the M3 Act because of its focus on the M3 modernisation project, limits legal recourse against public procurement decisions. That means Skinest has effectively only the European Commission to turn to, the Estonian company complains.

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