I am addressing the rational citizens of Cluj, who know how difficult projects are, not those who speak just to be heard – Ziar de Cluj

Mayor Emil Boc wanted to speak for over 10 minutes about the reasons that led to the cancellation of the tender for the second section of the metropolitan belt, wanting to specify that he is addressing the rational citizens of Cluj who know that the adjudication of a tender takes time, not those who speak only to be heard .

Boc was accused of delaying a decision regarding the only bid submitted for the second section of the Metropolitan Belt, this after five months had passed since the bid was submitted. But the mayor wanted to mention that the procedure is a long one, which the rational citizens of Cluj understand.

In fact, the reason why the only bid submitted was declared non-compliant is mind boggling. The association of companies allegedly made a calculation error when submitting the financial offer, and it was 30% higher than the estimated value, although the law allows a maximum increase of 15%. In other words, due to a material error, the auction will most likely have to be restarted and who knows if it will be completed this year.

“The only bidder could not proceed because the bid is non-compliant and was declared inadmissible. According to legal provisions, any offer must fall within the estimated value. The law allows the maximum value to be exceeded by a maximum of 15%. Such an exception can only be made if all bidders have exceeded the value. Afterwards, it must be checked with the contracting authority if there is availability to exceed the estimated value by 15%. The City Hall contacted the contracting authority, the Ministry of Transport, and following discussions there was an agreement to have the value 15% higher, which is why the technical-economic indicators were also updated. Under these conditions, at the opening of the financial offer, it was discovered that the submitted offer is 30% higher than the estimated value. The auction commission asked the bidder to clarify why he came up with a 30% higher bid. He said it was a technical error, that they got the calculations wrong and it resulted in a material error. This response was sent to the National Public Procurement Authority who said no, it is not accepted. It is overrun by 30%, we do not accept that it is technical error, therefore cancel the procedure. Under these conditions, the City Hall of Cluj-Napoca had no other alternative than to declare the offer non-compliant because it exceeded the estimated value by 30%, even though the company said through clarifications: “I made a mistake in the calculations”, explained Mayor Emil Boc.

Of course, this does not justify the fact that since 2017 the City Hall has barely managed to award a section of the Metropolitan Belt, namely the first section that is only 2 kilometers long. But it is obvious that we are not among those rational Cluj residents who understand the difficulties faced by the mayor. We are just talking to be heard, some for more than 10 years. We don’t understand what administration means, that’s why we have claims and for us normality means that in 2024, the second largest city of the country should have had a bypass.

“I addressed rational people who understand what the law is in this country. Who understand the difficulties we have. Obviously, those who don’t listen, I don’t address them because they don’t want to listen anyway. The city hall and the auction committee did everything in their power to bring this auction to a successful conclusion. It was a whole procedure, opinions after opinions. We have the best possible design for this belt. That we managed to have the financial resource inclusive at a value increased by 15%. We already have updated technical-economic indicators. Where possible the works went in a straight line with many efforts. For those who wonder why a tender procedure has to last even if there is only one bidder. The train going from Cluj to Bucharest, even if it has two carriages or 10 carriages, must pass through the prepared stations. It’s an election campaign, some will want to speak just to be heard, I speak for the rational people who understand what administration means and are serious and want to build in the medium and long term for Cluj”, explained the mayor.