Dutch business/ Quarrel over 393 million euro port contract, French giant appeals Albanian government tender

The 393 million euro tender for the construction of the new port in Porto Romano is surrounded by strong suspicions and seems to be accompanied by strong clashes between global construction giants and Albanian authorities.

A consortium of companies consisting of Belgian Jan De Nul and French giant Vinci have appealed to the Public Prosecution Commission the evaluation of the pre-qualification phase and their disqualification from the competition for the tender.

The pre-qualification phase for the 393 million euro tender was concluded two weeks ago. The tender committee qualified only two bids for the final phase: that of the Dutch Van Oord and the Greek Archirodon, both headquartered in the Netherlands.

Dutch business

The tender for the construction of the new commercial port in Porto Romano has a unique feature. The Bid Evaluation Committee is chaired by a private company.

A few months ago, the government authorized the Port Authority to contract the Dutch company Royal Haskoning through direct negotiation as a consultant for the port tender. The contract between the Port Authority and Royal Haskoning is secret. But Kapitali has revealed that its value is 12 million euros.

In addition to the huge sum that the government pays the Dutch, they have also been given the responsibility of chairing the tender bid evaluation committee. Practically, selecting the winner.

And coincidentally, the commission headed by the Dutch Royal Haskoning qualified only two Dutch bids, Van Oord and Archirodon, for the final stage.

Giants outside

The pre-qualification of the tender for the construction of the Port had two phases. The first phase included the opening of the tender competition, part of which was the development of a two-berth container terminal.

The second phase was the pre-qualification phase, where potential bidders are pre-qualified on condition that they meet a set of predetermined technical and financial criteria. Upon completion of this phase, the final bidding phase begins, in which pre-qualified bidders can submit their financial bid.

Only two Dutch companies, Van Oord and Archirodon, are now left in the race. Three other bids were disqualified. Among them was that of Jan de Nul and Vinci Construction, a consortium of giants.

A simple comparison is enough for this. Both companies qualified in the second phase have a combined annual turnover that is only 5 percent of the turnover generated by Vinci.

In 2023, the French giant had a turnover of 68 billion euros and a pre-tax profit of 8 billion euros, a profit larger than the budget of Albania. Meanwhile, the two qualified companies, Van Oord and Arhirodon, have respectively 2.8 and 1 billion euros in annual turnover. Less than half of Vinci's profit.

The construction of the new port in Porto Romano is the largest public contract ever carried out by Edi Rama's government. A full 393 million euros are at stake, just for the first phase of the Port's construction, the total bill of which is expected to exceed 1 billion euros.

But since its inception, the race has been accompanied by controversy and it seems the port will turn into a battlefield between the Dutch clan and the French giants. / Kapital.al