Austrian contractor considers court as airport authority rejects appeal

Austria-based construction company Strabag Polska plans to sue the Polish Airport Authority (PPL) if the Infrastructure Ministry does not reconsider a tender for expansion of the capital's airport, Jerzy Binkiewicz, the director of Strabag Polska, told the WBJ last week. "If the (infrastructure) minister's decision is negative, there remains a legal course of action," Binkiewicz said. Last month PPL selected a consortium of Spain's Ferrovial Agroman, Estudio Lamela and Budimex, a Polish company, to build Warsaw Okźcie Airport's second terminal for $199 million. Strabag submitted a bid worth $280 million, while Germany's Hochtief offered $263 million. Strabag appealed PPL's choice, citing irregularities in the tender procedure, and questioned whether Ferrovial's offer was feasible. In the end, PPL may wind up paying a much higher price, according to a source who asked not to be named, as Ferrovial might have used a bid strategy that involves numerous additional charges after construction begins.

Commission refutes charges PPL's tender commission rejected Strabag's appeal last Friday. According to Bogdan Chudziak, the commission's chairman, Strabag's appeal is groundless. "Most of (Strabag's) charges are unjustified," Chudziak said. Strabag contends that PPL has reports confirming that Ferrovial underestimated its bid, but Chudziak refuted that allegation. "We have reports proving that other bidders' offers were overpriced," Chudziak said. According to Chudziak, external experts, including the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Scott Wilson, a U.K.-based consultancy, were employed by PPL to evaluate the three offers. "These two independent institutions have confirmed that they still consider Ferrovial's offer to be the best of the three," Chudziak said. The bidder may within three days appeal to PPL's director general, who will have another seven days to make a decision. Failing that, Strabag's last option would be to ask the Infrastructure Ministry to overturn the decision. If that doesn't work out, Strabag said it plans to take the issue to court. "Unless some new arguments against our charges appear in the appeal procedure, I see room for starting legal action, Strabag's Binkiewicz said. Binkiewicz is also looking for help from the Sejm's infrastructure committee, which is planning to question representatives of the Infrastructure Ministry and the PPL about the tender procedure this week.