Trouble brewing in angry border dispute over tenders

The commission in charge of the tender process has ruled out all but one offer - a consortium led by Computerland - on technical grounds. A total of 40 concerns, including leading domestic companies, such as Prokom and Bumar, as well as international giants like Airbus manufacturer EADS, Ericsson and Alcatel had seen their offers turned down in the first phase of the tender due to formal reasons. Nine out of the 11 consortia have begun protests. This situation might soon find itself as a leading topic among top EU officials as the investment will be financed from the Union's funds. "The commission's decisions are scandalous. Our offer was turned down due to a very silly reason. We will take advantage of all channels, including diplomatic measures," said one of the bidders. Representatives of the Border Guard say that foreign companies do not understand Polish realities and do not know how to submit binding offers. It has been announced that all protests will be thoroughly analyzed. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 3) A.K.