The construction of the bus station in Hradec will be delayed by the appeal from Skanska

HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ - The construction of the new bus station in Hradec Králové will be delayed by several months due to an appeal by the company Skanska against the results of the contractor selection. The competition for the contract worth approximately half a billion crowns was won by a coalition of companies led by ŽS Brno. Skanska finished in second place. This is reported by today's Deníky Bohemia in the regional supplement.
The construction of the station, which residents and visitors of the regional capital have been waiting for decades, was originally supposed to start by the end of this year. Following Skanska's appeal to the Office for the Protection of Competition, construction will begin no earlier than spring.
"Skanska initially filed an objection, but the city rejected it. The company presented several complicated legal arguments. They primarily question certain documents issued by authorities in Spain that the winning consortium submitted," said Deputy Mayor Josef Malíř. The consortium also includes the Spanish company Obrascón. The third member is the company M-Silnice Pardubice.
The antimonopoly office can confirm the city's decision after reviewing the competition or order a repeat of the entire tender. This would further delay the start of construction by several months. "According to our lawyers, however, the city acted correctly, and I believe that construction will begin in the spring of next year," Malíř said.
The main part of the station, the actual bus terminal, was originally planned to be built by the end of 2006. The contract also includes the subsequent reconstruction of the neighboring Riegrova square at the Czech Railways station for public transport needs. The entire project is expected to be completed during 2008.