According to local media, the deadline for the completion of the construction of the Pocitelj bridge on the route of Corridor 5C in BiH which cracked on Saturday were significantly breached and the companies selected for the job, Sinohydro Corporation Limited and Powerchina Roadbridge Group, subcontracted a local company for it, while China’s Gezhouba Group Co. LTD submitted false documentation on the project.
Fokus.ba journalists looked into the official documentation from the Public Company Motorways of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Autoceste FBiH). The news portal reports that the Chinese companies selected would provise false information during the construction of certain sections of the highway in the territory of BiH’s Federation (FBiH) entity when applying for tenders.
Specifically, these companies are reportedly Sinohydro Corporation Limited, Powerchina Roadbridge Group Co. and China Gezhouba Group Co. LTD, which are all already known for corruption scandals, frauds and non-fulfillment of contracts on a global level.
The aforementioned companies were selected as contractors for the sections of the Pocitelj – Zvirovici highway (including the Pocitelj bridge), and were candidates in the tender for the Medakovo – Ozmice sections and the Prenj tunnel.
According to the decisions of Autoceste FBiH from May 16, obtained by Fokus.ba, Sinohydro Corporation Limited te Powerchina Roadbridge Group Co. Ltd. with which a contract was previously signed on the construction of the Pocitelj bridge on the Pocitelj-Zvirovici subdivision were disqualified for a period of two years because they violated the contract.
These companies were an integral part of the consortium, together with the Azvirt Limited Liability Company from Azerbaijan, with which a contract for the construction of the Pocitelj bridge worth 54,942,837 BAM or 28,114,889 euros (without VAT) was signed in June 2019.
Four years later it was established that Sinohydro Corporation Limited and Powerchina Roadbridge Group Co. Ltd flagrantly breached the contract because the construction of the bridge was not carried out by them, but by a subcontractor – the company Hering from Siroki Brijeg in BiH.
As explained in the decision, in the special conditions of the signed contract, it is stated that the contractor is prohibited from subcontracting works on the span construction of the bridge, but that the subcontractor can only perform works up to the maximum value of 15 percent of the contract. In this case, it was established, the value of subcontracted works was much higher than the 15 percent, according to Fokus.
On May 10, Autoceste FBiH contacted the supervising engineer from the company IRD Engineering S.r.l. – Italy, which confirmed that the work on the span construction of the Pocitelj bridge was completely carried out by Hering, and that no approval was issued for such a thing from the investor (Autoceste FBiH).
The director of the company Hering Ladislav Bevanda briefly stated that they have neither direct nor indirect contacts with Autoceste FBiH and that he knows nothing about it.
Also, by the time of the statement of the supervising engineer, which was on May 12, the deadlines for the completion of the construction of the Počitelj bridge were blatantly breached by 218 days, since everything, according to the contract, was supposed to be completed on October 6, 2022.
In the decision of Autoceste FBiH, the Chinese companies Sinohydro Corporation Limited and Powerchina Roadbridge Group Co. Ltd were banned from participating in all tenders and any other business in which Autoceste FBiH is an investor for a period of two years, not taking into account current construction contracts.
Fokus asked the public company about certain ambiguities of this decision.
When it comes to the Pocitelj bridge, as stated by this public company, the work is being carried out without interruption based on the concluded contract, which is still active, and that preparatory work is underway on the construction of waterproofing of the bridge, drainage, pavement structure, concrete and safety fences and other works.
However, another issue with this is the fact that the construction of the Pocitelj-Zvirovici subdivision is also financed from the funds secured under the loan agreement concluded with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the amount of 100 million euros and by grants from the European Union in the amount of five million euros that are provided within the framework of the Agenda for Connection through the Investment Framework for the Western Balkans (WBIF).
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