Trace Group Hold JSC - Sofia - Short Company profile

Seven candidates submitted bids in the tender for the construction of a 17 km railway between Radomir and Pernik with an estimated value of over 462 million leva excluding VAT. The route is part of Corridor No. 8, which should connect the Black Sea with the Adriatic Sea. Almost all major Bulgarian companies in railway construction are participating. There are only two foreign companies. They are well known in our country - the Austrian "Strabag" and the Turkish "Dogus", which have joined consortia. The price offers of all 7 candidates were opened simultaneously on September 23. Of them, 3 are above the estimated value, and the remaining four are below it. This is the third attempt by the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRI) to select a builder. The current public procurement has an estimated value nearly twice as high as the one announced at the end of 2020 (267.5 million leva excluding VAT). The highest price offer is from the "Dogush GP" consortium - 567,925,502 leva excluding VAT (33.4 million leva/km). It includes "GP Group" AD, the Bulgarian division of the Turkish "Dogush", which is building the metro in Sofia, and the parent company "Dogush In?aat ve Tijaret" AD. The second most expensive offer is from the "Strabag Rail Construction" DZZD consortium - 499,889,621.48 leva excluding VAT. It includes "Strabag" EOD, "Strabag AG" Austria and "Strabag Rail" a.s. Czech Republic. The third offer, which is above the estimated value of the order, is from the "?P Pernik 2025" consortium, which gave a price of 469,022,951.56 excluding VAT. The consortium includes "VDH" AD (the new name of "Vodstroy") and "Trace Group Hold" AD. The remaining four price offers are close to each other. The lowest price is given by "Monolit Sofia" AD - 413,135,504 leva excluding VAT, followed by the offer of "PST Group" EAD - 418,709,209 leva excluding VAT and the consortium "Geostroy Patstroy - Pernik" - 419,398,070 leva excluding VAT. The most interesting price offer is from DZZD "ISPA". The registered company under the Obligations and Contracts Act is made up of companies that are not known to the general public in railway construction. These are "Interkonekta" EOOD and "SA.IE". Their offer is 421,283,219 leva excluding VAT - close enough to the lowest offers of established builders and at the same time below the estimated value. "Interkonekta" has declared experience in the renovation of a kindergarten in Svoge and a street in Rakitovo, and "SA.IE" - renovations of schools and kindergartens in Bobov dol, Radomir and Galabovo to the Bulgarian Chamber of Builders (BCB). In the public data provided by them, they will not have built railway lines, which is a requirement for participation in the tender. The two companies have participated in the construction of an interconnection gas connection Bulgaria - Serbia on Bulgarian territory, for which they received 11.88 million leva. It is not clear how the "ISPA" association meets the requirement for a turnover of 450 million leva for the last 3 financial years. The turnover of "Interconnect" for the last two years amounts to over 16 million leva, and of "SA.IE" - about 85 million leva. The company "SA.IE" is managed by Kamelia Taskova and is located at 34, 3020-ta Street, Industrial Zone Orion District. The company was a subcontractor of "Atomenergoremont" AD. "SA.IE", together with two foreign companies, won the tender for the construction of the pipe from the vertical gas corridor from Piperevo to Pernik, with the start of construction activities planned for December 2025. "SA.IE", together with the Romanian branch of the Austrian "Habau", is the only candidate in the tender for a new water injection well in the gas storage facility in Chiren for nearly 16 million leva, excluding VAT. The future contractor will be determined by the criterion of the most economically advantageous offer "optimal quality/price ratio". The selected contractor will receive an advance payment of 10% of the contract price excluding VAT. Interim payments are no more than 85% of the price, and the final payment is no less than 15%.