Bulgaria might lose €1.2 billion from the Recovery Plan after the cancellation of tenders for train renewal at Bulgarian State Railways BDZ, according to Euractiv.
Georgi Gvozdeykov, a minister in Nikolai Denkov’s cabinet, suspended a major tender worth about 600 million euros last week. Bulgaria had to buy 35 single-deck trains for this EU funding. A day later, a similar €600-million tender for 20 new high-speed (push-pull) trains was also cancelled.
The renewal of the Bulgarian State Railways is the largest project financed by the Recovery Plan, with a total cost to Bulgaria of €6 billion. It is of vital importance to the state railway company.
In the first tender, the Czech company SKODA and the Polish company PESA were the favourites for the delivery of 35 single-deck trains, submitting bids for an amount significantly less than the EU funding. Bulgaria cancelled the procedure as both companies proposed a longer train delivery time.
In the second tender for the supply of 20 high-speed trains, the government wanted to attract the biggest manufacturers, but the excessively short delivery times deterred many potential bidders. Only two companies, Spain’s Talgo and China’s CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd, agreed to participate. The Spanish company’s bid totalled €600 million and the Chinese company’s €303 million.
Double price differences and suspicions of unregulated state aid to the Chinese company prompted the European Commission to launch an investigation in February. This forced the Chinese company to withdraw its bid as the investigation would have disrupted the company’s proposed 33-month train delivery schedule.
Negotiations with the Spanish company continued, but it emerged that its offer to supply the new 20 trains would be longer than the 33 months set by Bulgaria. As a result, the tender was cancelled.
The Bulgarian government claims that an order for 20 new high-speed trains will not be renewed, since manufacturers cannot produce them in such a short timeframe. The European Commission has authorised Bulgaria to amend the tender for the trains, which could be produced and delivered by mid-2026.
