Shortly before the appointment of the official cabinet, the Bulgarian State Railways (BSR) awarded a public tender for the repair and modernization of 15 wagons. The total amount needed to do so is equal to nearly BGN 27 million.
The first of all the old wagons is the so-called Sokol wagon. It is being renovated in a private factory in Dryanovo, and the work on it will cost about BGN 1.8 million. The contractor will be selected without a competition with other candidates. The reason, says BSR, is that the plant was once state-owned and as a manufacturer of these wagons, has an intellectual right to the model.
But what do railway workers and trade unionists think about this?
According to Petar Bunev, chairman of the Union of Railway Workers in Bulgaria at CITUB, such a deal raises a number of questions. The lack of competition for the execution of the contract leads to a lack of competitive price, which can be much more profitable for BSR.
On the other hand, the claim that B74 and B84 are Dryanovo is a fact. But mentioning it, one important detail should not be overlooked, namely that „going back in history, we know that these plants have been privatized.“
Grigori Grigorov, chairman of the board of directors of BSR, is adamant that „what the law requires, we have provided.“ Grigorov is not sure whether he has a patent, but „he has a certain intellectual property.“
The contractor denied a real patent, but „the designs for the models were inherited from the company as an asset“, which was digitized in 2016-2017.
The railway trade unionist Petar Bunev finds suspicious things in the BSR deal. He is of the opinion that the increase of the amount from BGN 500,000 to BGN 800,000 is something normal over time, and the vacuum toilets installed in the wagons also contribute to the jump. Their price per piece is around BGN 50,000. However, the final figure of nearly BGN 1.8 million seems too solid, and the lack of competition raises suspicions.
The BDZ contracting authorities themselves had the option to buy a completely new wagon for BGN 1.9 million, according to market research conducted 2 years ago. Grigorov from BSR explains:
„The new one is about 1.9 million, and the wagon here, its modernization is 1.8 million. At the end of 2019, some new regulations came into force and in fact we did not receive any proposals for participation in this procedure, because all the participants we had invited in this procedure announced prices of around 1.9 million euros per wagon.”
Such tender information cannot be seen in the railway’s public data. It is interesting that another public procurement for the repair of 40 wagons cost BGN 76,700,000 – almost twice lower price than the current one, which is BGN 950,000 per unit.
There are several reasons for the increase in prices, listed by the company. The car is planned to be with sound insulation, thermal insulation, video surveillance, information about the seats, passengers, power supply, new electrical panels, brake system, production 2021, climatronic.
Critics point out that the listed items have already been replaced in previous repairs. Despite the mistrust, the responsible company continues its work, assuring that in the fall we will see an unprecedented luxury in our country as a result of modernization.
