Decisions anticipated regarding Athens Metro Line 4 tender

The tender for Athens Metro Line 4, which is the largest public project of the decade, has recently moved in the spotlight.

The Council of State’s decision about two weeks ago to sustain both appeals of the two final contenders have concerned the technical companies and the issue has risen to a governmental level.

Almost from the first moment, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport seems to keep all possible scenarios open, from the continuation of the tender to its cancellation.

Essentially what seems to be the key point in the tender is how far the remaining contenders are willing to go.

What is needed to complete the tender in a timely manner is to reach a consensus that will stop the long-running legal controversy, which until now is considered to have cost the project about 1.5 years.

A tender with legal delays

From the moment the tender started, in August 2017, with the submission of the Expression of Interest, until today, the developments have been more connected with the court disputes rather than with the tender procedures.

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport points out that the scenario of cancelling the tender is on the table and recent developments in both Aktio-Amvrakia and Patras-Pyrgos tenders show that they are determined not to let the projects drag on already from their tendering stage.

In the case of Line 4, there is also the unknown factor which is the precursory works for which the decision is still unknown.

This parameter, combined with the fact that there is no provision for the inclusion of precursory works in the main project, creates an additional uncertainty for the project itself. Especially, in the event that the tender for the precursory works won’t be completed.

For their part, the contenders believe that with the decision of the CoS there is no reason for the tender to shipwreck, on the contrary it gives a direction for its completion, while STEAT also intervened in favor of its continuation.

However, as it is a project that is literally being anticipated by the whole market and which has secured funding from NSRF and EIB, any decision will be made on the basis of the public interest and with the focus on its immediate implementation.