In the tender for the cable car to Sněžka, there is only one applicant

Pec pod Sněžkou (Trutnov region) - The conditions for the competition to build a new cable car to Sněžka were met only by the association of companies Eurovia CS and Doppelmayr after the opening of bids on Friday. The remaining two bidders were excluded from the competition. Drahoslav Chudoba from the company Dabona, which organizes the project and the selection process for the town of Pec pod Sněžkou, told ČTK today. One of the unsuccessful companies has already stated that it intends to seek its rights in court. This could delay the construction of the cable car, which has already received EU funding.
    Mayor of Pec pod Sněžkou, Alan Tomášek, believes that the start of construction as planned in the spring of next year is realistic. "The city did not err in the competition. I will proceed in accordance with the law. I will have to sign a contract with the bidder who met the conditions," Tomášek told ČTK.
    In addition to the association of companies Eurovia CS and Doppelmayr, bids were also submitted by the company BAK Trutnov in cooperation with Leitner and the company Chládek and Tintěra Pardubice also in cooperation with Leitner. Because the company Leitner appeared in two bids, both bids were excluded from the competition under public procurement law. "There was no other option. The law is clear," Chudoba stated. The companies Doppelmayr and Leitner are manufacturers of cable car technologies.
    According to information from ČTK, the Eurovia CS association offered a price of 316 million crowns excluding VAT. The association of Chládek and Tintěra offered 299 million crowns and the BAK association offered a price of 279 million crowns. The estimated price listed in the competition assignment was 330 million crowns excluding VAT. From EU funds, Pec pod Sněžkou should receive a grant of 230 million crowns.
    BAK claims that its bid is valid and that it should not have been excluded from the competition. "Leitner signed a contract only with us. The contract between Chládek and Tintěra and Leitner is a forgery and a fake. We are ready to go to court. We do not rule out filing a criminal complaint for fraud," BAK's CEO Dušan Čížek told ČTK. BAK and Leitner plan to provide further details at a press conference in Prague on Wednesday.
    The company Chládek and Tintěra Pardubice rejected the allegations of forgery or fraud. "We entered into a consortium agreement with Leitner for the construction of the cable car. The contract was handed to us at a personal meeting on October 22. In this spirit, we submitted a bid for the competition," said Martin Havelka, a board member of Chládek and Tintěra, to ČTK. He noted that Leitner committed in the contract to deal only with Chládek and Tintěra. "So far, they have not informed us that the contract is invalid or that they are terminating it. We feel harmed by Leitner's actions. We are passing the whole matter to our legal representatives," Havelka said.
    According to Chudoba, some of the bidders may have made a mistake. "But it is not up to us to judge who made the error. The documents were verified, the signatures were identical," Chudoba said. According to him, only a court can decide what is allegedly forged.
    If construction were to begin next spring, the over 60-year-old cable car would cease operations in September 2011. The structure of the current cable car, including the concrete bases, will be removed. A helicopter will mainly be used for this. The new cable car is expected to enter trial operation in June 2013.
    The new cable car will have four-seat cabins instead of the current open two-passenger chairs. Boarding will be more convenient as the lower station will move closer to the parking lot at the Lesovna chalet. The intermediate station on Růžová hora and the upper station on Sněžka will remain in their places. The hourly capacity of the cable car will remain at 250 people. However, the new cable car will be better resistant to wind. Annually, about 100,000 tourists will take the cable car to the top.