The 38 million lei call for tenders by "Metrorex" for acquiring legal services has been suspended

• Some law firms consider that the provisions of Metrorex are "restrictive and illegal"

• Udrişte says that the measure of the National Council for the Solving of Disputes (CNSC) to suspend the procedure does not affect the tender process in any way

The call for tenders held by "Metrorex" for legal services afferent to the expropriation of the buildings needed to expand the subway network was suspended by the National Council for the Solving of Contestations (CNSC), following the contestations filed by two law firms - "Boştină&Asociaţii" and "Popovici, Niţu&Asociaţii".

The Council has decided to suspend the awarding procedure until a ruling on the merits of the contestation concerning the awarding documentation will be issued. The suspension will remain in effect for a maximum of 20 days, according to Gheorghe Udrişte, the general manager of "Metrorex".

The procedure for the awarding of the contract of 38 million dollars was initiated two weeks ago for services of consulting, legal counsel and representation in court, in order to allow Metrorex to obtain the buildings needed for the expansion and/or modernization of the subway network through expropriation and/or assignment.

The two law firms consider that "Metrorex" has imposed "restrictive and illegal" conditions for the selection of the consultant, the representatives of law firm "Boştină&Asociaţii" said. According to them, the most restrictive provisions are those which require an expertise of at least ten years in expropriation lawsuits and expertise in urban expropriations.

In their contestation, the law firms have requested the following:

- first of all, that the contracting authority be required to eliminate the restrictive and illegal provisions of the awarding documentation and the amendment of the awarding documentation, in line with the legislation in effect;

- secondly, the invalidation of the awarding procedure, if no remedial measures decision can be made;

- the suspension of the awarding procedure until the solving of the contestation.

Complaints against the decision of the CNSC can be appealed within five days from the date of its announcement.

Gheorghe Udrişte said that a number of 16 companies have expressed their interest in winning this contract, of which only one will be designated as a winner: "We'll leave the Council do its job, this suspension of a maximum of 20 days won't delay any process".

He said that expropriations which need to be done are only necessary for the works which have not yet begun: "We have no problems with the works which we have already begun, everything is alright".

Two weeks ago, the Subway Company issued a call for tenders for one of the most lucrative contracts for legal services offered by a state owned company. The framework agreement will be concluded for a period of four years, for the expropriation of 804 state owned buildings and 1,206 privately owned buildings.

A maximum of 15 subsequent contracts are estimated to be concluded over the course of the framework agreement, with a duration of 6 to 12 months, with the option to extend each subsequent contract until the definitive and irrevocable solution of the contestations which will be filed. The minimum estimated value of a subsequent contract is 13,994 lei, VAT excluded.

The deadline for submitting the bids or the participation requests expires today, according to the representatives of "Boştină&Asociaţii", who said that the participating law firms are required to have a minimum of 1.9 million lei in turnover over the last three years: "Among other conditions which have to be met, there is also the amount of the services which concerned the expropriation of the buildings located in the urban area, achieved and completed between 2007 and 2011, which need to amount to at least 6 million lei. The requirement can only be met by cumulating the services provided through a maximum of three contracts. If a bidder presents contracts which are ongoing, or contracts which took place outside the mentioned period, only the contracts concluded during the 2007-2011 period will be considered".

The "key" staff off the bidder will have to include at least a project coordinator (a lawyer with at least ten years of experience), at least seven lawyers with at least five years of expertise in civil law and representation in court, and at least two years of expertise in expropriation procedures, a minimum of two lawyers with at least two years of expertise in civil law and court representation and at least one year of expertise in expropriation procedure.