Iaşi Electrothermal District Heating Plant will buy coal at a price of USD 112/ton

Doru Mocanu,

IaŞi

The call for tenders by the Iaşi Electrothermal District Heating Plant (CET) Iaşi SA for purchasing coal needed for the winter of 2009 was won by Iuganord SRL in the Republic of Moldova and Trans Nafta Ltd. Great Britain. Each of them will supply 100,000 tons of coal, at a price of USD 112/ton. The price is half of last year"s winning tender.

The call for tenders was announced at the end of April, with CET Ia i sending out 69 invitations to participate to various companies, embassies and consulates. Only ten companies submitted tenders, and only six of them met the eligibility and technical requirements. The tenders submitted by Global International 2000 SA (Bucharest), Izvorul Mariei SRL Iaşi, Beresford IIDD sro Kiev (Ukraine), Trans Nafta Ltd of London (Great Britain), Iuganord Grup SRL Bălţi (Republic of Moldova) şi Unicom Top Energy SA Bucharest, fluctuated between USD 113 and USD 192.8 dollars/ton.

Three of the bidders - Unicom Top Energy SA Bucharest, Global International 2000 SA Bucharest and Beresford IIDD sro Kiev (Ukraine), were not called in for the last negotiations, since they did not agree to the payment terms proposed by CET. The Ia i based company requested to make the initial payment within 150 days from the date of the first delivery, and within 90 days for the last two months of delivery, whereas the officials of those companies asked to receive payment within 30 days. What"s more, Beresford IIDD sro Kiev only agreed to deliver the coal at the customs, whereas CET Ia i wanted the coal to be delivered in the Socola Railway Station of Ia i.

Thus, the final bidders remained Iuganord Grup SRL Bălţi, which intended to deliver 60,000 tons of coal, Trans Nafta Ltd. of London, which was interested in delivering 100,000 tons, and Izvorul Mariei SRL Iaşi, which had offered to deliver 40,000 tons. The first two companies adjusted their offer to meet the lowest bid, namely USD 112/ton, whereas Izvorul Mariei SRL Iaşi asked for USD 123/ton. Eventually, Moldovan company Iuganord Grup SRL agreed to supply another 40,000 tons of coal, which lead to the awarding of the auction to Iuganord SRL in the Republic of Moldova and Trans Nafta Ltd. Great Britain.

According to the legislation for public purchases, the officials of the CET have to wait another seven days, until the delay available for challenging the results of the call for tender expires. Provided none of the participants in the call for tenders challenges the results, the contracts with the two companies will be signed next week. The companies will have to deposit a performance guarantee of 10% each, with each company to pay 5% of the value of the entire contract. Together, Iuganord Grup SRL Bălţi and Trans Nafta Ltd. London will have to transfer USD 2.24 million in the accounts of the CET. The amount will only be unlocked once each company delivers 10,000 tons of coal in Ia i. "The two companies have also accepted very convenient payment delays (150 days), and the first shipment of coal should arrive in one month", said the manager of the Iaşi based company, Costică Neculai.

Even though this year the coal was bought at a lower price, the gigacalorie price paid by the inhabitants of Iaşi will remain unchanged, because CET Iaşi has to cover the losses incurred in the previous years.