Novadeal Ltd, a subsidiary of the DEME Group (Belgium), has won the tender for dredging the maritime approach channel and inland approach channel to the deep-sea berths of the Yuzhny seaport. To win the tender, the company lowered its price for the dredging services 1.5-fold to UAH 586 million, which is only UAH 45,000 lower than the price offered by its closest competitor, China Harbor Engineering Company (China).

According to information published in the ProZorro electronic public procurement system, Novadeal Ltd originally offered to perform the dredging work for UAH 818 million while the Chinese company initially offered to perform the dredging work for UAH 747.3 million.

During the bidding process, Novadeal Ltd lowered its price to UAH 586 million while China Harbor Engineering Company lowered its price to UAH 586,046 million. The Ukrainian Sea Ports Administration’s expected price at the auction was UAH 839.6 million (excluding VAT).

In total, five companies participated in the tender. The same five companies participated in another tender for performance of dredging works at the Yuzhny seaport a couple of days earlier, and China Harbor Engineering Company, which the Chinese company won.

Fresh tenders were invited after the Antimonopoly Committee canceled the previous tender. After the completion of the dredging works, water depths will reach 21 meters in the Yuzhny port’s internal and approach channels 19 meters in the operating area around ​​the port’s berths Nos. 5 and 6.

In March, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority published improved tender documentation for bidding procedures for two dredging operations at the Yuzhny port. According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, the new documentation was updated in accordance with international best practices by a working group that included experts from the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Arzinger law firm.

The package of documents sets out the terms of payment, the procedure for payment, guarantees of performance of work under the contract, penalties, risk insurance, etc. In addition, the new documentation reflects the terms of the standard contracts of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) while taking account of the requirements of Ukrainian legislation.

The dredging works for which the latest tenders were invited are a continuation of the dredging project that began at the port in 2012. The dredging works that were previously performed allowed the draft at the Yuzhny port’s berths Nos. 5 and 6 to be experimentally declared at 18.5 meters in June 2014.