The judicial processes continue in parallel due to the appeals presented by the sanctioned companies
MADRID, 11 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Adif has decided to cancel the legal defense for the claim for damages caused by fifteen companies that formed a cartel uncovered in 2019 by the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), for which for about fourteen years they distributed 200 railway projects worth about 1,000 million euros.
The public company that manages the railway infrastructure announced that it will not award the contract it tendered in July 2021, since the process has been delayed due to an appeal filed by one of the companies that were excluded from the tender and it is no longer appropriate to proceed with the claim.
“Continuing with this bidding procedure before the end of the contentious-administrative appeals filed against the resolution of the CNMC would entail an additional cost and legal uncertainty that could be mitigated if this contract is not awarded and the bidding process is carried out (in case of concurring a series of circumstances) of a new file”, has argued Adif.
It was a contract divided into three lots for each of the cartels identified by the CNMC, with a total price of 2.1 million euros. Bidders may claim compensation for cancellation, in any case limited to three per thousand of the base budget, which in this case would mean around 7,500 euros for the three lots.
Despite the fact that the appeal filed against the award has already been resolved, ordering the reinstatement of the appellant to the bidding procedure, Adif has decided not to start the process again, mainly because in all this time of waiting for the legal proceedings of the companies fined for the CNMC have made progress, and expects that some of these companies will acknowledge the facts or reach some kind of agreement with Adif to commit to paying the amounts to which it is sentenced.
Likewise, it is possible that a resolution is issued that allows the facts to be accredited, which would simplify the procedures that were intended to start with the legal defense from which Adif has now withdrawn with that contract cancelled.
“This would mean less work for the law firm that carries the corresponding claim for damages, a lower amount of the tender, and savings in hiring expert reports,” justifies the public company.
Among the firms that formed this illegal association were subsidiaries of large construction companies such as ACS, Sacyr and OHLA, and multinationals such as Siemens and Alstom. Elecnor, Inabensa (Abengoa) Cymi, Isolux, lectren, Comsa, Indra, Telice, and Citracc were also implicated, and were fined a total of 118 million euros.
