Four bidders expected for Athens metro project - source (updated)

Avax SA

02/08/2017 19:11

(Adds confirmation from Aktor) 
    ATHENS, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Four bidders are expected to show 
interest in Greece's tender to build a 1.45 billion euro ($1.72 
billion) project to expand the Athens metro, a source familiar 
with the matter said on Wednesday. 
    Greece's GEK Terna  HRMr.AT  will bid as part of a joint 
venture with France's Vinci  SGEF.PA  and Siemens  SIEGn.DE , a 
spokesman for GEK Terna said. 
    Greece's Aktor  HELr.AT  with Italy's Ansaldobreda, J&P Avax 
 AVAr.AT  with Italy's Ghella and France's Alstom  ALSO.PA  and 
Mytilineos  MYTr.AT  with Spain's FCC  FCC.MC  were also 
expected to bid, the source with knowledge of the matter said. 
    A spokesman for Aktor confirmed the company will bid with 
Ansaldobreda. 
    J&P Avax did not respond to a request for comment and  
Mytilineos declined to comment.  
    State-owned Attiko Metro has pushed back the deadline for 
initial expressions of interest to build the 13 kilometre 
expansion three times since June after requests by potential 
bidders. The latest deadline is Aug. 10. 
    Attiko Metro has said it will complete a shortlist of 
potential contractors by the end of the year. Short-listed 
investors will then have to submit technical and financial bids 
for the project, which will be co-financed by European funds and 
loans by the European Investment Bank. 
    Construction is expected to begin in 2019 and be completed 
within eight years. 
    Attiko Metro will launch a separate tender in September for 
contractors to carry out preparatory works before construction 
of the new metro line starts, its managing director Theodoros 
Papadopoulos told Reuters. 
    Papadopoulos said that works will include archaeological 
research and moving part of public utility networks and these 
were expected to start early next year. 
($1 = 0.8442 euros) 
 
 (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Michele Kambas and 
Jane Merriman) 
 ((angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 210 3376436; 
Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: GREECE METRO/