Government Downplays Airport Tender Row

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said on May 18 that despite some doubts by parliamentarians the government has no plans to revise the outcome of a tender which was held by the Georgian Economy Ministry in an attempt to invite private investors to operate and modernize the Tbilisi airport?s infrastructure.
 
The opposition parliamentarians from the Republican and New Rights parties claim that the Tbilisi airport tender process was carried out with violations and alleged that Economy Minister Lexo Alexishvili was pursuing personal interests while choosing the winners of the tender.

Lexo Alexishvili announced on May 16, that a consortium of three companies – the Turkish ?elebi Group, Luxembourg-based Gestion en Technique Sp?ciale (GTS) and U.S. A&J ? won the tender.

As a result, these three companies will jointly invest USD 62 million to reconstruct the Tbilisi airport within the next 11 months, as a result, the Tbilisi airport will be able to serve Airbus 330/340 sized aircrafts and handle a turnover of 2000 passengers an hour. After the reconstruction, the consortium will jointly manage the airport for the next ten and a half years.

But MP Ivliane Khaindrava from the Republican Party claims that the other companies participating in the tender proposed more favorable bids, ?but someone, with personal interests, helped the consortium [of three companies] win the tender.?

On May 17 Economy Minister Lexo Alexishvili was convened by the parliamentarians to make explanations regarding this case.
 
The Economy Minister said that the consortium fully met the requirements of the Georgian side, since it will end the reconstruction within 11 months, instead of 18 months offered by competing companies. 
 
Despite Alexishvili?s report, the lawmakers decided to set up a special parliamentary commission which will probe into this case.

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