Order processing for ‘Fevemocho’s 31 metric line trains is “unheard of” to say the least. This is confirmed by public procurement experts and regular businessmen in the project and business calls made by the Administration. One of them, Emilio Menendez Gomezretired government auditor and auditor and author of several books on public procurement, believes: “Contract resolution” is mandatory as it is “not legally possible to change”. And “with the resulting compensation” to the concessionaire Basque company CAF. The culprit is obvious: “Renfe”. The Ministry of Transport argues the opposite: the contract is in progress, no new tenders will be required, the trains will be ready in 2026 and the European aid of 150 million is not in danger.
Emilio Menéndez, head of the port of Gijón, studied in detail all the publications on “Fevemocho” on the Public Sector Contracting Platform and observed “unusual” aspects. one of them who both the specifics of specific administrative clauses and the specifics of technical requirements are kept confidential: Not accessible via the Public Sector Contracting Platform.
The Ministry of Transport explained that the reason for the lack of specifications on the platform was that the legislation determined that it was “only open to bidders and firms that wish to participate”, as it is a negotiated procedure with the advertisement. A level of expertise”. He adds that the contract notice must be published as it is done “in case another company other than the invited also wishes to promote itself (the law’s philosophy is that the contracting authority may not know everything about specialized companies around the world), in which case it is stated in the tender notice”. You must request specifications and other additional information from the contracting authority, such as
Again, the usual thing is that it is possible to access the pages., even in advertising-negotiated procedures, as both Menéndez and regular business people at public tenders underline. In fact, this newspaper randomly applied to more than twenty contracts awarded through this procedure, and in only two cases the specifications of a Navarrese public body and a Teruel city council are inaccessible. Others have access to pages.
Menéndez points out that the order from CAF is not just a supply, as it appears in the purpose of the contract, but a “supply by manufacture”, which, according to him, requires the relevant project detailing the trains to be procured. forms an integral part of the specification of the file”. At the same time, the act of re-evaluating the project, a document that “apparently does not exist” as production of the trains has not started. “Here it is, at this stage, where the contract file is corrupted and rendered production impossible due to a defect attributable to the contracting authority,” he explains.
Another next step, which he considers equally important, is the verification report of the re-evaluation of the project to verify ‘on-site’ through which trains to be produced must pass if the land meets the conditions for circulation. It believes that this has not been done and therefore “the contracting authority, Renfe Viajeros Sociedad Mercantil Estatal, should terminate the contract for fault attributable to SA General Management and, as a result, compensate the contractor”.
“The fatal consequence of not processing the tender file correctly is that almost three years have passed, as well as the start of production of the trains, and the fact that the contract has not been concluded because a change is not legally possible.” As a result, he predicted “about 400 million euros left for investment, 150 million lost in embezzlement of public funds, unattended public services and European aid”. according to you “Renfe failed due to incompetence”. Heading, among other duties, the Port Authority of Gijón, this state controller and auditor is the author of “Administrative contracts: Public works management”, “Public sector contracts: Public works contract” and “Contracts”. state”.
Renfe used “secrecy” to not make the trains’ properties public
In January 2021, Renfe refused a person’s request to publish the tender specifications for 31 metric line trains for the suburban and medium-distance network in the north of the country, mainly in Cantabria and Asturias, implication of the confidentiality of their content. The request was submitted through the Transparency Portal in November 2020, five months after Renfe awarded the contract to CAF for 190 million euros. The negative response from Renfe came on January 11, 2021, just as the Basque Country-based train manufacturer notified Renfe that there was an error in the technical details of the tender, especially regarding the gauges. Citing that the document contains details about employment and exploitation plans, Renfe assured that it was “valuable information, costly to prepare, withheld and therefore should be subject to special protection”. It also mentioned the “risk of disclosure of trade secrets to competitors”. The company, which is backed by public funds, adds, “There is no reason why the company in question should be required to provide information because its shares are publicly owned.” In none of the major train purchase contracts Renfe does not issue tender documents, but this is the only request rejected in recent years and a project that has already accumulated three-year delays and will significantly affect the quality of service for the people of Cantabria and Asturias. , with a network dating back to the 19th century.