Tenders submitted for Bosphorus tunnel

A ceremony was held at the Railways, Ports and Airports Construction Authority (DLH) headquarters on Monday for the bids submitted by the Taisei-Kumogoi-Gama-Nurol JV (TKGNC) and Obayashi-Yapi Merkezi-Metis-Kisko JV (NTCM) consortiums.

Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking at the ceremony, said that the offers would be announced after careful scrutiny because at the end of process it could turn out that neither firm might be found to be fulfilling the criteria.

The offers would be known only to commission members, the notary and the consortiums that submitted them, said Yildirim, adding that the terms would be released after both of them were examined by the commission.

Yildirim said that they wanted to begin construction in the first quarter of 2004, adding that progress made until now showed that this target would be met.

If there was nothing that would necessitate further scrutiny, the process would be completed soon, said Yildirim, adding that payments for the loan granted for this project would start in 10 years and would be spread out over 40 years at an interest rate of 7.5 percent.

Everyone apart from the notary, representatives of the two consortiums and commission members were asked to leave before the opening of the offers.