BULGARIA: CRRC Qingdao Sifang Locomotive has withdrawn its bid for a contract to supply 20 push-pull trainsets, after the European Commission launched an investigation into whether the Chinese state-owned company might have benefited from an unfair subsidy.
The tender from the Ministry of Transport & Communications to supply 20 electric push-pull trains and maintain them for 15 years had an estimated value of around 1·2bn leva. In December Talgo submitted a bid of 1·22bn leva, while the bid from CRRC Qingdao Sifang Locomotive was much lower at just 607m leva.
Under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, companies are obliged to notify the Commission if the value of a public tender in the EU exceeds €250m and the company was granted at least €4m in foreign financial contributions from at least one third country in the three years prior to notification.
The Commission launched its first in-depth investigation under the regulation to ascertain whether the CRRC subsidiary had received a unfair subsidy that distorted the internal market by enabling it to submit an unduly advantageous offer. The investigation will now be closed following the withdrawal of the bid.
‘In just a few weeks, our first investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation has already yielded results’, commented Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton on March 26. ‘Our single market is open for firms that are truly competitive and play fair. We will continue to take all necessary measures to preserve Europe’s economic security and competitiveness — with assertiveness and speed.’
