Romania: Since 2022, a consortium of the Chinese manufacturer and Romania’s Astra Vagoane has been contesting its withdrawal from a tender for the supply of up to 37 trains. Despite the fact that CRRC won the tender in 2020 and had even produced the train tailored for Romania, the decision on the winner was cancelled following a series of appeals from the other bidders.
After that, Romania re-announced and cancelled the tender several times until Alstom was eventually awarded the contract. The Chinese-Romanian consortium was suspended from participation in the resumed contests under the Romanian government’s emergency ordinance issued in 2021. This document prohibited participation in public procurements for non-EU countries, except those having signed a free-trade agreement with the European Union.
In March, the EU Court took a decision in favour of CRRC and Astra Vagoane, explaining that the restrictions mentioned above could be imposed only on the EU level. The buyer can only determine how many points a bidder is awarded for the origin of its products.
Consequently, the Bucharest Court of Appeal has also resumed the proceedings regarding the consortium’s appeal on the results of the tender. Besides, CRRC plans to file another lawsuit against ARF, Romania’s railway reform authority which ordered the trains. The Chinese manufacturer can claim compensation for its expenses and lost revenue.
For its part, Alstom has been delivering its trains to Romania since last year. According to local media, the company is missing the deadlines while the vehicles are demonstrating operational problems.
In light of these controversies, Poland is considering legislative changes to the national law on public procurements. Przemysław Grosfeld, Vice President of the Polish Public Procurement Office, has announced that it is planned to impose restrictions on appeal procedures for non-EU companies wanting to argue tender results.
Since 2023, the EU has introduced the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), a set of rules to additionally control public procurement tenderers in terms of involving foreign financial contributions from non-EU governments. Under the FSR provisions, in 2024, CRRC had to withdraw its tender bid for the supply of rolling stock to Bulgaria.
