ASE Group, the engineering division of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom has withdrawn a tender for a €771m contract to deliver turbines for new reactors at Hungaryʼs Paks II NPP (units 5 and 6 to be built at the existing Paks NPP) “for technical reasons”, Hungarian news agency MTI reported on 6 June.
ASE said it was not prepared to post the tender in the required form on European Union websites as stipulated by the European Commission. But the group added that it is working on a solution to the problem and will modify the bidding deadline in the tender appropriately once it has been published. The time limit for bidding in the tender was originally 6 July, and first-round results were expected to be announced by 26 July.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s Minister in charge of Paks II, János Süli, has said the government would provide “all possible help to potential Hungarian suppliers of the project to expand the Paks nuclear plant”. He noted that 40% of subcontractors were targeted to be Hungarians. The main contractor, ASE, is expected to invite bids for larger tasks, so Hungarian firms will have to work together and submit joint proposals, mainly in construction and the transport of equipment and materials, he told a forum of the Hungary-Russia chapter of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
