Western bypass in the hands of "Bemax"?

The Traffic Administration has selected the bid of the company "Bemax" worth 16.828.367 euros as the most favorable in the tender for the construction of the western bypass in Podgorica. There is a possibility of appealing the choice of the Podgorica company as the contractor until March 23rd, which, as "Vijesti" has unofficially learned, will be used by competitors who did not get the job.

The selection of the company to build the western bypass has been pending for a year and a half, and three tenders have been issued so far. The job was already in the hands of “Bemax” once, when they were selected as the contractor in late 2024, but that decision was later overturned due to an appeal.

The three-kilometer section is planned from the Komanski Bridge to the roundabout at the "Grand" furniture store in Donja Gorica, and is being built with the aim of relocating transit and trucks traveling along Vojislavljevića Street to Zabjela, in order to prevent congestion.

"Bemax" is participating in the third tender with the subcontractor "Enproing", while the second-ranked joint bid of the companies "Euromont Stil" and "Toškovići" worth 17.149.492 euros, with the subcontractors "Geopromet", "Geonex", "BB solar", "Vigoris ecotech" and "Telemont". The third-ranked company was "Briv Construction" from Kotor with a bid of 20.301.108 euros, while their subcontractors were "Geo max group", "Ramel" and "Viamont".

"The Transport Administration, in the open procedure for public procurement of works according to the tender documentation of October 2, 2025, makes a decision on the selection of the most favorable bid: The bid of the bidder 'Bemax' is correct and the most favorable, the joint bid of 'Euromont Stil' and 'Toškovići' is correct and evaluated as second-ranked. The bid of 'Briv Construction' is correct and evaluated as third-ranked. The bidder may file an appeal against this decision with the Commission for the Protection of Rights, within ten days from the date of publication of the decision," reads the decision made by the Administration on March 13.

This tender lasted from the beginning of October to the beginning of November last year, and its estimated value is 20,3 million euros - while the selected contractor is planned to carry out the works in a year and a half and guarantee them for at least two years.

From incorrect to correct

The management evaluated the bids according to the principle of the most economically advantageous, with a maximum of 100 points awarded, namely 90 for price and ten for quality. “Bemax” was rated with a maximum of 100 points, while “Euromont Stil” received 88,31 and “Briv” ​​80,6 points.

"Euromont Stil" received 88,31 points for price alone, and none for quality, while "Briv" received 74,6 points for price and six for quality.

The administration assessed the bids of all three companies as correct, although at the end of last year they determined that they were incorrect in the same tender and decided to cancel it. All potential contractors appealed the decision at the time and requested a repeat of the procedure.

“Bemax” claimed that their exclusion violated the law, that the factual situation was incorrectly determined, and that they were all excluded without the Administration having made a decision under Article 140 of the Public Procurement Act. They stated that they had informed the Administration about the change of subcontractor and that this should not have been treated as a change in the statement.

"Briva" stated that they were unfoundedly excluded, because the Administration arbitrarily determined that the percentage of work to be performed by the subcontractor did not meet the terms of the tender, while "Euromont Stila" believed that they were unfoundedly and illegally excluded from the tender, after it was determined that in the joint performance contract they did not state who would manage the work as a whole, nor who would bear the costs. This company claimed that everything was clarified in the joint performance contract.

The administration did not respond to these complaints, while the competent Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures determined that the complaint of "Bemax" was well-founded, and that they were improperly excluded from the tender after they replaced the subcontractor "Bauriss" who had tax debts for the company "Enproing".

The Commission also determined that the Management erred in excluding the company "Briv" from the tender, because they had correctly divided the work with the subcontractors. They also stated that the statement of "Euromont Stila" and the company "Toškovići" in the joint bid was correctly drawn up, and that their work was divided through a contract on joint performance.

The Commission then requested that the Management repeat the evaluation of the bids in the third tender, after which the job went to "Bemax".

The bidding war continues

The administration has so far canceled tenders for the western bypass due to incorrect bids from companies, their complaints, but also because it was determined that some bidders were not given access to part of the documentation.

The "war" between the companies "Bemax" and "Briv construction" marked the first tender, which lasted from the end of September to the end of October 2024. These companies were the only bidders at the time, and at the end of November, the Administration determined that their bids were incorrect, which is why it requested the cancellation of the tender.

“Bemax” appealed this decision, after which the Commission ordered the Administration in mid-December to re-evaluate the bids and select the contractor. This is precisely why “Briv” ​​sued the Commission and sought the annulment of such a decision. Given that the tender continued, the Administration selected “Bemax” as the contractor in the new selection at the end of December 2024, while “Briv” ​​was excluded, so they appealed this decision as well.

Although the project was awarded a contractor, the Commission determined that the Administration did not provide "Brivo" with access to part of the tender documentation at the end of that year, so in February 2025 they ordered the tender to be canceled.

The second procedure lasted from the end of March to the end of April last year and three bids were submitted, namely the companies “Euromont stil”, “Bemax” and “Briv Construction”. The administration determined that the bids of these companies were not correct and requested the annulment of the procedure, which was disputed by “Briv” ​​in its appeal. The commission established that the Kotor-based company had not properly completed the declaration, so the tender was officially annulled at the end of September last year.

The construction of the western bypass is co-financed by the Capital City and the Traffic Administration, and according to the agreement signed in September 2024, the Administration pays for the works on the facilities, the formation of the road structure, the construction of the storm sewer, the road structure and traffic signals. The Capital City finances the preparation and revision of the main project, the expropriation of land, the construction of water supply and sewage systems, the installation of high and low voltage electricity, the reconstruction of power lines...

The last step took too long.

Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said that the announcement of the tender for the construction of the western bypass is the last step before the start of work.

He announced this in September 2024, during a meeting in the Government with the Director of "Monteput" Milan Ljiljanić, the Director of the Traffic Administration Radomir Vuksanović, and the then Mayor of Podgorica Olivera Injac.

The boulevard will have sidewalks on both sides, four lanes, three intersections and one roundabout, and is being built through a Co-financing Agreement, with the Administration financing the construction of the road and the Capital City financing the expropriation of land and the construction of utility infrastructure.

"Our responsibilities were the preparation of the project and technical documentation, then expropriation and communal infrastructure. A lot of work has been invested in the previous months and we expect that the dynamics will go according to plan, and that the execution of works will soon begin to the satisfaction of the citizens of Podgorica," Injac emphasized at the time, adding that this is a priority infrastructure project that will facilitate transit around Podgorica.