The Ministry of Public Works will have to repeat the tender and again select the company that will carry out the main project for the continuation of the construction of the "Semolj" tunnel on the Mioska - Šavnik road route, after the Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures annulled the decision according to which the job was awarded to the Cetinje company "SBCC".
The decision was made after an appeal by the Kolašin-based company "Viamon".
The "Semolj" tunnel is part of the regional road from the Kolašin town of Mioska to Šavnik, but 50 years ago, of its total 1.750 meters in length, only 460 meters were drilled, after which work stopped.
Travel Majde Adžović In mid-April, in a tender worth 592,9 thousand euros, the most favorable offer was chosen by the company “SBCC” of 555.390 euros. Their subcontractors were “Geoart” and “Geotehnika Montenegro”.
There was a possibility of appealing this decision within ten days, which was taken advantage of by the second-ranked company "Viamont", which offered 468.270 euros.
"The appeal of 'Viamont' from April 17th is accepted, and the decision of the Ministry of Public Works on the selection of the most favorable bid is annulled and the case is returned for a new procedure and decision. The Ministry of Public Works is ordered to eliminate the irregularities within 15 days and notify the Commission...", reads the Commission's decision, which can be appealed to the Administrative Court within 20 days.
Selection of designer illegal
“Viamont” states in its appeal that the Ministry, by selecting “SBCC”, violated the rules of procedure, incorrectly and incompletely determined the factual situation and that the decision is unlawful because they should have been excluded from the tender, based on Article 108, point 5 of the Public Procurement Law (PPL). They claim that the “SBCC” statement was not properly completed, that the submitted certificates do not contain the procurement values and are not valid, that part of the subcontractor's documentation was not signed and that the designer did not prove that they meet the professional and technical capabilities for the construction of the tunnel that has been started.
The Ministry did not respond to this complaint.
The Commission determined that the complaint was well-founded, because the tender required bidders to prove that they had experience in the main project of tunnel construction or reconstruction, along with descriptions and procurement values. They state that “SBCC” submitted certificates issued by “Željeznička infrastruktura”, but that they did not contain the value of the contract, so the Ministry will have to request this evidence in the repeated tender.
"The complaint alleges that it is unclear how the contracting authority concluded that the statement of the subcontractor 'Geotehnika Montenegro' is correct, because the identity of the signatory cannot be established, which is why the electronic signature is not valid, the integrity of the document is not preserved and it is not possible to reliably determine the authenticity of the document or the identity of the signatory. The Commission finds that the contracting authority incompletely established the factual situation for the existence of grounds for exclusion from the 'SBCC' procedure, which is why the decision is unlawful, because it is not in accordance with Article 143 of the Public Procurement Act, and as such it should be annulled and the case returned for a new procedure and decision...", the Commission's decision states.
The tender was announced at the beginning of December last year, and the new deadline for selecting a designer is July 15th.
The initiative to resolve the issue of the “Semolj” tunnel was launched by the Municipality of Šavnik, which is managed by Jugoslav Jakić, and they also completed the project assignment. Jakić, along with the heads of the municipalities of Žabljak, Mojkovac and Kolašin - Radoš Žugić, Vesko Delić i Petka Bakić, sent a letter to the Prime Minister in March 2024 Milojko Spajić and requested a meeting regarding the completion of the tunnel work.
Representatives of the four municipalities decided to raise this issue because, as they point out, the tunnel would make life easier for the local population, enable a closer connection to the Bar - Boljare highway, unhindered transport of goods and passengers throughout the year, and better valorization of the economic potential of this region.
"The regional road R 21 Mioska - Šavnik was built in 1975 by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and was conceived as a connection of two road routes from the north of Montenegro to the coast. Without the 'Semolj' tunnel, the length of the road is 52 kilometers, and if the road were fully functional, it would be the closest connection between the municipalities of the northwestern and northeastern regions. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to continue the work on the construction of the tunnel, which began 50 years ago. Of the planned 1750 meters in length, a total of 460 meters have been drilled on both sides and that's where it stopped. Of course, this would also include repairs to old works that have been damaged by the ravages of time, as well as those that are still pending, or the preparation of the necessary project documentation," they stated in the letter to the Prime Minister.
It was established that the very important role of this road is also that it is a connection with the highway.
"Although traffic communication has been significantly improved by the construction of the Risan - Žabljak road, for the municipalities of Šavnik and Žabljak it is necessary to fully enable the R 21 road by constructing the 'Semolj' tunnel, as a prerequisite for increasing the efficiency of the Mioska - Žabljak road route via Boan, which aims to improve the connection of the municipalities of Šavnik and Žabljak, with the municipalities of Kolašin and Mojkovac and further to Podgorica, and thus contribute to a more dynamic development of these municipalities and further improve the spatial capacities of the municipalities," the letter states.
The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property issued urban and technical requirements for this project in June 2025.
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