The tender conducted by the state-owned enterprise Transnafta – the contracting authority for the construction of the oil pipeline from Serbia to Hungary – simply cannot be brought to a close. This time, progress has stalled over the selection of the professional supervisory body.
According to a decision made by the Commission for the Protection of Rights following an appeal, part of the tender for the selection of the professional supervisory body has been overturned. Specifically, the Commission upheld the appeal of a consortium led by Bureau Veritas and ordered a rerun of the procedure.
In other words, the consortium’s request for the protection of rights was accepted as well-founded, and a partial annulment of the public procurement procedure was ordered.
To clarify, the procurement named “Construction of the Hungary Border – Novi Sad Oil Pipeline” consists of two lots. One relates to the construction of the pipeline itself, and the other to the selection of the professional supervisory body for said construction. The partial annulment actually means that the selection process for the professional supervisory body will be repeated, while the selection of the contractor has already been completed and remains unaffected.
The tender was launched in December 2025, with the estimated value of both lots combined standing at 15.4 billion dinars excluding VAT. The lot concerning the selection of the professional supervisory body alone is estimated at 599 million dinars.
Subject of the appeal
As stated in the Commission’s decision, the contracting authority, Transnafta, made a Contract Award Decision on 12 May this year. The bid from a consortium or group of bidders led by SGS d.o.o. was evaluated as the most favourable. This group also includes the companies Project Biro Utiber, SGS Czech Republic, Petrol Projekt, as well as Preventiva 012 from Požarevac. They offered a price of 550.9 million dinars including VAT.
As Forbes Serbia previously reported, the Contract Award Decision was published on the Public Procurement Portal on 12 May. It shows that, alongside the winning bid, there was also a bid for professional supervision submitted by the consortium gathered around Bureau Veritas – the subsidiary of the French company of the same name. According to the Public Procurement Portal, their bid was 667.9 million dinars including VAT.
It was this very consortium that filed a request for the protection of rights on 22 May, which the Commission upheld in its decision a few days ago, effectively sending the tender back to the beginning.
Bureau Veritas appealed, among other things, against the fact that one of the companies in the rival consortium, SGS Czech Republic, had failed to submit proof of paid taxes and social security contributions. Furthermore, in the repeated verification process – namely, after receiving a request from the contracting authority to submit proof – they failed to prove this in the correct manner.
A similar issue relates to the proof that they had not been subject to any bank account blockages during the 36 months preceding the day of the bid submission deadline.
“The appellant considers that the practice of ‘supplementing and subsequently submitting evidence’ is contrary to the provisions of the Law on Public Procurement,” the Commission’s decision states.
In its appeal, Bureau Veritas also disputes that the requirements for staffing capacity have been met. Specifically, the qualifications and experience of the engineers who would be engaged in the professional supervision project are being contested.
What about the construction and the Millennium Team appeal?
After analysing the received appeals and the responses provided by the contracting authority, Transnafta, the Commission made a final decision to accept the request for the protection of rights as well-founded.
And while the Commission upheld the appeal and sent the selection process for the professional supervisory body back to the drawing board, the contractor remains undisputed. This is the consortium gathered around the company MVM Južna Bačka.
Alongside Južna Bačka, the companies that will participate in the pipeline construction works are Konvar, Delta inženjering, Zavod za zavarivanje, Čelik from Bački Jarak, and Delta preving (the two companies containing the name “Delta” have no ownership links to Delta Holding).
MVM Južna Bačka will be responsible for 43 per cent of the contracted work. This includes the procurement of materials and equipment, engineering, electrical works, automation, and telecommunications. Additionally, the company will carry out a portion of the mechanical and civil engineering works, according to the Contract Award Decision.
As a reminder, the procedure relating to Lot 1 – the selection of the contractor – had also been halted previously. In that instance, the company Millennium Team contested some of the conditions prescribed by Transnafta in the tender documentation.
However, the Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures rejected Millennium Team’s request, after which the contractor selection process resumed. The contract was subsequently signed with the consortium led by MVM Južna Bačka.
(Forbes Serbia, 15.07.2026)