JDP Drapała & Partners law firm represented a consortium consisting of: Polimex Infrastruktura Sp. z o.o., Polimex Mostostal S.A. and Trakcja S.A. in the appeal procedure before the Regional Court in Warsaw. As a result of a judgment that dismissed the appeal, the consortium will construct a track section over 6 kilometres long within two new tram lines, more than ten tram stops and a viaduct – all this as part of a municipal project of great importance for Olsztyn. The tender procedure lasted more than a year. During this procedure the selection of the most advantageous bid was appealed against twice first before the National Appeals Chamber, and then the Regional Court, where the proceedings were decided in favour of the Polimex-Trakcja consortium twice.
The said judgment is particularly important from the perspective of contractors that wish to compete for a public contract but are involved in a dispute with another contracting authority.
In the judgment that closed the tender procedure the Regional Court affirmed the entire judgment handed down by the National Appeal Chamber in which the Chamber stressed that there are no grounds for excluding a contractor from a tender procedure in a situation where the contractor is involved in a court dispute with another contracting authority. The Chamber found that the fact that there is a court dispute between a contractor and an investor is not a reason to conclusively state that grounds for terminating a contract for reasons attributable to a contractor arose, which is a condition that must be met to exclude a contractor from a tender procedure.
The consortium consisting of: Polimex Infrastruktura Sp. z o.o., Polimex Mostostal S.A., Trakcja S.A. were represented by attorney-at-law Wojciech Merkwa (counsel, head of the Public Procurement Team), attorney-at-law Piotr Duma (senior associate), attorney-at-law Iwo Franaszczyk (associate) and attorney-at-law trainee Aleksandra Blukacz (associate).