First step towards a new fleet OASA buses completed as Ministry of transportation announced Iveco as a temporary contractor in a wider tender for the supply of new buses in Athena and Thessaloniki. Iveco, represented in Greece by the Kontellis group, will supply the ministry with 100 18-meter articulated city buses powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) as fuel. Buses of this length, when they first appeared on Greek roads a few decades ago, received – and still remain among the oldest – the name “dinosaurs”.

The Italian-French company was announced as a temporary contractor with a bid of €385,000 plus VAT for each bus, for a total investment of €38.5 million plus VAT.

However, three more tenders for a total of 550 more buses remain pending. In fact, since the tenders and letters of guarantee submitted last year as part of the related ministry tender expired on January 17, applicants were asked to extend both the tenders and letters of guarantee for another 10 months. At present, however, it remains unclear which of the candidates will comply and continue with the tender or whether more expensive proposals will be presented, as reservations have been made due to the increase in the cost of raw materials that occurred in the interim.

In addition, development is expected in relation to the objection of a candidate who applied but was excluded in two of the three remaining tenders, which was reportedly even discussed and excludes the participation of the company in question in the tender. There is a right of appeal to the Council of State, but transport ministry sources say the Greek representative of the excluded candidate has promised not to continue such an escalation, which will lead to further delays in the delivery of buses for Athens and Thessaloniki. Of the current tenders, one is for 200 12-meter buses powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) internal combustion engines. Bids were submitted by the Italian-French Iveco (which, as mentioned above, had already been announced as the contractor for 200 road trains) and the Turkish-Italian IIA.

The second current competition concerns 250 electric buses with a minimum mileage of 180 kilometers, the Spanish Irizar presented by the Sarakaki group and the Chinese Yutong bus presented by the Kopelouzou group qualified in the final stage, while the Chinese BYD was excluded, as already mentioned. above, represented by the Petropoulos group, as its bid file was considered insufficient. BYD filed an objection with the Unified Authority for Government Contracts (EADISY), which reportedly rejected the objection, removing it from the tender. BYD is also participating in the third of a pending tender for 100 all-electric vehicles with a range of 135 kilometers, in which Irizar, Belgian Van Hool, represented by Sfakianakis Group, and Iveco have also submitted bids. Initially, along with the above, a tender was announced for the supply of hybrid buses, but no one took part in it and therefore it remains inconclusive.