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Viewing cable 08VLADIVOSTOK64, RUSSIAN FAR EAST: LOCAL FIRM WINS TENDER TO BUILD LANDMARK

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08VLADIVOSTOK64 2008-06-20 08:26 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Vladivostok
R 200826Z JUN 08
FM AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0968
INFO MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION
AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOKQ42
UNCLAS VLADIVOSTOK 000064 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELTN PGOV KCOR ECON RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN FAR EAST: LOCAL FIRM WINS TENDER TO BUILD LANDMARK 
BRIDGE -- UNDER SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES 
 
REF: VLADIVOSTOK 058 
 
 
1.  Summary.  A local company has won a tender to build a 
landmark bridge across Vladivostok's picturesque Zolotoy Rog 
Bay.  Tikhookeanskaya Mostostroitelnaya Kompaniya (TMK), based 
in the southern Primorye town of Ussuriysk, won under suspicious 
circumstances, however: all of the other firms dropped out of 
competition on the day before bids were due.  Some here say that 
TMK has links to embattled Governor Sergey Darkin, and believe 
that the firm's victory indicates that Darkin may hold on to his 
job.  End summary. 
 
2.  A Primorye company has won the tender to build a bridge 
across Vladivostok's Zolotoy Rog Bay as part of the city's 
preparations for hosting the 2012 APEC summit.  The selection of 
Tikhookeanskaya Mostostroitelnaya Kompaniya (TMK), based in the 
town of Ussuriysk, 65 miles north of Vladivostok, may be seen as 
a sign that local companies are not going to be excluded from 
APEC preparations, as some had feared.  The fact is, however, 
that TMK (in English, Pacific Bridge building Company) was the 
only bidder for the tender, despite earlier proud reports from 
regional officials that not only several Russian companies, but 
also Chinese, Japanese, and Korean firms would participate in 
the bidding. 
 
3.  Just two weeks ago, Giprostroymost-Sankt-Petersburg 
Institute -- part of consortium with three other design 
construction institutes, including Vladivostok's 
Primorgrazhdanproyekt -- reported that it was absolutely sure of 
its victory in the tender.  But, incredibly, all of the firms 
except TMK bowed out of the competition on the very day before 
the tenders were due.  As a result, on the morning of June 18, 
the official web site of the 2012 APEC summit declared the 
tender invalid.  By the evening of the same day, however, the 
Primorye government officially declared TMK the contest winner. 
The director of Primorye's Department of Road Construction, 
Leonid Vilchinskiy, said that the decision was made in full 
compliance with the federal law on public procurement. 
 
4.  Construction of the bridge, estimated to cost 17.9 billion 
rubles (757 million USD) is to be completed by the end of 2011. 
TMK, which is known principally for its work on road 
reconstruction and building, has no previous experience building 
such large spans.  Many of the company's projects, however -- 
such as the Nekrasovskiy highway overpass, the ongoing 
reconstruction of the Khasan highway southwest of Vladivostok, 
and a joint home-building venture with Arkada-House Co.  -- are 
said to be connected with Primorye Governor Sergey Darkin. 
 
5.  (Note: Darkin returned recently from Moscow, where he had 
spent a month allegedly recuperating from heart problems after 
his home and office in Vladivostok were searched by regional 
anti-corruption investigators.  Most here believe that the 
Governor's real purpose for being in the capital was to lobby 
Kremlin officials to allow him to keep his job (reftel).  End 
note.) 
 
6.  As for the Zolotoy Rog bridge, the company plans to involve 
Russian subcontractors and foreign vendors in the project, so 
its role will mainly be to manage the work and supervise the 
flow of federal funding.  Independent architecture expert 
Valentin Anikeyev called the selection of TMK for this unique 
project "a complete adventure." 
 
7.  Comment: TMK's success, coming in the wake of Darkin's 
predicted demise at the hands of regional anti-corruption 
investigators, has led some analysts to speculate the Governor 
is invulnerable.  Others predict, however, that the bridge 
project may yet become another subject for investigation.  End 
comment. 
 
ARMBRUSTER