Price Isn't Everything

The Polish government recently announced that greater emphasis is to be placed on cost in all public tenders, including construction tenders. Experts, however, say this could be bad news. The first construction tender in which the new government policy has had an effect is the tender for the extension of Warsaw's Okecie airport. In March the deadline for submitting offers was delayed for the 3rd time because the tender commission, which awards points up to 100 for each bid, has to allocate 50 points - rather than 40 as before - for price. Jerzy Binkiewicz, Managing Director of Strabag (one of the companies participating in the tender), admits that his company has had to change its proposal. His ensuing comments, he stresses, are about the issue in general rather than in the context of the Okecie tender: ,If price alone is considered it will favour unreliable contractors. Obviously it's easier for a smaller company to offer a lower price, but it's more likely it'll ma