Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații Obtains Favourable Ruling in High-Profile Public Procurement Dispute with a Local Municipality
Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații acted for a Romanian bid consortium member in its challenge to award of a EUR 20 million public construction works contract for the Sala Polivalentă Cluj, a 7,070-seat multi-purpose indoor arena.
In a favourable decision obtained by Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații on March 22, the Cluj-Napoca court annulled a decision issued in 2010 by the local municipality whereby it appointed the joint venture of CON-A, Plan 31, Intersport and Dico & Țigănaș as successful bidder in the public procurement process for awarding a public works contract for the construction of a multi-purpose indoor arena (Sala Polivalentă) in Cluj-Napoca.
Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații fielded a team of lawyers consisting of Ionuț Șerban, Partner and Dan Cristea, Senior Associate who have acted on behalf of ACI Cluj (a recognised local construction company) as leader of the unsuccessful bidder consortium also comprising SC Grup 4 Instalații, SC Trustul de Instalații Montaj Construcții SA, Bogart Construct SRL, DAS Engineering Grup. The defence team included a renowned local barrister, Aurel Bujiță of the Cluj Bar, acting for SC Trustul de Instalații Montaj Construcții SA.
“The case at hand involves intricate issues of public procurement law and highly complex body of evidence. Further to a previous quashing of a judgment ordering a retrial, the challenge made in respect of the contract awarded by the local municipality was tried before the first instance court in parallel with the execution of the public construction works contract by the winning bidder which appears to be an uncommon practice”, stated Ionuț Șerban, a Litigation Partner at Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații.
The ruling obtained in front of the Cluj-Napoca court also orders the local municipality to review and re-evaluate the bids submitted in the public procurement procedure for the awarding of the construction works agreement for Sala Polivalentă indoor arena in Cluj-Napoca, in compliance with the considerations provided in the annulment judgment.
“We’ll determine which steps to take next upon analysing the court’s decision together with our client. The ruling in this case is enforceable but may be challenged by final appeal within 5 days as of service”, added Dan Cristea, a Senior Associate at Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații and one of the barristers in the case at hand.
Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații’s dispute resolution practice has been consistently ranked first by reputed publications, such as Legal 500. The firm’s litigation and arbitration practice group, comprising 40 lawyers, is one of largest in the country, advising on complex and high-profile matters, including civil, commercial and corporate issues, joint ventures and related business disputes, IP (including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and unfair competition cases), banking and finance, tax issues, bankruptcy/liquidation and insolvency, insurance, labor, administrative law, maritime, real estate, criminal law (especially white collar crimes), enforcement of domestic and foreign judgments and arbitral awards, governmental investigation, etc.
The group is also highly experienced in dealing with arbitration matters in front of international or domestic courts of arbitration as regards complex commercial and public law disputes. The team has an in-depth working knowledge of various arbitration procedural rules, such as Rules of Arbitration of the Court of International Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania, ICC, UNCITRAL and ICSID.