Daugavpils satiksme, the public transportation company of the city, is currently evaluating the offers for the new trams. However, it is now known that the new trams, of which there'll be 12 or 14 depending on the amount of EU funds received, will be costlier than the 12 that were bought last year.
The trams bought last year cost €6.5 mln, but now one of the offers stands at €6.7 mln and the other at more than €8 mln. Officials from the Daugavpils Municipality think that the price is inadequate, seeing that the value of the Russian Ruble has fallen.
Daugavpils satiksme wants to conclude an agreement for the deliveries this year, and the trams should be delivered in eight months from the time the agreement would be concluded, said Sabīne Šņepste, a member of the company board.
The company wants to buy eight four-axle trams and four six-axle trams.
The previous tender encountered a number of obstacles, as delays were experienced due to complaints, claims reviewed at court and scandals over the contract.
Previously the Nacionālā kontraktu korporācija, a company based in Moscow, was responsible for delivering trams to Daugavpils. 12 trams arrived in Daugavpils from the Ust-Katav factory, for a total price of €6.5 mln.
As the trams for the new order are manufactured in Russia, they should have been cheaper this year, according to Natālija Petrova, an official of the Daugavpils Municipality.
According to her, one four-axle tram cost €312,000 (without VAT) last year, while a six-axle tram cost a million euros. The offer price should have gone down a million euros due to the weaker Ruble.
Daugavpils satiksme will evaluate the offers and to publish the results by the end of the year.
Daugavpils is one of the three cities in Latvia where trams operate. The other two are Rīga and Liepāja.
