The bid worth EUR 19.93m, excluding VAT, was submitted by a consortium of companies consisting of Elea iC, SŽ-Projektivno Podjetje and IRGO Consulting.

The challenge has been submitted by the company Geoportal, with 2TDK responding that it was examining the audit demand at the moment and that it would respond to it within the legal deadline, that is by Thursday midnight.

If 2TDK dismisses the challenge, it would still need to be examined by the National Review Commission.

Published in November, the tender encompassed drafting documents on technical specifications of the construction of eight tunnels planned along the 27-kilometre course between Divača and Dekani, building information modelling and a safety and rescue plan.

Whoever wins the tender in the end will sign a six-year contract with 2TDK and will be required to draft the documents within half a year.

The entire rail project has been valued at EUR 961m.