Media reports suggest the Health Ministry has sealed a EUR 13.5m deal with the construction company GH Holding, with the contract expected to be signed early in January.

The deal was reached after GH Holding, in partnership with three other construction companies, lowered the price from EUR 18.7m it offered as the only bidder in a repeated public tender.

The offered price had caused an uproar as the bids in the first public tender, which was annulled based on appeals, had ranged from EUR 10.5m to EUR 17.7m.

Indeed, GH Holding raised the price in the second round significantly and joined forces with two companies that had successfully challenged the first tender, leading the Health Ministry to file an anti-trust motion with the Competition Protection Office.

The final price is the result of several rounds of direct negotiations that brought the price within the framework planned by the government.

Since construction of multiple emergency wards across the country is co-financed by the EU, the projects must be completed by the end of next year in order to secure funding.

GH Holding director Blaž Miklavčič told the Maribor-based newspaper Večer that construction would be completed within a year.