FCC submits €75 million bid to privatize Tbilisi (Georgia) water company

FCC's bid is the highest among the six companies still competing in the tender.

FCC, through its subsidiary Aqualia, has submitted an offer of $107,4 million (€75,4 million at the current exchange rate) in the final phase of the privatization tender for Georgia's public water company, Tbilisi Water, company sources told Efe.

The six companies that are still competing for the contract, out of a total of eleven that initially participated, submitted their bids yesterday, which were opened on the same day.

FCC's bid is the highest, followed by those of the Russian group Penta, at 91 million dollars (64 million euros), and the Swiss company Multiplex Solution, at 85 million dollars (60 million euros).

The other three contenders are the French company Veolia (former shareholder of FCC), whose offer amounts to $80,5 million (€56,5 million), and the British companies Bond Group, $80 million (€56 million), and Cascal, $72,4 million (€50,8 million).

The privatization tender includes, in addition to Tbilisi Water, which is municipally owned and provides drinking water to residents of Tbilisi, the country's capital, the water assets of Mtskheta (another supplier company), Gardabani (a wastewater treatment company) and the Zhinvali hydroelectric plant.

The same sources at FCC indicated that, although there is no definitive date for the final award, the construction group expects it to take place in a few days.