World Bank bid-rigging charge denied by CRBC

By Diao Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-17 08:19

A Chinese firm banned by the World Bank for allegedly rigging bids for a major road construction project in the Philippines has denied the accusation, saying the judgment was made without enough evidence.

China Communications Construction Company Ltd, the parent company of China Road and Bridge Corp (CRBC), one of the seven firms cited by the World Bank for collusive practices, said: "the accusation has a lack of factual and legal merits."

"We cannot accept the judgments," the company said in an announcement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday.

The company said CRBC, China's top builder of highways and ports, was invited to bid for the project in 2002. But the Philippines government terminated the project in 2006 due to conflicts with the World Bank. It said the company has always worked according to regulations in the Philippines in the bidding process.

According to the statement, the company has hired a legal consultant to reply to the accusation and it will continue to explain the matter to the World Bank so that the debarment can be terminated as soon as possible.

The World Bank's investigation of this case has some shortcomings, the Ministry of Commerce quoted related Chinese firms as saying on its website on Friday. The Ministry said the Bank did not reply to inquiries of Chinese firms, and they hope it could clarify some issues. It did not specify the names of the Chinese firms.

"We hope the World Bank could enforce the bans carefully if there is indeed a lack of evidence," said Yao Jian, spokesman for the Ministry. "But if there is sound proof, the Chinese government will treat the involved firms according to related regulations as well."

The World Bank said on Wednesday that it banned seven firms for engaging in collusive practices under a road project in the Philippines and it will prevent them from bidding on future contracts financed by the World Bank.

Four Chinese companies, CRBC, China State Construction Corp, China Wu Yi Co Ltd and China Geo-Engineering Corp, were among the seven accused.

Debarments of the Chinese companies range from five to eight years, but the World Bank said the bans could be reduced or terminated after a certain period if the firms can put in place a compliance program satisfactory to the Bank.

The Philippines company EC de Luna Construction Corp and its owner Eduardo C de Luna were banned permanently from bidding, the strongest possible sanction and the first time the World Banks has taken such a step since 2004.