TheMarker may have erroneously reported that at least 2 foreign companies dropped out of a tender for port construction, due to anti-Israel boycotts.
A report in TheMarker on Monday stating that at least two foreign companies dropped out of the Israeli government tender to develop private seaports due to anti-Israel boycotts has been disputed by two of the companies involved.
Ashdod port. – Photo by Ilya Melnikov
Spokesmen for Royal Boskalis Westminster, a Dutch company that did not submit a bid as expected, and the Israel Ports Company, the state-owned company conducting the tender, both denied in separate statements that Bosalis had dropped out of the tender at all.
They said the Dutch company did not submit a bid because it had failed to pass the pre-qualification stage. “As far as we can ascertain all reports of foreign companies withdrawing ‘due to the boycott against Israel’ have no basis,” Israel Ports Company said in a statement.
“To the best of our knowledge, there is no group or international company that pulled out of the tender to construct the ports for political reasons. The tender is proceeding according to plan and the timetable already established,” Israel Ports said.
Israel Ports also denied TheMarker’s report that a third company, Belgium’s Jan De Nul, had sought to keep a low profile in its bid by submitting under the name of a Luxembourg subsidiary. Israel Ports said such practices were normal for large international infrastructure projects.
View original HAARETZ publication at: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/177685#.UwaVi4VIVgg
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