MEXICO CITY, May 22: The Chinese company at the helm of a consortium that won a 3.75 billion dollars high-speed rail contract last year which was later revoked will be compensated almost 20 million pesos (1.31 million dollars), a transport ministry official said today. The contract, for which the consortium led by China Railway Construction Corp Ltd (CRCC) was the only bidder, was abruptly revoked last fall shortly after it was awarded. Days later, the government became embroiled in a conflict of interest scandal when it emerged that the wife of President Enrique Pena Nieto was in the process of acquiring a house from one of the Mexican companies in the consortium. Earlier this year, after the Mexican government relaunched the bid and then canceled it for a second time citing budget cuts, the CRCC gave the SCT a list of costs incurred during the tender and requested compensation. Yuriria Mascott, a deputy minister at Mexico’s Communications and Transport Ministry, told reporters yesterday that the government had completed an analysis of CRCC’s costs. “The legal team informed me that what is to be expected is almost 20 million (pesos)” in compensation, she said. (AGENCIES)
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