The Tbilisi Transport Company, operating under the Tbilisi City Hall, has submitted a request to the State Procurement Agency seeking approval for a EUR 20 million contract to maintain the city’s fleet of 18-meter MAN buses.
The municipality previously purchased the articulated buses in two stages, initially acquiring 160 buses, followed by an additional 40 units. In June 2024, City Hall signed a EUR 25 million maintenance agreement with MAN’s authorized service center, operated by Tegeta Motors. The newly proposed EUR 20 million contract would cover maintenance for the recently added 40 buses and remain valid until 2028, while the existing contract runs through June 7, 2027.
“The bus fleet of Tbilisi Transport Company LLC includes 200 units of 18-meter buses (Lion’s City 18C model) manufactured by MAN Truck and Bus SE. Of these, 160 are currently under warranty and non-warranty service, while 40 newly acquired buses require the same,” the company’s director stated in a letter to the Procurement Agency.
“To ensure uninterrupted service on the city’s bus routes and maintain the technical safety and reliability of the fleet, the company has included scheduled and unscheduled maintenance services for these 40 buses in its 2025–2028 procurement plan,” the letter continued.
The total purchase cost of the 200 articulated buses amounted to 324 million GEL, financed through the Tbilisi city budget.
Currently, a portion of the new buses is not yet in operation, as their deployment depends on the opening of a new bus depot, which city officials say is planned for the near future.
