Good point, fellow ysth. But I already had the competences and talked open about them: will not use unless they pay for them. At the time, everything was fine. After this event, I don't know what posture I should take about this matter. This is not the first time, but this is the first they don't take any care on hidding it from me.

Since you openly told them they couldn't use them up front, perhaps you can make a deal now: ask for funding for some more training of some kind if they win the bid.

This reminds me of a recent article on slashdot about work paying for work related expenses and stuff, such as cellphones for people who were on call 24/7. I think the general consensus was that if the thing was going to be solely used by that work place, such as a beeper or something, than work should pay for it. But if it's something the work place takes advantage of, but also has personal uses, such as an internet connection to your house or such, then if work pays for it, bonus, but if they stop paying for it, you might as well suck it up.