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Vazny: Having First PPP Package Stopped After Election Not Likely
Wednesday 09 June 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, June 9 (TASR) - Having the first package of the PPP (public-private-partnership) highway-construction project stopped if a different Government emerges after the June 12 general election is not likely, Transport Minister Lubomir Vazny told journalists on Wednesday.
"It's possible but not very probable, because the package in question represents an essential project for Slovakia," said Vazny.
Vazny wasn't able to say whether the PPP package, designed for construction of the D1 highway – connection Bratislava and Kosice via the northern route – will be financially concluded by the end of this week. Friday (June 11) is the deadline for the Transport Ministry to have the project concluded; however, the whole processes is being slowed down by negotiations with the European Commission over environmental issues.
The Commission is investigating the environmental burden of the project, as the environmentalists along with some scientists claim in unison that the highway construction will damage a rare peatbog located at the north of the country. Vazny is convinced that the Ministry introduced sufficient compensation measures to deal with the problem, but Brussels will have the final say.
The financial conclusion of the project has been postponed three times already - at first from early to late April, then to May 28 and finally, to June 11, 2010. The European Bank For Reconstruction and Development (EBOR) stands ready to invest €250 million into the €4-billion project. After European Commission approval, another €1 billion will come from the European Investment Bank, in turn to be followed by a number of commercial banks. Slovak taxpayers will pay more than €9 billion to the concessioner over the next 30 years not only for the construction works but also for maintenance of the highway.
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