BRATISLAVA, August 6, (WEBNOVINY) – The financial closure of the first PPP package for the construction and operation of five sections of the D1 highway between Martin and Presov by late August is not possible, announced Director General of the company Doprastav, a.s., Dusan Samudovsky. The position of the European Commission on environmental aspects on the Turany-Hubova section remains problematic, he told SITA on Friday.
However, it is the state, not the concessionaire, which must resolve this problem. Because of this and many other reasons, such as the testing of the current options of cheaper funding of these projects on the international financial market, the PPP package cannot be financially closed by the end of the month, according to Samudovsky.
The Transport Ministry under the rule of Lubomir Vazny set the next deadline for the financial closure as August 31. Several deadlines failed to be met before due to problems with funding and objections raised by environmental activists and Brussels to the fact that part of the highway should stretch through the protected areas of Velka and Mala Fatra.
Doprastav responded to the Vazny’s intention to continue in the PPP highway project with a mild optimism. “Should this be just about the advantages for one party; then it would hardly be a partnership, the PPP,” argues Samudovsky. Transport Minister Jan Figel confirmed earlier that the state plans to continue in PPP projects provided that the conditions will be favorable for the state.
The Transport Ministry has refused to comment in detail on the terms of the financial closure of the given PPP project and the potential decrease in its price. The financial closure is a matter of the concessionaire. A meeting took place in which the ministry wanted to familiarize itself with the present-day situation. Representatives of the department of transport inquired how they can help in the financial closure. The ministry will not talk about this matter any more because it wants to avoid negotiations through the media, said the Transport Ministry’s spokesman Martin Krajcovic.
SITA