Most-Hid MP: Contract for Bratislava Bypass Should Be Signed ASAP
Bratislava, February 3 (TASR) – The winning bid of a consortium headed by Spanish construction company Cintra for building a new bypass around Bratislava is good and should be contracted as soon as possible, Opposition Most-Hid MP Arpad Ersek stated on Friday.
Ersek appeared at a press conference along with mayor of the Bratislava borough of Podunajske Biskupice Alzbeta Ozvaldova, who has chaired a petition committee calling for the speedy construction of the bypass.
“I want to ask, demand and call on the current Government and the prime minister [Robert Fico] to sign the contract with the supplier, because we think that if isn’t signed now, we’ll lose precious time,” said Ozvaldova.
“We’re presenting the will of the people – those people who day by day sit for an hour and a half in cars driving to Bratislava and then another hour and a half driving home,” said Ersek.
The consortium led by Cintra has pledged to build the bypass in 4.25 years for annual instalments of €56.72 million over a 30-year period of operating the road. After 30 years the cost of the bypass should reach about €1.7 billion under the public-private partnership (PPP) project.
Transport, Construction and Regional Development Ministry State Secretary Viktor Stromcek on Monday estimated that the bypass construction might be launched this spring and completed by 2020. He sees no reason to postpone the project until after the March general election.
The second lowest bid in the tender was submitted by a consortium of firms led by Vinci (France). It would have built the bypass in 3.5 years for annual instalments of €69.01 million.
