Land purchases for D4 bypass reach €195M

The purchase of plots of land on which the future bypass around Bratislava will be built has already cost the state €195 million, and it still has to pay an additional €200 million, said Transport, Construction and Regional Development Ministry State Secretary Viktor Stromček at an expert seminar on the bypass on Tuesday. There is financial coverage for this money, and the Finance Ministry is counting on its payment, stated Stromček. "Things related to the settlement of property relations are going smoothly", he said, adding that practically nothing prevents the project from being implemented within the planned deadlines. The seminar was attended by representatives of the consortium led by Spanish company Cintra that won the tender for building the bypass. The consortium estimates that over 1,000 jobs will be created during the construction work, which should last four years and four months. Subsequently, the consortium will need around 50 workers for operating the bypass. The Finance Ministry also took up a stance on the Bratislava bypass, stating that when construction of the road by the state and by a private entity via a public-private partnership (PPP) project are considered, the first alternative would normally be more advantageous. However, construction by the state would start as late as in 2018, meaning that the building and operation of the project via a PPP is more advantageous to the tune of €113 million. Certainly, both variants are better than a scenario in which nothing would be done, stated the ministry.