The Czech Republic and Slovakia have agreed to proceed jointly with the reconstruction of a D2 motorway bridge over the Morava River, Czech Transport Minister Ivan Bednarik said after the talks with his Slovak counterpart Jozef Ráž (a Smer-SD nominee) on Wednesday.
"We have also agreed on continuing infrastructure projects to connect motorways in the central parts of both countries – from Zlin to Puchov (Žilina region). We'll try to design and plan them in a way that we meet in time and place," said Bednarik, adding that the same applies to D3 motorway in the northern parts, between Trinec and Čadca (Žilina region).
"These are important infrastructure projects for both countries," stated Bednarik.
In rail transport, plans are underway for connecting Prague and Žilina via Zlin, Vsetin and Puchov. There's also some overlap in both countries' plans for high-speed railway lines, which the Czech Republic intends to co-finance via public-private partnership (PPP) schemes. However, experts from both countries will cooperate in assessing the options for financing the projects from EU funds or via PPP schemes.
While Slovakia has experience with PPP projects in the construction of motorways, this can't be said about railway infrastructure, stated Ráž.
"Slovakia has significantly better experience with PPP projects for motorways, and we're preparing a PPP project for bridges. We have reached an agreement that expert teams will help each other and exchange information," he added.
The ministers also agreed on a joint course of action within the European Union. "For the most part, we talked about possibly limiting the environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes in state-run infrastructure projects," explained Ráž.
Source: TASR
