NDS: So-far Bill for D1 Section Including Visnove Tunnel Exceeds €600 million

Bratislava, 25 December (TASR) - The total cost of construction of the recently open D1 motorway section between Lietavska Lucka and Dubna Skala in Zilina region, including the Visnove tunnel, has exceeded €600 million (ex-VAT) so far, according to data provided to TASR by the National Highway Company (NDS). However, this is not yet the final price. "We paid the previous contractor almost €187 million by 2019. The current contract price for the construction part is some €353 million, while it is some €62 million for the technological part," TASR has learnt from the NDS communications department. "The final price will be affected by pending legal matters, so it's impossible to set it at the moment," added NDS. The previous contractor, the Italian-Slovak consortium comprised of Salini Impregilo and Duha companies, failed to complete the D1 section due to financing problems. According to the contract from June 2014, it should have built it for almost €410 million (ex-VAT) by 2019. The value of the construction work was estimated at €896.5 million (ex-VAT) when the tender was announced in October 2011. Following a two-year suspension of construction work (2019-2021) and a tender to complete the D1 Lietavska Lucka - Dubna Skala section, a consortium led by Skanska SK began completing the section in May 2021. In line with the bid, the construction should have been completed for almost €255 million (ex-VAT) in some 1,000 days from the takeover of the construction site, i.e. roughly at the turn of 2023 and 2024. The cost of completing the motorway was estimated at €261 million (ex-VAT). After several addendums and many changes, the costs have so far increased to more than €353 million. However, the price of the works after the adjustment should exceed €362 million (ex-VAT). The price was affected not only by extra work [due to be done] after the former contractor, but also by growing construction costs. These increased the price of construction by more than €17 million in 2021 and 2022, and even by almost €30 million in 2023. NDS put the 13.5 kilometre-long D1 section between Lietavska Lucka and Dubna Skala, including the 7.5 kilometre-long Visnove tunnel, into operation earlier this week. ko