Raz: Court May Issue Preliminary Ruling on D1 Turany-Hubova Tender in April

Bratislava, 5 March (TASR) - In the case of the tender for the construction of the Turany-Hubova D1-motorway section, the Administrative Court could decide on an injunction to suspend the effect of the Public Procurement Office's (UVO) decision, which ordered the tender to be scrapped last December, in the second half of April, Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) posted on social media on Thursday. "We know what the situation is like in the judiciary. They have a lot of work, so I assume that, according to our calculations, we can expect a decision on an injunction to suspend the effect of the authority's decision sometime in the second half of April this year. When the court is able to decide on the merits of the case can't be estimated," stated Raz. The minister pointed out that the most expensive motorway hasn't been built yet. In this case, according to him, the estimated socio-economic impact amounts to hundreds of millions of euros. He noted that it could be as much as €2 billion over two years. He stated that this is one of the reasons why they decided to announce a new tender for the construction of the 13.5-kilometre section of the Turany-Hubova D1-motorway section. The original tender, announced by the National Highway Company (NDS) in August 2024, hasn't yet been cancelled, despite the decision of the Public Procurement Office. "Every month counts, every month saves us tens, hundreds of millions of euros. That's why we've decided not to wait a single day and to let at least the deadlines in the second narrower competition pass, so that in the event of unfavourable court decisions, we can start construction as soon as possible," said Raz. am