The Duboka-Sparagovici/Zaradeze section will be built by the Austrian Strabag company while the Ston ring road and the sub-sections Sparagovici/Zaradeze-Prapratno and Prapratno-Doli will be built by the Greek Avax company. All in all, this involves about 30 kilometres of access roads.
Strabag's price for its section amounts to HRK 478.3 million without VAT, while Avax's price for its section was HRK 511.5 million without VAT.
The section to be constructed by Avax should be completed in 28 months' time while Strabag's project will be completed in 33 months. Construction is expected to start within the next two and a half months.
Butkovic doesn't expect any problems or suits
Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butkovic said that today's contract signing concludes the first phase of the tender and that construction of access roads can now begin, adding that he did not expect any problems during construction but that one never knew what can happen in the future.
Asked whether he was afraid things could go wrong, Butkovic said that considering the contractors, the process and documentation prepared by the Hrvatske Ceste road operator, the good designers and good supervision, he did not expect any major problems, as these are global companies.
He believes that the situation has been defined and does not expect any lawsuits to be lodged at the Administrative Court which, he said, would not prevent the construction of the access roads. He could not say whether there would be any time difference between the completion of the Peljesac Bridge itself and the access roads.
"I believe that everything will be completed in this financial perspective, because we have to do it. We have to spend this money by the end of 2023 and that will occur before that," said Butkovic.
He added that this is a demanding project and one of the most important infrastructure projects in the country.
Text: Hina