The Croatian government on Thursday accepted an agreement on the termination of a contract on the construction of the Peljesac Bridge with a consortium of companies consisting of Konstruktor-Inzenjering, Viadukt and Hidroelektra Niskogradnja.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sinisa Hajdas Doncic said that due to its financial situation the road operator Hrvatske Ceste could not secure the money necessary to continue with construction work on the bridge, so agreement had been reached with the contractors to terminate the contract consensually. The contractors' real costs will be recognised, but they will have no right to compensation for the profit lost, he said.
Hajdas Doncic recalled that the contract to build the bridge that was to connect the southern Dalmatian peninsula of Peljesac with the mainland, was signed in 2007 and amounted to 1.94 billion kuna (approx. EUR 259 million).
The contract envisaged a time period of 48 months for the completion of construction work, but so far only 58 million kuna worth of work has been done. In June 2010, the contractors stopped construction work and since then, nothing has been done on that location, said Hajdas Doncic.
Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said every Croatian government would want to build such a bridge, but that currently Croatia had to turn to a cheaper and more efficient solution.
The bridge is not unnecessary, but its construction was not planned and funded well enough, Milanovic said, adding that he expected his ministers to seriously approach the project Neum Corridor.
"The purpose of that project is the same as that of the Peljesac Bridge - to link Peljesac with the mainland in a cheaper and more efficient way, with the consent of our neighbour Bosnia and Herzegovina and of the local community. Our first efforts in that direction show that it seems to be possible," said Milanovic.
