Outrage over collapsing Chinese motorway contract
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
06.06.2011 12:45
A Chinese consortium that won a tender to lay two sections of Poland's new A2 motorway has been threatened with a 741 million zloty (186 million euros) fine if it drops out of the commission.
For several weeks now, construction hasn’t got out of first gear, with sub-contractors demanding payment for services rendered to COVEC, the Chinese enterprise that is managing the project.
A twenty km stretch between Warsaw and Lodz is the focus of the row.
The problems concern a key highway for the forthcoming Euro 2012 championships, embodying yet one more spanner in the works for the soccer showdown, following on from delays in the completion of two stadiums.
Last ditch attempts to save the project are due to be made this week. However, although Prime Minister Donald Tusk has joined Poland's Main Directorate for National Roads and Railways (GDDKiA) in pressing the Chinese Company to seek an alternative solution, there is little optimism in a breakthrough in the talks.
To make matters work, research carried out by the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily suggests that the Chinese consortium, nominally a branch of the Chinese Overseas Engineering Group, has only signed a guarantee for 130 million zloty (32 million euros). (nh)