Today, to get from Warsaw to Berlin, you go A2 highway to Nowy Tomysl only. The last 105 km to the border go by an old narrow road. Autostrada Wielkopolska, the company which has built the first section of the highway, is getting ready to build the last part of it, the one leading to Swiecko.
“Construction works should start in September this year and end in 2010. There are many barriers, however and it will be difficult to keep the deadlines”, Andrzej Patalas, Autostrada Wielkopolska (AW) CEO warned.
Design works are going on, as well as financing negotiations with banks. The most difficult thing, however, are negotiations led with clerks.
“Constant changes of the law are a big difficulty in negotiations. The law on public roads and highways is being amended. We know the bill as we had our remarks but we don’t know what changes will be introduced at the parliament”, Mr. Patalas added.
In his opinion, the new law will be ready in the middle of the year, i.e. exactly at the time when his company is supposed to present plans of financing the investment. If it bases its financing model on present law, it will have to renegotiate conditions when the law is changed.
Unless AW finds agreement with the government soon, the investment faces further delay.
“Had in 2005 the government agreed for the initial project with the price of EUR 6.1m per km, we would have had the highway ready in 2007”, Andrzej Patalas reminded.
In 2005, the Law & Justice government decided
the price was too high. It wanted the government to build highways but gave this
idea. Then, the same government agreed but meanwhile the prices had changed to
EUR 9.66m per km.