A TOTAL of €8 billion is projected to be invested in transport infrastructure in Slovakia by April 2016, which will come from both EU funds and the country’s state budget, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on February 13 as reported by the TASR newswire.
“Roads mean jobs in Slovak companies and a great incentive for the Slovak economy,” Fico said, as quoted by TASR, after an inspection visit at the Transport Ministry.
Of the total, €1.3 billion should flow into road infrastructure by the end of the year, with this funding to be upped in a piecemeal fashion in the years ahead - close to €2 billion in 2014, followed by €2.3 billion and €2.4 billion in 2015 and the rest in 2016.
“They are sums of money that are vital in order to support economic growth,” Fico said, adding that he had instructed Transport Minister Ján Počiatek to make sure that all major stretches of the D1 highway connecting Bratislava and Košice are either completed or at an advanced stage of construction by 2016.
The ministry is aiming to launch the construction of 310 km of highways and dual carriageways, and to complete 133 km of them by the end of its term in 2016, Počiatek said. When it comes to other roads, Počiatek envisaged the launch of modernisation or repairs of 1,040 kilometres of first-class roads. A total of 834 kilometres of the total is projected to be wrapped up by 2016.
