THE SLOVAK Road Administration (SSC) has withdrawn from a contract with construction firm Hydrostav on the building of the Ladce-Sverepec highway section in northwest Slovakia.
Due to what SSC director Dušan Matonok said was Hydrostav's failure to meet contractual obligations and unpaid bills to subcontractors, SSC has signed contracts on the remaining work with Bratislava-based construction firm Doprastav, which was second in the original tender for the project.
Hydrostav, once the largest construction company in Slovakia, meets all criteria for bankruptcy, said Matonok in late May, adding: "Only the inactivity of the courts and ignoring of duties by the Hydrostav management are keeping this company seemingly alive."
Matonok also said that the Hydrostav's directorate is closed, the firm is refusing to take mail, and that the few employees who have not been laid off are receiving only a partial wage.
While Hydrostav has declined to release figures on their debt, construction insiders estimate that the company owes more than Sk1.2 billion.
