(source: visnovebude.sk)
The Višňové Tunnel at first prolonged the completion date due to severe problems with diagnostics. Now, subcontractors are complaining that their existence is being threatened after not getting paid for their work.
Several construction contractors on the Višňové Tunnel remain unpaid for the work they were commissioned to do for their partner firms. The finance issue concerns smaller construction firms at the very end of the sub-supply chain on the tunnel's construction, specifically the Lietavská Lúčka – Dubná Skala section, writes MY Žilina.
Transport Minister Andrej Doležal labelled the situation surrounding the tunnel Višňové as serious. Doležal adds that there are apparently indications about unpaid invoices being a deliberate act.
The issue of unpaid invoices intrigues both the Transport Ministry and the National Highway Company (NDS). Initially, the main contractor, the Skanska construction company, pledged to finish the tunnel by 2023. As a company with the winning bid, they pledged to complete not only the nearly eight-kilometre-long tunnel but also the external route, including bridges, the roadway and walls. The completion date, however, had to be postponed.
The reason is that the detailed diagnostics of the construction site revealed the necessity of repairing several sections. The current constructor of the stretch between Lietavská Lúčla and Dubná Skala, the company Skanska SK, cannot say how much the work will cost, the TASR newswire reported.
Now with the unpaid invoices, the opening of the tunnel has been prolonged again. Neither the ministry nor the NDS can do much.
“I can't see into the internal structures. This is up to criminal investigation bodies; the contractors have the option to sue,” Doležal noted as quoted by MY Žilina.
