The state-run Vodohospodárska Výstavba will start a new competition to operate a ferry across the Danube in January 2017. Environment Minister László Sólymos wants to change the competition, which should for example reduce the time for operating the vessel by the private company.
The ferry running between the villages of Vojka and Kyselica (both in Trnava Region) is currently operated by company Ponton City. The agreement, signed in June 2015, has been criticised and then minister Peter Žiga (Smer) even experienced a no-confidence vote over it. The agreement is valid for 15 years, without the real possibility to terminate it, the TASR newswire reported.
“We signed an amendment with the company that when the new public procurement is started and generates a new winner, the current agreement is terminated,” Sólymos told TASR, adding that Slovakia will not be sanctioned for scrapping it.
Police close ferry investigation Read more Opposition MPs Veronika Remišová and Igor Matovič (both of Ordinary People and Independent Personalities) called on the minister in summer to reassess the operation of the ferry and make it more transparent.
Sólymos confirmed the conditions will change, but wants to introduce the details in January.
The ministry is also assessing the possibility of a tunnel under the Danube; yet it perceives the potential construction of a new bridge across the river as unrealistic.
