The National Highway Company (NDS) needs to return €115.7 million it received to construct four sections of the D1 and D3 highways. Most of these funds were provided from the EU funds.
NDS has to return the money because it violated EU procurement rules, the SITA newswire reported.
An inspection of the ministry
Related articleLawyers kept busy with litigation over road construction Read more The NDS will have 2.5 years to gradually return the money to the Transport Ministry. Altogether €98.35 million of the sum was allocated from EU funds, while €17.35 million was paid from the state budget.
The NDS will have to pay out nearly 80 percent of the total volume of state subsidies for this year. The company is expected to receive €149 million this year, SITA wrote.
It should pay €56.7 million for the D1 stretch between Hričovské Podhradie and Lietavská Lúčka and €36.6 million for the stretch between Budimír and Budovce. In the case of the D3 highway, it should pay €20.7 million for the section between Svrčinovec and Skalité and €1.7 million for the road between Čadca and Svrčinovec.
Related articleHighways do not solve every regional traffic problem Read more “The Transport Ministry carried out an administrative financial inspection of the projects and identified violations within public procurement, for which it imposed a financial correction that corresponds with the amount stated in the agreement on instalments,” the ministry spokesperson Ivan Rudolf said, as quoted by SITA.
The NDS has agreed with the ministry on six instalments. The first is expected to be repaid by April 28, 2021, and the last by April 28, 2023.
30. Nov 2020 at 11:40 | Compiled by Spectator staff
