The Czech Transport Ministry has finally signed an advisory contract with the Ceska sporitelna, White & Case / Obermeyer consortium for legal, technical and financial consultancy services regarding potentially the first road public-private partnership in the country.

The contract entails the construction of a 32 km section of the Pribram-Pisek D4 motorway, located  in South Bohemia, plus operation of 16 km of the surrounding motorways.

The prequalification process is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2018 and the whole tender process is expected to last about  one year.

The key challenges for the deployment of the scheme will include the land acquisition and permitting process, alternative financing from the EU funds, as well as sustainable political support for the PPP scheme.

As previously reported, completion of the D4 through a PPP will serve as a pilot project, as the Czech Republic will not be entitled to tap EU funds after 2023 and will have to look other funds in the future.

Costs for the 30 km section are estimated at CZK25 billion (US$1.03 billion). Construction should start in two years.