The Transport, Construction and Regional Development ministry of Slovakia released a Prior Information Notice (PIN) on December 24th paving the way for an imminent  publication of tender documents for the D4 - R7 expressways PPP project.

The local press had reported in mid December that a final decision for the project was expected in January 2015. However, this release clarifies that the project will move forward under a PPP scheme.

The 60 km road project involves the development of a section of the D4 highway set to form the Bratislava bypass, along with the sections of the R7 expressway.

The total project investment is estimated at €1.3 billion (US$1.59 billion). According to the Slovak Finance Ministry, the federal government plans to apply for funds from the US$26.2 billion European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), which is part of European Commission's US$388 billion three-year investment plan to boost Europe's struggling economy.

In late October we reported that the consortium composed by PwC, White & Case and the Obermeyer Corporate Group was selected to advise the government on the PPP project.

On October 23th, 2013, the Slovakian government approved the re-financing of the R1 Expressway project between Nitra and Banská Bystrica. The project was also built using the PPP model. A consortium of Vinci Concessions and Meridiam Infrastructure is the sponsor of the project.

Slovakia's federal government has plans to invest US$638 million in motorways in 2015, which is about 16% lower than the government had budgeted.

See PIN notice: http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:437483-2014:TEXT:EN:HTML&tabId=1