Croatia gets five bids for 520 mln kuna (70 mln euro) Rijeka road project - report

State-owned road operator Hrvatske Ceste has opened the five bids on December 16, with the lowest price of 456.4 million kuna (without VAT) offered by a consortium of Slovenia's Kolektor, Bosnia's Euro-Asfalt and Croatia's GP Krk, news daily Jutarnji List reported on Monday.

The 469.1 mln kuna bid of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) is next, followed by the 478.7 mln kuna offer of Italy's Rizzani de Eccher, the 511.2 million kuna proposal of Austria's Strabag and the 574.7 million kuna bid of a consortium comprising Croatia's PZC Slavonski Brod and Turkey's Yapi Merkezi, according to the media report.

Hrvatske Ceste should select the best bidder within 120 days, following which the contractor should complete the assignment in 30 months.

The three-kilometre DC 403 road will ensure faster delivery and cargo shipping within the Rijeka port, provide new entrance to the centre of Rijeka, shorten travel time, reduce noise and emissions as well as improve road safety in the Rijeka area, the government said earlier.

According to Jutarnji List, this will be the most expensive road section in the Croatian history because of the complexity of the terrain on which it will be built. The project will include the construction of the three-lane Podmurvice tunnel 1.25-kilometres in length and two viaducts with a total length of some 500 metres.

In December 2018, Croatia's government said it signed a financing agreement with the European Fund for Regional Development for the construction of the DC 403 road, with the Fund pledging to provide 442 million kuna towards the cost of the project. The remainder will come from the state budget.

(1 euro = 7.44337 kuna)