November 7 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia's transport ministry said it has hired an expert to examine the implementation of a 600 million euro ($641.7 million) contract with China's Sinohydro Corporation for the construction of the Kicevo-Ohrid motorway following significant delays.
The transport ministry will also hire international experts to propose design solutions after eleven landslides emerged along the route of the motorway, it said in a press release on Monday.
North Macedonia's government will make a decision on the project's further implementation by the end of the year, when the works were due to be completed.
North Macedonia's prime minister Dimitar Kovacevski said last week that he will propose to the government to terminate the agreement with Sinohydro and explore options to hire other contractors.
Sinohydro started the construction of the Kicevo-Ohrid motorway in 2014. The project was initially budgeted at 375 million euro, but due to multiple delays, the cost has escalated to over 600 million euro.
($ = 0.9351 euro)