PS Warns about Chinese Investments

Bratislava, May 29 (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party has warned against the government's efforts to involve China in large domestic infrastructure projects, stressing that Chinese investments pose a risk and that several European countries have had negative experiences with such decisions. PS MP Marek Lackovic noted that the Transport Ministry is planning to implement a number of large-scale projects via Public-Private Partnership projects in cooperation with Chinese companies. "The plans range from hundreds of millions to billions of euros. However, not a word has been said about domestic or European companies; instead, for the second month we've heard only praise for China. In PS, we call for fair and transparent competition open to investors from all over the world. A direct agreement in this case really doesn't bode well," said Lackovic. PS transport expert Martin Pekar pointed to an example in Hungary, where, according to him, the completion of a railway line between Budapest and Belgrade under the baton of China was a failure. "A case from Montenegro is even worse. The construction of a highway financed by Chinese loans proved unprofitable, and the highway became one of the most expensive in the world. Poland has also built with the help of Chinese investors, but broke with them and ended up imposing heavy fines on the Chinese side. Instead of negotiating with China, we need to prepare a competition open to various investors. Only in this manner can we ensure a good price and quality projects," Pekar remarked. zel/df