Transport Minister: Excavators Should Appear on D3 Construction Site This Year

Vysoka nad Kysucou, March 19 (TASR) - I believe that excavators will appear on the future route of the D3 motorway in the Kysuce area (Zilina region) this year, said Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) at a press conference after the government's away-from-home session in Vysoka nad Kysucou (Zilina region), adding that public tenders for the three missing D3 sections are at different stages, while the conclusion of the first of the three tenders was made more complicated by an objection. "We promised to launch the tenders in 2024 and at the same time process all the paperwork in parallel. Today, I can say that the tenders are almost complete, and I very much regret that we couldn't announce the completion of the first one," said Raz. Two bids were submitted in the tender for the construction of the Oscadnica-Cadca, Bukov II half-profile section on the D3 motorway. The more favourable one, at approximately €230 million, was submitted by a group of three construction companies with Vahostav as the leading member. Following an objection against the evaluation of the bids, the Public Procurement Office launched an objection procedure on March 7. The minister added that in a few days the submitted offers for the Kysucke Nove Mesto-Oscadnica D3 section will be evaluated, and March 25 is the deadline for submitting offers for the final Zilina, Brodno-Kysucke Nove Mesto D3 section. "I really believe that nothing will prevent us from seeing excavators on the D3 construction site this year," stressed the transport minister. am/df