French, German groups shortlisted for Okecie project

French Bouygues Batiment SA and German Hochtief AG have been short-listed for the second stage of the tender for the design and construction of Terminal 2 and the modernization of Terminal 1 at Warsaw' s Okecie International Airport. Mieczyslaw Nowak, the interim manager of state airport company Przedsiebiorstwo Panstwowe Porty Lotnicze (PPPL), accepted the tender commission' s decision on Wednesday. According to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), the commission had already made its decision in mid-March, but did not make it public since it first had to be approved by the PLL general manager. Company spokesman Marek Wos would not confirm that information. In mid-March the general manager of PPPL, Marek Kalita, was suspended and later recalled by the Transport Ministry on account of irregularities involving the tender for the project. Preliminary work for the airport expansion should last a year, while construction of the new terminal will last three years. The new facility, whose cost is estimated at $300 million, is expected to open in early 2005. It will be capable of handling 6.5 million passengers a year, whereas the existing facility serves 4 million people a year. ( Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 2) A.D.