Ministry takes DIY route for A1

The cabinet has accepted the decision of the Minister of Transport, Jerzy Polaczek, to take away the contract for the construction of stage II of the A1 motorway from Grudziądz to Toruń from the GTC company. This means that the state, and not the GTC company, will complete the section. "The state has regained control of motorway construction in Poland," he said.

The Ministry of Transport argues that the decision will result in lower construction costs for the motorway section. It has calculated that the cost of building that part by the state, including the engineering structures, will be above EUR 5 (zł.20) million per kilometer, and not, as in the case of GTC, EUR 7 (zł.28) million. "If the concession with GTC lasted, as the contract says, to 2039, we will have to pay the company EUR 2.2 [zł.8.8] billion from the budget in that period," says Polaczek.

The Ministry claims that it will build the discussed section by 2010, which Aleksander Kozłowski, the president of GTC's supervising board, dismisses as "almost unworkable."

In the meantime, GTC is continuing preparations for construction works at the new section. "I have not received any formal administrative decision yet," says Kozłowski.

In the meantime a report by the Supreme Chamber of Control (NIK) criticised the State for the delays in the construction of A1 sections, which resulted in the slow down of Pomeranian economic growth calculated at a loss of $250 (zł.779) million a year.