Work on A-4 highway held up by financial obstacles

Stalexport, the company undertaking the modernization of the A-4 highway in the South of Poland, is facing legal obstacles in its attempts to receive the promised financial backing for the project. The company has negotiated a zl.293 million loan from a consortium of three banks, Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau, DePfa, and WestLB. But before receiving any of the money, Stalexport must cede the license for the work to its subsidiary, Stalexport Autostrada Malopolska. However, as Stalexport vice president Edward Szlek explains, "The Toll Highway Bill does not allow for the license to be ceded. Therefore, an amendment to the regulations is needed." Such a change is considered very unlikely, since the bill in question was amended only recently. With the future investment cast in doubt, Stalexport says the renovation work on the bridges and the construction of noise-prevention screens on the A-4 highway, which runs from Krakow to Katowice, will not be carried out. (Puls Biznesu, p. 6) J.K.