Five contenders for Crete’s Northern Motorway Axis project

As it has been expected, the Expression of Interest regarding the construction of Crete’s  Northern Motorway Axis (aka VOAK) on the section Chania – Heraklion – Neapolis, was strong. According to secure information, the interested parties for the concession tender on Chania – Heraklion – Hersonissos are:

1. AKTOR CONCESSIONS,

2. TERNA,

3. J & P AVAX,

4. VINCI,

5. J/V MYTILINEOS – ACCIONA

Correspondingly, the schemes that have expressed their interest for the PPP tender (for Hersonissos – Neapolis section) are:

1. AKTOR CONCESSIONS,

2. TERNA,

3. J&P AVAX (with the Marguerite fund),

4. J/V MYTILINEOS – ACCIONA – INTERTOLL

5. SHIKUN & BINUI

A successful tender

The first (and basic) deduction is that we have an adequate number of entries for the competition to be considered successful, guaranteeing the continuation of the expressed interest at the next critical stages of the competition, namely the submission of the technical and financial offers.

Over the following period a technical and financial evaluation of the companies will be carried out to verify the adequacy of their participation in this large-scale, double tender. It should also be noted that each tender is independent, making it possible in the end, for 2 different J/Vs to be declared as final contractors.

The first and main part of VOAK Motorway is being auctioned as a concession contract, between Chania and Hersonissos, with a length of approximately 200 km, while it is considered to be a top priority project for Crete, in terms of road safety and importance in the transport strategy of the island, especially in the framework of the development of new transport-related infrastructure (e.g. new airport in Kastelli, upgrading of Chania Airport, etc.).

For this section, the concessionaire will have to cover the most part of the required funds (there is also State participation). The cost is estimated at around 1.1bn euros. 

The second section, auctioned as a PPP, is the 20 km-long extension of the road to the East with the addition of Hersonissos – Neapolis route, with upgraded characteristics. The cost of this project is estimated at around 250m euros and will be mainly financed by the private party of the project. 

In this case, the repayment of the capital will be made through availability payments, i.e. a prefixed amount to be paid by the State to the contractor on a monthly basis for as long as the PPP lasts.

Nikos Karagiannis-ypodomes.com