VOAK Motorway: 4 contenders to go through to the 2nd phase for the Hersonissos – Neapoli section

Four investment schemes will continue in the 2nd phase of the competition for the Hersonissos-Neapoli section of VOAK. The project that will be constructed with the method of public-private partnership goes to the next stage with two differentiations.

The first is the departure of the Israelis of SHIKUN BINUI LTD which did not submit a dossier for participation in the second phase which is the dialogue. The second differentiation is in the figure “UNION OF PERSONS MYTILINEOS SA – INTERTOLL EUROPE ZRt “where ACCIONA does not exist.

The schemes that go into the dialogue phase are:

1. ASSOCIATION OF PERSONS “ARIADNE” HIGHWAY (AVAX-MARGUERITE)
2. GEK TERNA SA
3. AKTOR CONCESSIONS SA
4. ASSOCIATION OF PERSONS MYTILINEOS SA – INTERTOLL EUROPE ZRt.

The 22.5 km long project now has a specific layout, while since the beginning of the year the Environmental Impact Study has been submitted for approval to the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

The dialogue will finalize the object of the project in all its details. With the approval of the EIA, we will be able to pass to the critical stage of submitting the technical and financial bids, from which the contractor of the project will emerge. The project will be paid for by the State with availability payments.

The three sections of VOAK

It should be mentioned that this competition concerns the second part of VOAK. The first section of the highway is the section Chania-Heraklion-Hersonissos which is being auctioned as a concession. The second phase is expected to start in this competition in the next period as well.

It is considered as the most important part of VOAK as it connects the 3 largest cities of Crete, namely Chania, Rethymno and Heraklion and it is estimated that it will have the largest daily flow of vehicles.

The BOAK, however, also includes the section “Neapoli-Agios Nikolaos”, 14.5 km long, which will be implemented as a public project. The announcement is expected to take place in the coming months and will lock the main trunk of the closed highway.

In the second phase, the Kissamos-Chania section will join in the west and the Agios Nikolaos-Sitia section in the east.

VOAK is an absolute priority

The project of VOAK is one of the great priorities of the government and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. A big goal is for the project to enter the construction trajectory in 2023 and to be completed by the end of the current decade.

The financing of VOAK will be partially covered by the Recovery Fund but also by resources of the European Investment Bank. More specifically, of the approximately 1.6 billion euros estimated cost of the projects, the 427 million euros will come from the Recovery Fund.

Participation with private resources will be in the first two sections by the contractors that will result from the ongoing tenders.