Slovenia may extend the deadline for the Divaca-Koper railway line | So Good News

LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), November 7 (SeeNews) – Slovenia’s government is considering extending the deadline for the construction of a second track on the Divaca-Koper railway line to 2028 from 2025, CEO of the state-owned project company, 2TDK, Pavle Hevka, said.

The government plans to propose changes to the law on the construction of the second track to finance the project without the participation of inland countries to Koper port and 2TDK to take over investment management, Hevka said in a video file posted on the website. by the public broadcaster RTV on Saturday.

2TDK plans to finance the project through a new loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), he noted.

According to the original investment plan, Slovenia would build the second track through a public-private partnership involving countries using Koper port combined with European funds. So far, Hungary has been the only country that has shown interest in the project. According to Slovenian media, Budapest expressed interest in injecting 200 million euros ($200 million) into the capital of 2TDK, to increase it to 522 million euros. Currently, the Slovenian government owns the entire capital of EUR 322 million to 2TDK.

Last month, 2TDK said it is in talks with the EIB for a new loan to cover the increase in the cost of raw materials for the project. “Loans of up to EUR 250 million have already been approved for the project by the EIB in 2019, and 2TDK is in intensive talks with the bank on meeting the conditions for entering into a new loan agreement,” the company said.

2TDK also said it is preparing a second amendment to the investment program for the project to reflect the price increases for construction materials and energy products.

The railway’s second track will be built in 2025, and the track will open in 2026. The project envisages the construction of a 27 km second track, of which 75% consists of tunnels. The total value of the project was originally estimated at 1.2 billion euros.

($ = 1.0013 euros)