03/07/2013 «EGNATIA ODOS AE»: Activities carried out in the first half of 2013

Thessaloniki, 3/7/2013

«EGNATIA ODOS AE»: Activities carried out in the first half of 2013

In the period extending from January,1^st to June, 30^th 2013, the company “Egnatia Odos AE” and its scope of activities held a pivotal role in the engineering industry developments not only in Northern Greece, but throughout the country, in general.

What might not be known to the public is that “Egnatia Odos AE” is not responsible just for the construction of the Egnatia Motorway and its Vertical Axes, but that the company has also undertaken a series of other projects throughout the country supporting the Local Communities and the services of the Ministry for Infrastructures, Transport and Networks in their effort to implement those projects both within the set time limits and in a technically artful manner.

The company believes that it is a priority to make the public aware of the activities undertaken by “Egnatia Odos AE” in the first half of 2013 and currently in progress.

In particular:

Α.      PROJECTS FOR WHICH CONTRACTS HAVE BEEN CONCLUDED OR ARE TO BE CONCLUDED

In the first half of 2013:

• 6 contracts were signed for the construction of new projects at a contractual fee of approx. €49mn (the aforementioned projects include the first contract for the upgrading of the Western Inner Ring Road of Thessaloniki by turning the existing junctions into intersections, the construction of an intersection (IC) at the Industrial Zone (BIPE) of Komotini, and the retaining of slopes at the caldera of the island of Thera),
• the conclusion of the contract for the project “Networks for the transport of wastewater in the Municipality of Karpathos” at a contractual fee of approx. €1.7mn is in progress,
• the tendering procedure has commenced and is to be completed in the next months for 10 projects budgeted at approx. €61.7mn (the aforementioned projects include the second contract for the upgrading of the Western Inner Ring Road of Thessaloniki by turning the existing junctions into intersections, the construction of landfills on the islands of Naxos and Kea, the construction of wastewater treatment plants on the islands of Karpathos, Donousa and Thirasia, the construction of desalination plants on the islands of Kythnos and Antiparos, etc.)
• finally, the tendering procedure for 6 additional projects budgeted at € 21.6mn is being prepared.

Β.      DESIGN PREPARATION

In the first half of 2013:

• 15 contracts for various designs were signed, which are budgeted at approx. €1.3mn (these include various highways designs, geotechnical investigations, hydraulic designs, etc. for the road axis Xanthi – Sminthi – Echinos – Greek-Bulgarian borders, road safety designs for the island of Crete, the procurement of a mobile laboratory for the performance of environmental measurements),
• the conclusion of contracts for 5 additional designs budgeted at €0.8mn is in progress,
• another 9 designs, budgeted at €1.7mn, are in the tendering stage (these include designs for the execution of uncontrolled waste disposal areas restoration works in various Municipalities across the country, as well as various designs for the road section Drama – Agios Athanasios),
• finally, the competitions for another 24 designs budgeted at € 6.4mn are being prepared.

C.      OTHER PROJECTS

• on 30^th June 2013, the scope of activities of “Egnatia Odos AE” comprised of the construction of 26 projects across the country of a contractual fee of approx. €623.6mn (the projects in progress concern the completion of the Egnatia Motorway vertical axes, highway projects in Northern Greece and in the area of Thessaloniki, the construction of a reinforced ultra-high fencing for the protection of the brown bear, as well as an abundance of projects on the islands of the Northern and Southern Aegean Sea),
• furthermore, an ambitious road safety program is in progress that comprises of road safety designs for parts of the Greek National and Country road network (for road sections of a total length of approx. 15,000km), aiming at the reduction of road accidents and the safe use of the national road network,
• the awarding procedure for 14 additional projects of a contractual fee of approx. €272.9mn is in the stage of completion,
• furthermore, in the first half of 2013, various projects were re-launched, the construction of which had been put in hold for long periods of time, such as the link road between the 6^th pier of Thessaloniki Port and PAThE motorway (after replacing the original contractor) and the completion of the road section Kato Ambela – Petritsi along the vertical axis Thessaloniki – Serres – Promachonas (through a new tender for the execution of the remaining works).
• at the same time, the works for the completion of the northern section of the road Komotini – Nymfaia – Greek-Bulgarian borders and the two sections Mandra – Psathades and Ardanio – Ormenio in Evros have been re-launched and now are being executed intensively,
• finally, bituminous carpet maintenance works are being executed at both directions of the road section Alexandroupoli – Ardanio.

D.      COMPANY ACTIVITIES ABROAD

As far as the company’s activities abroad are concerned:

• a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 26^th June in Andrianoupoli between “Egnatia Odos AE” and the Turkish Motorway Authority for the construction of a second cross-border road bridge at the border crossing “Kipoi – Ipsala”,
• the activities of “Egnatia Odos AE” abroad render its presence noteworthy through the management and supervision of 6 projects in Albania, Romania and Serbia, as well as through the submission of 10 expressions of interest in participating in international competitions held in neighboring countries in the first half of 2013.

“Egnatia Odos AE”, in close cooperation with the Ministry for Infrastructures, Transport and Networks, but also in close contact and togehter with Regions and Municipalities across the country drafted and submitted proposals for the funding of new designs and projects, both in the current funding period (NSRF[1] projects) and in the funding period that follows (Partnership Agreement projects) thus exhibiting its readiness and the high quality and efficiency of its human resources.

The activities so far described could not possibly be implemented without the close cooperation established between the “Egnatia Odos AE” management team and its employees who are equipped with a unique know-how and can support all kinds of developmental efforts in the field of infrastructure projects both in and outside the Greek territory.

Public Relations’ Office