PPP projects finally get moving
Something is moving, after months, even years, of delays in infrastructure programs implemented through public-private partnerships (PPPs).
Competitive tenders for projects budgeted at over €5 billion are either at the stage of submission of binding offers by the competing firms or consortiums, or at the stage of preliminary negotiations with the bidders.
The former include a €200 million project for the construction of the second waste management unit in the northern city of Thessaloniki that will cover the needs of 10 suburban municipalities and will be built near a current landfill, and a €107 million project for the construction of new dormitories at the Democritus University of Thrace, a project delayed for four years.
The projects are important enough to have attracted a large number of bidders, four in the first case and five in the second. This bodes ill for a swift completion, as selection of preferred bidders is often followed by protracted litigation brought by the losing parties.
Competitive bids for three irrigation projects in central and northern Greece, budgeted at a total €374 million, are expected in September.
