| Cintra enters the Polish market, with the design, construction, financing and operation of the A1 |
| The toll road will traverse180 km, and require an investment of approximately £2.1bn |
| With the A1, Cintra will be responsible for
a total of 24 toll roads |
Cintra has been awarded with a contract by the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure for the construction, financing and operation of the A1 motorway between the towns of Stryków and Pyrzowice.
The toll motorway, 180 km in length, will form part of the Trans European North-South Highway, and will be divided into three sections: Section 1 - 38.5 km of new construction between the cities of Stryków and Tuszyn. Section 2 - 83.6 km between the cities of Tuszyn and Rzasawa, is an existing section which will be managed within the new contract, so as to be adapted to the new parameters of the highway. Section 3 - 57.9 km of new construction between Rzasawa and Pyrzowice.
The concession period is for 35 years, starting from the date the contract was signed, with the planned investment, as laid out in the bidding process, totalling 2.1bn. The cost of construction is estimated to be approximately 1.8bn of this amount. The successful bid was submitted by Autostrada Poludnie, a consortium that is 90 percent-owned by Cintra, with Budimex and Ferrovial Agroman holding the remaining 5.05% and 4.95% respectively. These latter two subsidiaries of Ferrovial will be responsible for carrying out the design and construction of the project, which is set to begin after the signing of the contract.
The contract establishes an initial 12-month period prior to financial closure during which the concession's economic parameters will be assessed and adjustments will be proposed due to the impact of the current economic and financial crisis on funding conditions and costs, on capital costs and on traffic projections as compared with those that obtained when the bid was presented. If the terms are acceptable to both the concessionaire and the Administration, the deal will reach financial closure.
Therefore, the contract may be rescinded freely by either the concession company or the Polish Administration. If an agreement is not reached, the concession company will recover the costs incurred in design and construction and the contract will be rescinded.
With the A1 Stryków I-Pyrzowice project, Cintra will manage a total of 24 toll roads in Spain (7), Portugal (3), Greece (2), Ireland (2), Poland (1), Chile (5), Canada (1) and the USA (3). Cintra is also Spain's leading car park operator and manages close to 300,000 parking spaces, most of them in Spain.
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