Construction of 32 kilometres the D4 motorway to Písek starts, the highway will be opened in 202410/6/2021|Press releasesThe French consortium Via Salis (formerly DIVia), backed by VINCI Concessions, VINCI Highways and Meridiam, has commenced the construction of 32 kilometres of the D4 motorway from Příbram to Písek and the renovation of the existing 16 kilometres of adjacent sections. According to the contract, the construction will be completed in December 2024 and the consortium will operate the motorway for the next 25 years. “Implementation of the PPP pilot project in the construction of the D4 means the fulfilment of our Government Program Statement. We are the first government that managed to prepare the construction of the motorway through PPP and actually to start it. The previous attempt to complete the D1 in 2002 ended in failure, and due to non-transparency, it had to be cancelled. For the completion of D4, the supplier was selected in an open tender, the final price is advantageous for the state,” the Prime Minister Andrej Babiš says. Starting from 2025, the Via Salis consortium will operate and maintain in total 48 kilometres of the D4 motorway and the adjoining section of I/20 in a perfect state. The newly built sections of the motorway will be owned by the state, but the state will not participate in financing during their construction. Unlike the traditional model of public procurement, the state does not buy only construction, but also a service in the form of operation and quality maintenance. The total final price is 17.8 billion crowns in net present value. "The construction is divided into five sections, but they all will be built at once. The last time such a long section of the motorway was built at once during the construction of the D5 motorway from Pilsen to the state border with Germany in the 90s. And it is exactly the construction of longer sections where the PPP financing model makes the most sense. That is why we are considering it also, for example, for the completion of the D35 motorway, which is an alternative to the Brno D1 motorway,” says the Minister of Transport Karel Havlíček. The state will start paying for the motorway only after it has been put into operation, and after 25 years the state will fully take over its administration in a condition which can be described as a new motorway. From the users´ point of view, the motorway will be tolled in the same way as other roads in the Czech Republic. The income from these fees will be the income of the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure and will not be in any way linked to the payment to the concessionaire, which is paid exclusively on the basis of the principle of compliance with the quality of services. The concessionaire - Via Salis, a joint venture of VINCI Highways and Meridiam, is responsible for the smooth running of the construction and subsequent operation of the motorway, and has subcontracted the construction work to Eurovia CS, a subsidiary of the VINCI Group. Operation and administration of the existing part of the motorway will start on July 1, 2021. "A team of experts with experience from international VINCI and Meridiam projects will be responsible for the implementation of this project. We are proud to be able to bring a new experience and a new dimension to public-private partnership in the Czech Republic. Thanks to our background, we also bring security of the project financing and extensive global expertise, not only in the area of highway projects implementation, but also in the quality of daily services, which we will begin to provide to drivers soon," Christian Biegert, CEO of Via Salis and concessionaire representative for the Czech Republic, said.