Smaller state: motorways to be maintained and built by a consortium in the next 35 years!

The consortium led by private equity fund Themis has been awarded a concession to build and maintain motorways in Hungary for the next 35 years, Antal Rogán, who heads the Prime Minister’s cabinet office, said on Friday, adding that 317km of new roads will be built until 2032.

The concession holder will also add lanes to 265km of existing road in the first ten years of the contract, Rogán told a forum in Budapest.

The concession involves the upkeep of 1,044km of road, he said, adding that all of the maintenance works were considered priority projects.

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As regards financing, Rogán said the state will pay a concession fee and will pay for the full construction and maintenance project over the 35-year period. He added that the concession holder would have to obtain the credit necessary to carry out the project at its own expense. The road tolls to be collected by the state will have to cover the concession payments for the full 35-year period, he said.

The state will pay Themis an annual concession fee of 96.2 million forints (EUR 254,000) per kilometre. The state will not transfer its right to collect motorway tolls, he said.

Rogán said the concession procedure was fully in line with European Union rules.