Rijeka Port Authority terminates contract with Japanese company

The Rijeka Port Authority Steering Board on Tuesday accepted a proposal to terminate a contract with Kajima Corporation from Japan on the construction of a 300-metre container terminal to be built as part of the Rijeka Gateway Project.

The funds intended for the construction of this terminal in the Rijeka Port will be redirected into the construction of a 300-metre extension of another terminal in the port, said the state secretary for the sea and head of the Rijeka Port Authority Steering Board, Branko Bacic.

Bacic added that bids for the construction of the extension would be invited by the end of the year.

The project which was to have been carried out by the Japanese company will be continued in cooperation with the World Bank. Instead of the planned first stage of construction of the 300-metre waterfront, the new project will focus on the improvement of the sea bed and the construction of a 600-metre dock, partly in line with the model of public-private partnership. The project is expected to be completed by 2013.

The Steering Board said in a statement that the reason for the termination of the contract with Kajima Corporation was the company's failure to start construction works on the terminal, worth 237 million kuna, which were to have begun in February 2006.

Problems with this project started after it was established that the sea bed in that part of the Rijeka Port was porous, which was not envisaged by the original project drawn up by the Japanese company Nippon Koei. This led to the need to move the deadline for the completion of the project to mid 2010.

The Croatian government granted an additional 40 million euros for the improvement of the sea bed, but no agreement could be reached with the contractor considering the new conditions.

The construction of the new container terminal in the Rijeka Port is the most expensive and most important part of the Rijeka Gateway Project, which is aimed at reorganising and modernising the port. The project is financed with a loan from the World Bank and budgetary funds, with the Croatian government having provided guarantees.

The World Bank has approved a loan amounting to some USD 156 million for the modernisation of the port and roads leading to it. The total value of the Rijeka Gateway Project is estimated at USD 266 million.
(Hina) 

News