The consortium of the companies JV Construction, Grandi Lavori Fincosit, Impresa Costruzioni Giuseppe Maltauro and Osijek-Koteks was chosen among several reputed European companies as the most favourable bidder.
The construction of the new terminal is one of the main components of the Rijeka Gateway project, the purpose of which is to reconstruct and modernise the Port of Rijeka. Its first stage is financially supported by the World Bank, while the second stage will be funded by a public-private partnership. The work is expected to be finished in 2016.
The Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Zdenko Antesic, said that after the completion of the project Rijeka would become the most important container transshipment port in the northern Adriatic.
The government has earmarked 230.5 million kuna in the budget for the modernisation and construction of infrastructure in all seaports of importance to Croatia, Antesic said. He said the construction of port infrastructure would be accompanied by the modernisation of railways, adding that the government would set up a commission for railways, which would be chaired by Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic.
Antesic said that the construction of a lowland railway, worth about 5 billion euros, was the most important investment and infrastructure project of this government. He said that the construction of the lowland railway and the container terminal should be regarded as a single project, stressing that the Port of Rijeka would provide the shortest link between Europe and the Far East, and that infrastructure development would continue after Croatia joined the European Union next year.