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Weekly Lists
June 16, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 23
bne:
Infrastructure
Slovak opposition to ask Constitutional Court to block expropriation law
Estonian state rail haulier buys rolling stock for China-Europe route
Slovak opposition parties announced on June 15 that they will appeal to the constitutional court to block new legislation that allows road construction work to begin on land before it is expropriated.
The amendment was pushed through by parliament recently despite a veto from President Andrej Kiska. It is seen as a response to criticism aimed at ministries for sluggish road development.
A massive roadbuilding programme is forecast to help boost
Slovak GDP growth this year, boosting confidence in the battered construction sector. However, Bratislava has been harshly criticized for some of the deals it has signed, while also facing scandals connected to the segment in recent years.
Estonian state-owned rail transport company EVR Cargo has signed a contract to buy €17.8mn worth of rolling stock that it will rent to companies servicing cargo traffic along the China-Europe route, the company said on June 14.
The investment, which is the first part of a €35mn investment pro- gramme by EVR Cargo, comprises buying 300 container platforms and 200 open rail cars from a Russia. The company plans to rent the container platforms to “major international customers serving freight transport between China and Europe.” The rail cars will be rented for companies hauling bulk goods on the Russian market, EVR Cargo said.
Ukraine’s state-owned rail company Ukrzaliznytsia will aim to secure new principles for adjusting freight transit rates for the next three-five years that will be based on a standard inflation index, or a basket of indices, the company said in a statement on June 10.
The last rate hike was in late April 2016 when freight railway rates rose 15%, according to the Concorde Capital brokerage in Kyiv. Over the following 12 months, the producer price index (which Ukrzal- iznytsia seems likely to use as its benchmark for the rate adjust- ment) jumped 27.1% in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s rail monopoly seeks to link freight rates to inflation for mid-term