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Weekly Lists
June 14, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 20
bne:
Infrastructure
Russia's development bank VEB and Rotenberg set up infrastructure construction major
Hungarian-Chinese consortium signs contract for Budapest- Belgrade railway upgrade
Russia's development bank VEB.RF (Vneshekonombank) and Stroy- ProyektHolding of sanctioned stoligarch Arcady Rotenberg will set up a joint venture and a major player on the infrastructure and construction market, the bank said after signing a memorandum of understanding at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
Rotenberg, one of the businessmen who form President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, has controlled the largest state procurement and building projects. StroyProyektHolding, together with Mostotrest acquired by Rotenberg in April 2018, has been the main contractor on the $4bn construction of a controversial bridge across the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and the Crimea peninsular that was annexed by Russia in 2014. StroyProyektHolding is likely to get a major boost from teaming up with VEB.
Hungarian-Chinese consortium CRE Konzorcium has signed a con- tract to upgrade the Hungarian section of the Budapest-Belgrade railway on June 12. The tender for the railway upgrade was called by Chinese Hungarian Railway Nonprofit, in which Hungarian state- owned railway company MAV has a 15% share and the People's Republic of China an 85% stake.
The winning consortium consists of China Tiejiuju Engineering and Construction and China Railway Electrification Engineering Group holding a combined 50% stake and RM International the other 50%.
RM International is a company owned by Lorinc Meszaros through BSE-listed Opus Global. Meszaros is Hungary’s most powerful oli- garch and a close friend of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Meszaros has become Hungary's richest man in just a few years thanks to his friendship with Orban.
The Croatian subsidiary of Manila-based International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has outlined plans for the compre- hensive expansion of infrastructure at the Port of Rijeka.
The investment that will be completed by mid-2020 is intended to “future proof” the terminal on Croatia’s Adriatic coast by preparing it to accept larger ships.
“We have decided to do this against a background of steady demand but, more importantly, to keep pace with the requirements of our clients in terms of both ship size and a rise in intermodal rail activ- ity,” said Wojciech Szymulewicz, CEO of ICTSI subsidiary Adriatic Gate Container Terminal (AGCT).
ICTSI to “future proof” terminal at Croatia’s Rijeka port