EU to earmark CZK 100bn for transport projects in ČR after 2014

Prague, March 12 (CTK) - The European Union will contribute around Kc100bn for the construction of transport infrastructure projects to the Czech Republic after 2014, of which Kc80bn is to come from cohesion funds, Transport Minister Zbynek Stanjura said at the Zofin Forum yesterday.

A further amount of about Kc20bn will be probably sent to the country through the Connecting European Facility (CEF). However, the amount to be received from the CEF is not final yet and is only the ministry's estimate, Stanjura said.

The money should be received by the Transport Ministry between 2014 and 2020. Most of the funding will go to the transport operational fund, like in the previous seven-year budget period.

The ministry will prefer a smaller number of larger construction projects in the new period.

"Administration is the same, be the volume of a project Kc3bn or Kc30m," Stanjura said.

It is much easier to avoid errors in preparations if the number of projects is smaller, which will make the construction of infrastructure faster, he said.

Among the road construction projects of a high priority to be implemented after 2014 is the completion of the D11 motorway leading from Prague to the Polish border via Hradec Kralove in eastern Bohemia, an orbital road for the South-Bohemian capital of Ceske Budejovice and the completion of the D1 motorway near Prerov in northern Moravia.

As regards railway construction, the ministry's priority is the modernisation of the third and fourth transit corridors and of important hubs on the first corridor.

The Czech Republic can draw Kc147bn from the current Operational Programme Transport. However, it is a question whether the country will be able to draw all the funds, because European money from this period can be used only for transport projects that will be completed by 2015.

The Transport Ministry still believes it will not have to return anything from the money earmarked for the programme.