Case Studies: Central Greece Motorway (E65), Greece
Introduction
E65 is a toll motorway concession project of approximately 174 km in length, located in Western Greece. The project also includes 57 km of brown field sections already constructed by the Greek state under a traditional public works procurement scheme; these sections are tolled and the revenues are used to fund the construction of the new alignment.
The new motorway is designed to allow journey speed of 120 km/h and its typical cross section consists of a dual carriageway of two lanes and an emergency lane, divided by a new jersey barrier. The project includes over 25 interchanges and over 12km of tunnels.
The project includes the following parts:
| Section | Length (km) | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Lamia-Grevena
(E65 motorway) |
174 | New motorway section |
| Skarfia - Raches
(PATHE motorway section) |
57 | This is a motorway section
that will be built by the state, to be operated by the SPV. |
The project was originally conceived and tendered (phase A – prequalification) in 2001 by the (then governing) PASOK party. However, the phase B of the project (final tender) was completed by the New Democracy party in late 2006, 5 years after the completion of the prequalification phase. Out of the four consortia that were prequalified in the final phase of the tender, only two submitted offers for the project.
The project was part of a ‘bundle’ of motorway concession projects titled ‘axes of development’. Each and every one of these projects’ concession agreements was ratified by the Greek Parliament and became a Greek law. Hence, any amendment or alteration of the concession agreement for this project would have to be ratified again by the Greek Parliament. It must also be noted that these motorways are part of the EU TEN-T network and were partially financed by EU funds. The project’s construction is funded by debt and equity capital, Greek state and EU funds. The project’s financing structure is as follows:
Shareholders Equity: EUR 155 M
Debt Capital: EUR 1,000 M
National / EU Funds: EUR 520 M
