Greek infrastructure projects: First signatures and tenders of 2023

Concluding a year of major tenders for infrastructure projects, a flurry of signatures begins that in the first quarter of 2023 will concern 1.76 billion euros, beginning with the Thessaloniki Flyover in mid-December. New construction sites will be set in motion, completing the map already shaped by major projects like Patra-Pyrgos, E65, Amvrakia Odos, line 4 of the Athens metro. The event of the year will certainly be the first construction sites of BOAK within the next few weeks.

Two new projects are underway in Western Attica. A few days ago, the Hellenic Railways Organization – OSE tender was announced for the extension of the Suburban railway with seven stations from Ano Liosia to Megara. The new, 36 km long, line has a budget of 106.95 million euros. On the horizon is the announcement of the extension of Line 2, 3.5 km long, from Anthoupolis to Palatiani, Ilion, Agios Nikolaos. The budget amounts to 785 million euros, including the supply of 8 trains and the expansion of the Eleonas depot. Just before the New Year, the act was included for funding in the National Development Program.

The abundance of tenders is boosting the construction industry. According to a study by Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research-IOBE, the production value of construction projects will exceed 18 billion euros in 2025 compared to 7.6 billion in 2020. The mammoth program of 13 billion euros prepared by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport is in full progress .

Projects worth more than 10 billion euros have already been auctioned and about 5 billion have entered the implementation phase. 2 billion tenders are still expected in the first quarter of 2023. A dynamic that is expected to boost investment in construction projects, which will reach 8.1% of GDP in 2025, when it was 4% in 2020.

Signings in the first quarter of 2023

Engines warmed up with the first road PPP that entered the implementation phase for the aerial Eastern Ring Road of Thessaloniki, with a budget of 373.2 million euros. The association Avax – Mytileneos undertook the construction and operation for a period of 30 years.

Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Giorgos Karagiannis has put five road projects in the pre-completion stage, for the next period. In record times for Greece, three projects that were auctioned last February are being signed. This is the extension of Kymi Avenue, amounting to 352 million, with the TERNA-Aktor-Intrakat scheme as a contractor, the Chalkida-Psachna bypass, with a budget of 210 million euros, with the Mytilineos Group as a contractor, and Bralos – Amfissa road, with a budget of 285 million. euros, undertaken by the Avax Group.

However, two important pending matters will be closed within the quarter. These concern the PPP of the Kalamata – Pylos – Methoni axis, 251.8 million euros, with the Aktor Concessions-Intrakat scheme as a temporary contractor, as well as the Nothern Axis of Crete for the “Chersonisos – Neapolis” section, amounting to 290 million euros, which will built by the joint venture TERNA – Aktor Concessions – Intrakat. As for the large part of the “Chania – Heraklion” Northern Axis of Crete, amounting to 1.6 billion euros, a temporary contractor is expected by the end of March for the largest concession project starting in Europe.

At the beginning of the year, the announcement of the road axis Ioannina – Kakavia, with a budget of 310 million euros, is still planned, while the connection of the Western Regional Egaleo link with the National Highway, which includes the triple interchange of Skaramangas, will follow within three months. And according to the planning of the ministry and ERGOSE, the six new generation railway projects worth 4 billion euros are to be contracted within 2023, really changing the railway map of the country.