Rome, Mar. 24 (LaPresse) – "The disproportionate increase in the fee? Unfortunately, our contract dates back to 2004. If you try to compare it with any project from that period, you will see that our price increase is not disproportionate. European regulations require a proper comparison of the contract content, without adding extra work. An adjustment for price variations is a different matter." This was stated by the CEO of Stretto di Messina, Pietro Ciucci, during a hearing before the Senate Environment Committee on the Strait of Messina Bridge, in response to a question about ANAC’s concerns regarding the need for a new tender, given the risk that the planned expenditure could exceed 50% of the original estimate.
According to Ciucci, "our project fully complies with the provisions of Article 72 of the European directive on contracts and fees." "The tender included the concept of price indexation, not a change in works," he added, explaining the increase, which went from €3.9 billion to €6.7 billion in the 2011 final project, and to €10.5 billion in the additional act of last August. Sometimes there is confusion and €13.5 billion is mentioned, which is not the contractor’s fee but the cost of the entire project.
"The work variations are only those of the 2011 project, which included a metropolitan link between Reggio Calabria and Messina with three underground stations. There are no other variations except for a few tens of millions."
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