Turkish company to construct the Warsaw subway

A Turkish contracting firm, Gulermak is going to construct the Warsaw subway, one of the biggest investment projects in Poland.

Gulermak with their partners Astaldi (Italy) and Polish (PBDiM) had signed the Contract for Warsaw Metro Line 2 Section, between Dasynskiego and Wilenski Stations, on 28.10.2009.

The new line will be 7 km long and will be completely underground. There will be seven stations on both sides of the Vistula River. Value of the project is 4,117,500,000 Zloti (approximately 1,100,000,000 EUR).

All stations will be constructed in stages in order not to prevent the traffic flow in the city and the tunnels will be bored by three number of highest technology pressure balance tunnel boring machines (EPB TBM). The connection tunnels between the existing line (Line 1) and the new line is also within the scope of the project.

The design works and the building permits are completed, and the construction started during summer 2010. Currently, construction of two stations are in progress and it is planned that the tunnel boring machines will start drilling during autumn 2011. The line is planned to be completed and be operational by the end of 2013.

PROJECT DIRECTOR: We are happy to work in Poland

Mustafa Tuncer, Gulermak’s Project Director in Poland, told Turkish journalists invited by the Information and Foreign Investment Agency of Poland on Wednesday that Gulermak is among the trilateral consortium that had undertaken a 10 km long subway line construction project. Tuncer told that the project that has been going on for 3 years with a Polish and an Italian partner firm and is worth 1 billion euros would conclude at the end of 2014. Saying that Gulermak has been undertaking the contracting phase of the project, Tuncer pointed out that project practices were quite different than in Turkey.

He said that Gulermak decided to invest in Poland in 2008 after a meeting with a Turkish firm that was already investing in Poland and signed the subway contract in 2009. Telling that Polish administrators were unfavorable of a foreign consortium at the beginning, Tuncer stated that Turks do not have a negative image in Poland. He added that they were happy to work in Poland and were eager to get involved in new projects.

Tuncer advised the Turkish firms that would like to work in Poland that they would think long-term to benefit from opportunities.
For Turkish entrepreneurs who would want to invest in Poland, Tuncer suggested them to consider food sector as it was hard to find Turkish food in Poland.

19.09.2012
SOURCE: WEB