The EU will, moreover, issue another call for proposals in the next few days, and Slovenia needs to apply for that money by June. Countries that have signed letters of intent to join the project include Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland.

Gašperšič said that construction of the railway track could begin in late 2017. The financial plan for the construction of the track will also be finalized by then. The second railway track is expected to cost just shy of 1 billion euros.

An international call for tenders will be issued to contract a company that will construct the railway track. Since Slovenian companies lack the necessary technology, the contractor will probably be a foreign company, but subcontractors will be domestic firms.

Slovenia will also try to secure 250 million euros in EU grants. The Slovenian government will set aside 200 million euros for the project; the aforementioned countries are expected to match that amount. The Slovenian government has already established a special-purpose entity called 2TDK whose job will be to help construct and manage the track.

N. U. T. (RA SLO); translated by D. V.