On Thursday 14 June, the European Commission approved the prolongation of a concession contract for the Y motorway in Istria, between the Croatian authorities and the Bina-Istra company, which will tie down €165 million of investments.
Istria's Y motorway is operated by Bina-Istra in the framework of a concession contract entered into between it and the Croatian authorities in 1995. Although the road was theoretically to be operated by Bina-Istra until 2027, Croatia notified the Commission in March of this year of its intention of prolonging the concession contract until 2023, in particular so that the company will finance the construction of an extra lane on a certain section of the road, for an investment of €165 million. The Croatian authorities also planned to prolong the concession by a further 18 months, subject to certain conditions concerning the repayment of Bina-Istra's debt.
The Commission assessed the measure in light of the EU state aid rules on services of general economic interest and EU public procurement rules. Taking the view that Bina-Istra would not be benefiting from excessive compensation as a result of the prolongation of the concession and that this compensation was in proportion to the amount necessary to pay for the work to build the extra lane, the institution approved the measure. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)