NCC receives highway construction order in Poland worth SEK 2.7 billion

10/31/2000 4:48 AM EST

All the details required for initiation of construction on the major A2
highway project in Poland, the largest highway project ever in Europe,
have now been resolved. AWSA, a Polish company in which NCC is a 10
percent partner, signed late Monday evening, a contract with the Polish
Minister of Transport. The customer is the Polish Ministry of Transport's
special unit for highway construction.

The current order relates to one of three sections of the A2 Highway
between the German border and Warsaw, for which AWSA received a concession
in 1997. The order pertains to a 149-kilometer section of highway from
Nowy Tomysl to Konin, of which newly produced highway will account for 101
kilometers and the upgrade of a highway section between Wrzesina and Konin
for 48 kilometers.

The value of the first phase of the project, including financing, is
slightly more than SEK 8 billion. The construction works are worth SEK 5.4
billion, of which NCC's share amounts to SEK 2.7 billion.

"The A2 Highway is the largest project ever in the history of NCC. In NCC
we are of course, very proud to have achieved a break-though on polish
market with this gigantic project, which has all possibilities to show
good profitability" says Alf Algotsson, Deputy President of NCC Civil
Engineering, who represented NCC in the negotiations. "We are pleased that
everything is now ready for the start of construction. The project is the
result of several years of intensive work that started as early as 1995,"
he adds.

"The A2 Highway is a BOT project. AWSA is responsible for financing and
construction, as well as operation of the highway up to 2040. The first
section will be built between 2000 and 2004. AWSA's concession includes
another, 106-kilometer long, section. The intention is to commence work on
this second section as soon as the first phase has been completed. The EU
has assigned high priority to construction of the A2 Highway, which is
considered of strategic importance to the continued development of
European cooperation and its eastward expansion," Alf Algotsson explains.

Financing of the project will be arranged by AWSA's shareholders, EIB (the
European Investment Bank) and commercial banks. The Polish State has
issued a guarantee for EIB's loans.

Construction work, which will take the form of a turnkey undertaking, will
be conducted by the A2 Bau Development GmbH consortium, which is owned
equally by NCC and Strabag, an Austrian construction company. The highway
operator will be EGIS (formerly Transroute), a French company that is
responsible for the operation of 90 percent of the highways in France. The
A2 Bau Development GmbH consortium has a substantial ownership interest in
the concession company AWSA, which is, however, predominantly owned by
Polish companies.

The highway construction contract pertains to a nearly 150-kilometer
section of four-lane highway. The contract also includes the construction
of 63 bridges and renovation of an additional 30 bridges, as well as the
construction of three toll stations, three highway stations and 16 service
areas. It is estimated that paving work will require approximately one
million tons of asphalt.

For further information, please contact:
Alf Algotsson, Deputy President of the Civil Engineering business area
(Tel: +46-70-510 09 29, +46-8- 655 20 00)
Jan Tojkander, President of NCC Poland Civil Engineering (Tel: +48 601 61
62 27,
+46-8-655 20 00)


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