J&T is venturing into motorway construction in Slovakia. Poštová banka, owned by J&T, is financing the construction of Višňové, the longest motorway tunnel in Slovakia. The financial group would also like to finance the acquisition of the construction company Doprastav, indicating that it sees motorway construction as a profitable sector. The 7.5 km Višňové tunnel is a key part of the new motorway connection from Martin to Povážská Bystrica. The project is considered as risky, writes Trend.sk, suggesting that international lenders won’t touch it, because it is built by two companies with little experience with motorway construction on the Slovak market: Italy’s Salini Impregilo and Slovakia’s Dúha. Project cost estimates were done in 2012, when both construction work and materials were extremely cheap. Dúha won the tender with a bid that was half the official estimate.
