The contractor of the Novo-Gainsky Bridge faces legal proceedings

As Kommersant learned, the administration of the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug (KPAO) issued a final warning to the contractor for the construction of the Novo-Gainsky bridge over the Kama NPO Kosmos (Moscow). As the KPAO administration told Kommersant, if construction equipment does not appear at the site by January 15, and the site itself does not begin work, the autonomy authorities promise to terminate the contract and go to court demanding a fine of 60 million rubles. Cosmos declined to comment on the situation. But, according to Kommersant, the company has already begun transferring equipment and people to the Komi Okrug in order to fulfill the terms of the contract. The competition for the general contractor for the construction of the Novo-Gainsky Bridge took place in March 2004. Then the most favorable conditions for the implementation of the project were offered by the capital's NPO Cosmos. The builders estimated the cost of the work at 560 million rubles and promised to complete the turnkey bridge in 35 months. However, the implementation of the Cosmos project encountered difficulties. Last spring, the former head of the autonomy, Gennady Savelyev, said that the general contractor might be changed, since Cosmos was significantly behind the work schedule. The conflict was resolved only thanks to the emergency visit of Kosmos President Andrei Chernyakov to KPAO, who promised to provide a clear work schedule and complete construction on time.
The construction of the Novo-Gainsky bridge crossing is planned as part of the federal program “Roads of Russia”. The customer of the project is Rosavtodor. The project provides for the construction of the main bridge across the Kama and two accompanying ones 30 km from the village of Gayny (northern KPAO). The length of the main bridge will be 380 meters, the accompanying bridges will be 100 meters. With the launch of the bridge, residents of the Gainsky district will have the opportunity to have year-round communication with Kudymkar and Perm (now during the autumn and spring thaw they find themselves cut off from the “mainland”). The bridge crossing is also an integral part of the plan for the construction of the federal highway Perm - Kudymkar - Syktyvkar. Once again, the issue was discussed at a meeting between the new head of the KPAO administration, Valery Bayandin, and the vice-president of the NPO Cosmos, Alexander Ginzburg, before the New Year. Then Mr. Bayandin said that if the contractor does not begin work on the site by January 15, the contract with him will be terminated, and the autonomy authorities will go to court demanding that penalties be applied to Cosmos. In turn, representatives of the contractor assured the head of the autonomy that the facility would be completed on time - in August of this year.
The deputy head of the KPAO administration for construction, Sergei Sivkov, told Kommersant that Kosmos had received the “last Chinese warning.” “We have already prepared the documents for terminating the contract; we just have to wait until January 15th. Then we’ll see if the contractor has fulfilled our conditions,” he explained. At the same time, Mr. Sivkov noted that construction is slowing down not only due to the fault of the contractor. “The fact is that we were clarifying the initial construction project, and since the bridge is being built with federal funds, changes must be approved by Glavgosexpertiza in Moscow, which somewhat slows down the process,” the official added. At the same time, the deputy head of the KPAO road committee, Vladimir Filimonov, told Kommersant that if the authorities go to court, they will demand a fine of 60 million rubles from the contractor.
Alexander Ginzburg refused to comment on the situation. But, according to Kommersant, the company has already sent people and equipment to the site so that the terms of the contract are fulfilled.
Let us remind you that before this “Cosmos” already had problems with the authorities of the Kama region. The new bridge across the Kama in Perm was opened three weeks late from the previously scheduled date. Then the authorities promised to fine NPO Cosmos up to 10 million rubles.
ILYA PONOSNOV

Kommersant (Perm) No. 4 from 01/13/2006

The last "cosmic" warning