Govt to continue PPP buyouts next year, official says
The government will continue the review and buyout of projects financed under public private partnerships (PPP) next year, National Development Ministry state secretary for asset policy Sára Nemes Hegman said in Thursday's issue of daily Magyar Nemzet.
Hegman said the state would spend HUF 11.9 billion, instead of HUF 15 billion, to consolidate sports projects constructed as PPP investments by local councils this year. The reduction of the allocation is among HUF 133 billion savings in this year' budget announced by National Economy Minister György Matolcsy on Friday.
This year's PPP consolidation will support the completion of 31 projects, including school swimming pools and gyms, undertaken by 21 project companies, Hegman told the daily. She noted that the measure came too late for two investments as their respective project companies failed.
The government decided in the summer to allocate HUF 15bn in 2012 for the buyout of local council swimming pools and gyms built in PPPs. When announcing the measure in June, Hegman said it would affect 35 investments worth about HUF 50 billion. The plan was to free these local councils of the financial burden of their PPPs by September. She said at the time that local councils would take over the operation of the PPPs, resulting in 30-50% savings on operating costs.
The government outlined the plans to buy out PPPs in the Széll Kálmán Plan, a restructuring programme presented in March 2011.
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