Koper-Divača project company denies Turkish partner pull-out

The 27-kilometre railway, known as the second track, is being built by the Slovenian company Kolektor CPG and its Turkish partners Yapi Merkezi and Özaltin.

The EUR 1.1 billion project was originally supposed to be completed by the end of the year, but 2TDK said in January it would be delayed by several months due to unforeseen problems.

Now 2TDK says it has adjusted the contract value with the legal obligation to pay for price increases and signed annexes to the contracts for the first and second sections with the consortium of Kolektor CPG, Yapi Merkezi and Özaltin.

"The deadline for completion of the works has been amended and is set at the end of March 2026," the company said on Friday.

On the second section, the estimated contract value has been changed by an annex due to price increases. "The new contract value for the second section amounts to EUR 250.97 million excluding VAT, or EUR 23.29 million more," it said.

If the increase had not been approved the section between Črni Kal and Koper would have been realised below the estimated value of the contract, 2TDK said, adding that all projects in Slovenia and comparable multi-year infrastructure projects abroad face inflationary pressures.

Meanwhile, the annex extends the contractual deadline for the first section for several reasons, including bridging karst caves, while the total estimated contract value remains unchanged, the state-run company said.

As regards the financial problems of Yapi Merkezi, 2TDK said it requested that the lead partner of the consortium remedy the situation. "All partners share a responsibility to assume obligations in the project if one of them faces financial, temporal or other circumstances that could affect the performance of the contract."

The company's press release also says that the 2TDK management is looking for solutions to compensate for past delays and is dealing with ongoing challenges such as bridging karst phenomena, shifts in the Glinščica valley, contractors' difficulties and global challenges affecting the construction as well as the infrastructure industry.

The response comes after the portal Necenzurirano reported that Yapi Merkezi had notified 2TDK it would not be able to finish its part of the project due to financial difficulties. Most of the project is to be taken over by Kolektor, while the Turkish workers are to remain operational in a smaller scope at the section between Divača and Črni Kal, according to the report.