OHL for Russian rail project

The contract for the largest construction project in the history of OHL (Obrascon Huarte Lain) has been signed - a near €2 billion rail project in Russia.

Spanish group OHL's Czech railway subsidiary OHL ŽS and Russian publicly-owned Jarmalskaja Zeleznodoroznaja Kompanija have agreed the contract for the Polar Ural project.

It involves 390km of railway, which will not be electrified, from Obskaja to Nadym and Salechard. It will involve the building of a 2.5km viaduct over the River Ob. The contract is for four years, and the project has been divided into three sections - Salechard to Nadym, Obskaja to Salechard, and the Ob bridge.

Following the signing of the contract, which took place during a visit of the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to the Czech Republic, Michal Štefl, president of the board of directors and general director of OHL ŽS, said that the contract extended the possibilities of collaboration of Czech firms in new projects in the Russian Federation.