The new road which will link Paphos and Polis Chrysochous will cost a total of €90.2 million plus value added tax, the public works department said on Thursday.

It explained that when a contract for the project’s completion was initially signed between the government of the day and Greek contractor Intrakat in 2021, it was valued at just shy of €73m plus VAT.

Since then, it said, in light of the tearing up of the government’s contract with Intrakat – now known as Aktor – last year, and increases in the cost of construction materials in recent years, that estimate has been revised up to the current figure.

It also passed comment on the contract with Intrakat, saying that “intensive efforts were made to overcome any obstacles, problems, and respond to the contractor’s requirements”, but that Intrakat’s “demand for additional costs and time to complete the project” were deemed to be “extremely problematic and excessive”.

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On this matter, it decried a “long delay in the execution of the project” and a “very slow pace of work” during the time in which Intrakat held the rights to construct the road, adding that “in essence, from April 2024, work stopped being carried out other than excavations in a small section”.

This, it said, “left no other option than to terminate the contract”.

Of Intrakat’s demands for more funding and time to complete the project, it said that in April last year, “the contractor’s demands amounted to €30m and a 34-month extension”, but that by October, this had risen to €34m and a 59-month extension.

“Considering that these demands were made with the project only 21.1 per cent complete, it can be reasonably concluded that there would be additional demands and extensions before the project was complete,” it said.

It added that these issues had been “raised on a regular basis both in private meetings and through letters” with and to Intrakat, and that “efforts were also made to help the contractor manage its problems”.

Additionally, it said it has demanded that the guarantees promised by Intrakat in the contract in the event of the contract not being fulfilled be paid by Aktor, and that “the matter is now before the courts”.

The announcement comes after Aktor had won a stay from the tenders review authority, which had accepted the company’s request to suspend a new tender process for the road until its appeal against the cancellation of the initial contract.

The company, which was formerly known as Intrakat, is seeking €35 million in damages for the contract’s termination.

On Tuesday, Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades had said he expects the tenders review authority to reach a decision on the matter in early October.

“We expect that the tenders review authority will make a decision in early October so that we can proceed with the process. We will do what is necessary by implementing cabinet decisions and proceedings with a new tendering process for the project,” he said.

However, he said, “I expect that this particular company will continue to raise difficulties”.

Monday’s decision comes weeks after the government had announced a new tender for the first phase of the road, which will connect the village of Ayia Marinouda, just outside Paphos, and the village of Stroumbi, which is located roughly halfway between the road’s two endpoints – a distance of around 15.5 kilometres.