The OHL Group enters into Russia with a 1.95 billion euro contract

The OHL Group, through its Czech subsidiary OHL ŽS, has been awarded the Ural Polar project in Russia, involving the construction of a 390 km railway line with a total budget of 80 billion rubles, about 1.95 billion euros, VAT included. This makes it the largest construction project in the history of OHL

The contract was signed today at the Prague Castle during the visit of Russian President Dmitrij Medvedev to the Czech Republic. The developer of this project is Jamal Railway, owned by Russian Railways, Gazprom and Polar Urals Corporation (KUPUP).

OHL ZS, with a 100% stake, is the prime contractor for the project, which will start after the closure of full funding of the project by both the Czech and Russian sides. The contract is closely connected with the signing of the mandate of the Czech Export Bank to finance the project with Russian banks.

The railway line will be a single- non-electrified track from the Obskaja station to Nadym, through the city of Salechard. Work also includes the construction of a 2.5 km viaduct over the Ob river. The contract term is four years and the project has been divided into three sections for its execution: Salechard-Nadym, Obskaja-Salechard and the bridge over the Ob river.

OHL ŽS will be working with several Czech contractors in the execution fo the porject, including ŽPSV (subsidiary of Grupo OHL), DT Prostejov, Trinecké Železárny and Vítkovice. After signing the contract, Michal Stefl, Chairman of the Board and CEO of OHL ZS, said that this contract extends the possibilities of collaboration of Czech companies on new projects in the Russian Federation.

OHL Construction Milestones in 2011

The OHL Group is ranked 21st among the 225 largest international contractors in the construction business, according to Engineering News-Record (ENR). In 2011, the OHL Construction has been awarded, in Spain and abroad, the following major international projects, among others:

• CHUM Hospital in Montreal: The construction budget total €1.428 billion, with OHL holding a 50% stake in the project
• Urban viaduct in Kuwait City: The construction budget total €645.5 million, with OHL holding a 48% stake in the project
• Toronto subway extension: The construction budget total €304.4 million, with OHL holding a 50% stake in the project
• Marmaray Project: First underwater rail link between two continents, Europe-Asia, to be built under the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul (Turkey). The construction budget total €932.8 million, with OHL holding a 70% stake in the project. High speed , commuter and freight railways
• Mecca-Medina: On 26 October, the Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) announced the award of the contract for the second phase of the Mecca-Medinato high-speed line to the Al-Shoul consortium, in which OHL participates with another 11 Saudi and two Spanish companies, . With a budget of €6.736 billion, this is the largest civil works project awarded to Spanish companies abroad. OHL will earn €586 million for its work on this project

These projects together with the new contract in the Russian Federation represent €3.915 billion in work for OHL (net of VAT) and, together with the existing backlog ensure the growth of the activity in the future and strengthen the Group’s leading international position in large civil works contracts.

Other relevant projects being implemented by OHL Construction abroad include:

• In Miami, OHL is building two of the largest civil works in the State of Florida: The Airport Link project for the Miami Metro extension to the international airport, and the Greater Miami highway interchange, with four decks and a maximum height of 32 meters.
• In Doha, Qatar, OHL is building the Sidra Medical Research Center, one of the largest and most technologically advanced hospitals in the world with a budget of €1.645 billion, in which OHL participates with 55%.