In brief

• Kolin Insaat has told GDDKiA it does not plan to continue building an 18.5-kilometre section of the S17 near Zamość.
• Works are at about 9 percent completion, and the contract is worth about 820 million zloty.
• GDDKiA has warned the contract could be terminated due to the contractor's fault.
• The S17 is meant to provide a faster route toward Lviv.

Contractor signals it will stop work

Kolin Insaat has informed the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) that it does not intend to continue building the S17 expressway between Zamość and Tomaszów Lubelski (Turecki wykonawca pakuje walizki. S17 pod Zamościem utknęła w martwym punkcie – dziennikwschodni.pl) (Turcy nie mają zamiaru wracać. GDDKiA ostrzega. Możliwe zerwanie umowy – money.pl). The section is about 18.5 kilometres long and runs between the Zamość Południe and Tomaszów Lubelski Północ junctions. Local reports say the project is at roughly 9 percent completion.

Regulator's warning and deadline

The GDDKiA regional spokesman, Łukasz Minkiewicz, said the contractor had not made significant progress despite earlier calls to speed up work. The contract, worth about 820 million zloty, was signed in November 2022 for design and construction. Another report puts the value at 822 million zloty (S17. Wykonawca nie zamierza kontynuować budowy za 822 mln zł - Inżynieria.com – inzynieria.com).

The agency has warned that, if nothing changes, the contract could be dissolved due to the contractor's fault.

Other disputes

The firm has also faced other problems in Poland, according to local media. Regional coverage describes the stalled project as a works site effectively paused (S17: ostre hamowanie z budową ekspresówki. Turcy nie zamierzają wracać z robotami na odcinek od Zamościa do Tomaszowa. Co teraz? | Kurier Lubelski – kurierlubelski.pl). WNP.pl reports that friction between GDDKiA and the Turkish firm has also surfaced on other road investments in recent months (Pachnie kolejnym zejściem z placu budowy. Iskrzy między drogowcami a turecką firmą – WNP.pl).

Importance of the road

The S17 is meant to give drivers a faster link toward Lviv in Ukraine, and the stalled section keeps drivers on the existing route for longer.