The general partnership “SBSC” (“Skonto Būve” and “Skonto Construction”) has submitted a tender for the completion of the construction works of the New Riga Theatre (JRT) by 29 October this year, but SJSC “State Real Estate” (SRE) has not received any documents confirming that the builder can actually complete the works within the specified deadline, informs Jelena (Jeļena) Gavrilova, Member of the Board of SJSC “State Real Estate”.
On Thursday, February 2, the JRT construction monitoring meetings were held, where SRE and “SBSC” continued to seek a mutually acceptable solution for completing the theatre’s reconstruction as soon as possible.
"At the moment, we have not received any proper justification for how the builder [is preparing] to execute this within the proposed deadline. Instead, we get links to news portals, where politicians talk about inflation and the current challenges in the country as a whole. The submission of justifications is not an excessive requirement and is also well understood by the full company SBSC. JRT is built for public budget and European Union funds, not private, hence we need to gain 100% confidence that there is no corporate problem at the expense of the State," said Gavrilova.
"We understand that the JRT actors are hurt by these squabbles, and just like them, the SRE team is doing everything to make the theatre return to their home as soon as possible. So far, we have repeatedly compromised with the builder to find non-standard solutions to deal with the immediate situation, but they have to be justified. Both by compensating for price increases in line with inflation and by granting an advance," said Gavrilova.
To date, “SBSC” has not provided the missing justification for the impact of the exceptional circumstances, i.e. documenting what exactly has changed since the agreement on compensation for the impact of the Russian war, Covid-19, etc. was concluded in the summer of 2022.
“There is not much time left – an agreement on a solution has to be found in the coming month. In our view, the theatre can still be commissioned in the autumn under certain conditions, but this depends to a large extent on the will of the builder and the desire to meet the conditions. So far, they have been executed only in part, and each time we see a slightly different scene. In this situation, our chances of finding a solution have been exhausted," said Gavrilova.
It has already been reported that the general partnership “SBSC” has repeatedly approached SRE with various demands, which SRE has provided. In addition, the builder has been compensated for price increases in line with inflation in the amount of EUR 2.18 million, and an additional advance of EUR 1 million has been granted at “SBSC” request. In addition, invoices submitted by the builder for payment of the actual works are paid several times a month within one to two days of submission, instead of once a month within 30 days as originally foreseen. SRE has taken all these steps to facilitate the builder's situation and to deliver the project on time.
SRE has already warned the builder that it will not meet the deadline if the pace is not increased. In order to complete the work within the specified period, according to the initial work execution program of the builder “SBSC”, approximately 240 people were planned, the builder has not reached such intensity of work so far.
