Construction of a team sports hall | Photo: Eddy Palen / LETA
The Ministry of Education and Science (MES) will ask the government to extend the deadline for the completion of the Team Sports Hall until December 31, 2024, according to the informational report of the Ministry of Education and Science submitted for approval.
In the informative report, the Ministry of Education and Culture states that in March 2021, one of the supported high-readiness projects was the Team Sports Hall project, which was expected to be funded in the amount of 13.65 million euros.
The creation of a team sports hall at Krišjāņa Barona street 99C, Riga, envisages a team sports hall (the so-called “Basketball House”) with three transformable basketball courts and stands for up to 2,500 spectators, as well as athletics and heavy athletics sectors with adjacent sports infrastructure (dressing rooms, sports medicine, small sportsmen’s service hotel, parking lot) design and construction.
By implementing the project, not only the basketball competence center will be developed and the number of children and young people involved in basketball will be increased, but also the number of people involved in other types of team sports (volleyball, handball, indoor soccer and floorball) will be increased, according to the Ministry of Education and Culture. The team sports hall will also have the opportunity to hold international level sports competitions and training camps.
VSIA “Cultural and Sports Center “Daugavas Stadium”” was chosen as the implementer of the project. Currently, the name of VSIA “Cultural and Sports Center “Daugavas Stadium”” has been changed to SIA “Latvijas natņānaisļi sporta centrs” (LNSC), whose 100% capital shares are held by the Ministry of Education and Culture. LNSC will also ensure its management (management) after putting the hall into operation.
December 31, 2022 was set as the initial deadline for the implementation of the project. With the protocol decision of the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of February 15, 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers supported the extension of the project implementation deadline until June 30, 2023, while on July 14, 2022, it was decided to extend the project implementation deadline until December 31, 2023.
Initially, the total budget of the project was planned to be 15.001 million euros, and it included the investment of real estate at Krišjāņa Barona Street 99C in the capital of LNSC worth 1.351 million euros and the necessary financing in the amount of 13.65 million euros for the construction of the Team sports hall.
In connection with the significant increase in the cost of construction, according to the results of the announced procurements, in order to realize the project, additional funding to cover construction costs in the amount of 7,909,405.77 euros was required.
In accordance with the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of November 29, 2022, the Ministry of Education and Culture granted EUR 7.909 million for an investment in the capital of LNSC to ensure a one-time investment in the implementation of the project “Establishment of a team sports hall at 99C Krišjāņa Barona Street, Riga”, thereby making investments in the development of sports infrastructure of national importance.
The Ministry of Interior informs that in connection with the progress of the project implementation in the amount of the existing funding, the contractor SIA “Archers” has submitted information and justification on the reasons for which it is necessary to revise the deadline for the completion of the construction works.
The implementation of the project has been significantly affected by the shortcomings of the construction project identified during the execution of the construction works and the execution of the contract, the need to optimize and simplify the construction project solutions, the obstacles and conditions found in nature and the object, which were not reasonably foreseeable during the project planning stages and at the time when the relevant procurement procedure was held. therefore, it is necessary to review the deadline allocated for the specific project, in which it is possible to realize it.
For example, the Ministry of Interior informs that until now, during the execution of the construction contract, the introduction of changes to the construction project solutions has had a negative impact on the progress of the project implementation, including the initial construction project solution for the construction of the planned prefab reinforced concrete large-scale facade structures, the delivery of which to the object is objectively due to its specific location in the urban environment replacement would not be possible. Among them, the geopolitical situation in the country (Russia’s war with Ukraine) and the problems related to this situation in the energy resources market, the rapid price increases of resources, forced the customer to address the issues of energy efficiency and economic considerations. During the optimization of the construction project, the construction of a solar power plant on the roof of the object and all related sequential issues – design, construction, and the like are foreseen.
In general, the conditions mentioned by the contractor have had a negative impact on the originally planned deadlines for the execution of the construction works in the construction process, the Ministry of Interior explains and points out that despite these conditions, the implementation of the project has not stopped and continues to move forward, but now the critical limit has obviously been reached, where in the foreseeable future it will not be possible to fully implement the started works without revising the previously agreed deadlines.
The Ministry of Interior informs that the form of the contract with which the project is implemented has ensured that reasonably foreseeable operational and financial risks have been successfully transferred from the customer to the contractor, but the contract does not provide that the occurrence of the aforementioned risks would be fully transferred to the contract contractor. The errors and shortcomings of the project have been eliminated and will be eliminated in the future without changing the price of the concluded contract, allowing us to do without the need to revise the project budget.
MEZ emphasizes that the procurement tender, which resulted in the contract for the construction of the object “New construction of the team sports hall”, was concluded on December 22, 2022, but the construction works were carried out for reasons independent of the contractor and the customer, taking into account the fact that the mark for construction fulfillment of the conditions in the relevant building permit was made only on April 14, 2023, were started with a delay of more than three months.
At the same time, the Ministry of the Interior states that the planning and execution of the works has been and will be delayed by the updating of the solutions of the construction project, its optimization, making corrections, which, among other things, have been requested by the controlling authorities during the construction, which may take several months. Taking into account the above, the Ministry of the Interior invites the Cabinet of Ministers to support the proposal to extend the final deadline for the implementation of the project until December 31, 2024.
It has already been reported that at the beginning of the year, the construction company “Archers” signed a contract worth almost EUR 21 million with LNSC for the construction of a team sports hall in Krišjāņa Barona Street, Riga. The signed contract provides for the execution of construction works for 20,841,249.27 euros. Among them, EUR 7,294,437.24 will be paid to the construction company in advance, while current payments will be made every month according to the amount of construction work actually performed.
