2TDK's Response to the False Claims Made by the Info360 Portal

The addendum addresses several unforeseen circumstances that arose during the project’s implementation and provides a financial solution for adjusting for inflationary effects during the term of the multi-year contract. The Info360 portal based its interpretation primarily on Article 2 of the contract addendum, which defines its subject matter, while overlooking Article 5 of the same document, which directly addresses changes to the contract value due to price differences. It shows that the price differences already settled amounted to 5,986,570.86 euros excluding VAT, while the estimated value of price differences for the remainder of the contractual work is 11,042,366.93 euros excluding VAT. This totals 17,028,937.79 euros excluding VAT. It is precisely this amount that caused the contract value to change due to price differences. The increase in the contract value by 17 million euros is therefore a result of inflationary effects during the execution of the multi-year contract and not of other circumstances cited by the Info360 portal.

Likewise, the allegations that 2TDK is using deadline extensions for the contractor (a consortium of companies, with Kolektor as the lead partner) to shift responsibility for delays and that it does not wish to impose contractual penalties on Kolektor are unfounded. An engineer assesses the validity of the contractor’s claims and the existence of appropriate supporting documentation, on the basis of which the contractor is entitled to reimbursement of specific costs and an extension of the contract deadline. The investment supervisor also provides its opinion. Thus, before final approval by the investor, the claims are reviewed by several professional supervisory bodies. 2TDK has never paid and will never pay contractors any additional funds, nor will it extend contract deadlines without an appropriate legal basis. However, if a legal basis exists (geological challenges—bridges in karst caves, a landslide in Glinščica), the engineer is required to take such reasons into account when extending the deadline.

The Second Track Project is one of the most closely monitored infrastructure projects in Slovenia. Its implementation and the use of funds are monitored by domestic and European supervisory and audit institutions. In the audits of the project conducted to date, no irregularities in the project’s financial management have ever been identified, and despite several years of construction and significant inflationary effects, the project remains within the budget established at the start of the project in 2019. Therefore, the company firmly rejects any insinuations regarding the concealment of the actual reasons for concluding addenda or the improper use of public funds.