MADRID | After the bubble burst, the category of construction activity rapidly turned into a trap for many Spanish companies. Its dramatic effects have during the last four years shaken and closed enterprises, in the small and medium size sections as much as among the large corporative groups. Those who strive to survive the downturn must now find an edge, and Obrascon Hurate Lain or OHL may have proved just that.
OHL has been awarded its second major contract in Russia, the company announced this week. The Spanish firm will build Olympic Flame, a tourist resort and sport infrastructures set to host mountain competitions in the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in the city of Sochi, near the Black Sea.
Analysts in the financial City of Madrid said Friday in their investor notes that this deal show how OHL has raised its hability
“to carry out technically complex projects, which is helping OHL to offset the fall in demand in the domestic market.” Bankia Bolsa, Bsanalisis and
Banesto Bolsa recommended overweight stock.
The budget for the latest Russian commission amounts to €497.5 million and the construction plan includes a 300-room hotel, which will reach a height of 245 metres, stylobate, water park, parking and ski resort, equipped with a network of tracks and lifts.
This is the second major contract in Russia for OHL. In December 2011, through its Czech subsidiary OHL ZS, it was awarded the Polar Ural project involving the construction of a railway of 390 km for the transport of coal and a budget of €1,95 billion. It was the largest construction contract so far in the history of the Spanish company.
The new project will be implemented in the National Park of Sochi, in the Krasnaya Polyana forest district, next to the river Mzymta. The plot has a total area of 510 hectares. Of this area, 147 hectares are devoted to buildings, sports facilities and infrastructures, which will have a total built area of 100,000 square metres. The contract was awarded by Sport-Olympic Flame Fond, a company set up for the project and self-financed, with the sovereign guarantee of the Russian government.
