TRIESTE – The Port Network Authority has revoked the tender for the most strategic project concerning the future of the port of Trieste due to uncertainty over financial coverage.
Although the deadline for submitting bids had already passed, no response was received from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport to requests for an extension, which were essential to meet the deadlines set by the Complementary Fund to the NRRP, requiring completion by March 2026. The Ministry did not guarantee that funds would be available beyond that date. In an attempt to unlock the situation, the Authority’s top management recently traveled to Rome. The tender, published at the end of November by Invitalia acting as the contracting authority, concerned the integrated contract for the executive design and construction of the new Servola railway station, part of the extension of shared infrastructures serving the New Free Port. The project is valued at over €168 million, funded under the National Plan for Complementary Investments to the NRRP.

Invitalia, acting as the central purchasing body, supports the Port Network Authority in the development of the Port of Trieste, which is considered a strategic logistics hub at the European level and is included among the ten priority projects of the national plan. The Technical-Economic Feasibility Project (PFTE) had already received the green light from the Services Conference and the Higher Council of Public Works, following the simplified procedure set out for NRRP-related projects (Decree Law 77/2021). The contract included not only executive design but also construction works for the enhancement of rail and road connections, the building of functional facilities, and preliminary environmental remediation of the affected areas.

The total expected funding was close to €200 million. The deadline for submitting bids had been set for December 20, 2024. A new strategy is now being considered to at least launch the most urgent works, with a likely division of the project into 6 or 7 lots. If the Ministry remains silent, alternative funding sources will be sought, at least for demolition works and environmental remediation. The construction of the road connection is proving more complicated. However efforts will be made to anticipate its realization. Besides eventually serving Pier VIII (still in the final design phase), the road would already be useful for the Logistics Platform, which is facing increasing road access issues due to rising traffic volumes. The ministerial impasse is not expected to affect other ongoing projects at the Friuli Venezia Giulia port, which have already been awarded or are under execution. Some difficulties may arise in the progress of the works, particularly the rail-related ones, given the high saturation of the companies involved. The construction sites at Campo Marzio Station and Porto Nuovo are proceeding slowly: both are RFI contracts, although .