The Slovenian company 2TDK, responsible for the Divača–Koper rail project, has received further confirmation that the project is being implemented correctly.
The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) has completed its audit for the 2022–2023 period and confirmed that the project is being implemented in accordance with European Union requirements, with no ineligible costs, irregularities in public procurement procedures or other issues requiring financial corrections.
The audit covered the project funded through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF, under the 2016 call for proposals), through which the European Union co-finances the studies, design and works for the access roads, the structures spanning the Glinščica valley and the relocation of the old railway line in Divača.
The auditors verified the eligibility of expenditure, the functioning of internal control systems, compliance with public procurement procedures and the conformity of implementation with the provisions of the funding agreement.
The audit findings show that the financial management of the project complies with all European requirements, confirming that European funds are being managed responsibly and transparently.
The project avoids cost overruns
The outcome of the CINEA audit adds to the series of favourable independent assessments the project has received in recent years. In March 2026, the European Court of Auditors also completed an audit without identifying any irregularities, and the checks previously carried out by the Slovenian Budget Supervision Office and as part of the 2017 CEF audit reached the same conclusion.
At the same time, the European Court of Auditors published a special report this year on eight of the most important European transport infrastructure projects with a cross-border impact. The analysis showed that the estimated cost of these projects had risen, on average, by 82 per cent compared with the initial estimates, with some investments seeing increases of between 40 per cent and 291 per cent. Furthermore, five of the projects analysed have accumulated delays of between four and 22 years.
The projects assessed included Rail Baltica, the Lyon–Turin rail link, the Brenner Base Tunnel, the Fehmarn Belt project, the Y Basc high-speed line, the Seine-Nord Europe Canal, the A1 motorway in Romania and the E59 railway line in Poland.
In this context, the Divača–Koper second line project stands out for remaining within the budget set out in the 2019 core investment programme, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, supply chain disruptions, a shortage of skilled labour, rising material and energy prices, and difficult geological conditions.
According to 2TDK, the total cost of the investment will not exceed EUR 1.15 billion, and an application for an operating licence was submitted in May. Keeping the project within the initial budget sets it apart from many of Europe’s major infrastructure investments, which have experienced both significant cost overruns and major delays in implementation.
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