(Updating with comments on Autostrade/Abertis merger)
MILAN (AFX) - Infrastructure minister Antonio Di Pietro said that works to build the bridge over the Messina Strait are not urgent and that they will be postponed until other priority works are completed and resources made available.
The 3.9 bln eur contract to build the Messina bridge, linking Italy's mainland to Sicily, was awarded last year to a consortium led by Impregilo SpA.
In a interview with the Corriere della Sera daily, Di Pietro said that works for the bridge depend on the finalisation of a high-speed train line arriving to the city of Reggio Calabria.
'We could talk about the bridge only after the high-speed line between Battipaglia and Reggio Calabria is completed. If there are the resources we can go ahead. But if there are no rail lines, what's a bridge for?,' he said.
Di Pietro said that half of the 170 bln eur infrastructures planned by the previous government, including the Messina bridge, is a 'dream or a luxury' and has to be postponed, while only 10 bln eur of works is of high-priority.
In further comments, Di Pietro said he is not hostile to the planned merger between Autostrade and Abertis Infraestructuras SA because 'from the industrial point of view the operation is interesting'.
He reiterated that the government wants guarantees that Autostrade will make the necessary investments on the Italian motorway network. danilo.masoni@afxnews.com dm/ra/dm/ra COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited