PPP Market in Europe

The European market of public-private partnership (PPP) is very sensitive to the market situation. The lasting economy crisis affected both the number of infrastructure projects with private capital participation and the total investment volume.

In total, 14 European countries financially closed at least one public-private partnership project in 2013. The three countries leading by the number of projects are Great Britain, a pioneer and, to some degree, an engine of the world development of PPP tools, France and Germany. By the investment volume the leader stayed the same, the second place, before France, was taken by Italy — only 4 projects reached the stage of financial closure in the state, however, two of them are the largest ones in 2013. For example, the cost of the car road BreBeMi, interconnecting Milan and Brescia, amounts to 2.3 billion euro, being the most expensive project in Europe. Nowadays the road as long as 62.1 km has the highest charge in the country — about 0.15 euro/km versus the average one of 0.07 euro/km. The second expensive Italian project is also directed at development of transport structure — the Eastern ring road, its cost being 1.8 billion euro.

In Great Britain, where during 2013 more than 30 projects for the total sum of about 6 billion euro were financially closed, the landmark project, according to KPI analysts, was the project of designing Thameslink rolling stock within the framework of the modernization program for the suburban route from north to south through London. Under the agreement Siemens Company is designing 1 140 carriages.

On the whole, it is transport structure, due to its specific nature, that is the most investment-consuming industry among PPP implementation fields, and 2013 was not an exception year in Europe. The volume of investment in 16 projects amounted to about 6 billion euro. The most popular industry, by the number of projects, is social infrastructure. For example, 21 projects were financially closed in the education sphere in 2013, 12 projects – in health care. The largest of them is being implemented in Great Briatain — construction of Royal Hospital in Liverpool, with the total investment volume of 509 million euro.

The interest of countries to participation of the private sector in infrastructure projects is caused by significant demand and permanent increasing of requirements to the quality of the existing infrastructure. And, despite the current instability in economy, for many years the European authorities have succeeded in winning over a high degree of trust and loyalty as business long-term partners.