Eurotunnel finances 'doomed from start'
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Eurotunnel's finances were doomed to failure from the start and no future projects should be financed in the same way, says the company's chairman.
Sir Alistair Morton has told the Engineering Council that special financing is required for modern transnational investment projects: "The 'polo mint' structure erected in 1985-87 had welded into it at the outset the excessive difficulties which have caused so much difficulty since," he says. "When the overstressed structure failed to deliver on-time operation of the full system, the too-short financing structure staggered—and then fell.
"Beyond doubt one should not structure another project like that," says Morton. "The Governments, the promoters and indeed the banks pounding on our doors must recognise their part in generating this overloaded structure."