Slovakia's transport minister Arpad Ersek said construction could start by Q3 2019.
R2 is a 360km route that will run from Kosice in the east across the country to Trenčín, near the Czech border in the west. It will pass through Bávce nad Bebravou, Prievidza and Lučenec. Roznava is an economic and tourist centre around 70km from Kosice.
An expressway in Slovakia is usually a dual carriageway with lower standards than that of a motorway, but with the same restrictions. The speed limit is 130kph.
In August last year, Jan Durisin, head of Slovakia’s motorway operator NDS, said that the R2 expressway will go ahead despite watchdog fears of poor value for money.
Slovakia’s coalition government at the time staved off heavy criticism from the finance ministry's Value for Money unit. The unit had advised against continuing to build the R2 expressway as planned and suggested expanding some sections of an existing road, according to a report by TASR-SLOVAKIA, the part-government-owned national news agency.
Slovakia said it will tender this year for the 14km R2 expressway linking Roznava and Jablonov nad Turnov with completion likely in 2024.
