Agency saidBloombergSaudi Arabia is set to pay contractors billions of dollars to resolve a dispute over the Riyadh metro.
Two of the three companies, Bechtel and Alstom, have already reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia over the disputed payments, according to people familiar with the matter.
The people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private, said Italy’s Webuild SpA, the third company, was expected to sign an agreement soon.
Contractors working on the project were demanding several billion dollars in payments in total.
A deal would mark a turning point in a years-long dispute that has hampered government efforts to upgrade the traffic-clogged Saudi capital. This would also help alleviate lingering concerns about the kingdom’s position on contractor payments, according to the agency.
Authorities withheld tens of billions of dollars owed to builders and suppliers during the post-2015 oil slump to help rein in a ballooning budget deficit. But with crude oil prices rebounding this year, Saudi Arabia is now set to post its first budget surplus in nearly a decade, according to the report.
Saudi Arabia awarded contracts worth about $22 billion in 2013 to develop the metro system, which includes about 175 km of railway track. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in 2019.
According to the agency, representatives of Bechtel and Alstom did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Royal Commission for Riyadh, which oversees the project, did not respond to a request for comment from the agency.