PARTNERSHIP ARRANGEMENT

The Øresund Bridge is owned and operated by the Øresundsbro Konsortiet, a client company that was set up by the Danish and Swedish governments. The partnership arrangement is essentially a public-public partnership between two sovereign nations, which assumed full traffic and revenue risk for the project. The full organizational structure, as shown in Figure 4.10 below, is complex, with the stock of Øresundsbro Konsortiet being equally owned by the Danish holding company A/S Øresund and the Swedish holding company SVEDAB AB, which in turn are controlled by the Danish and Swedish transportation ministries.16

Figure 4.10 - Øresund Bridge Organizational Structure

Source: "Facts worth Knowing about the Øresund," Øresundsbron, 2006 URL: www.oeresundsbron.d

According to the agreement between Denmark and Sweden, the two holding companies (A/S Øresund and SVEDAB AB) are each responsible for the ownership and operation of the landworks (e.g., access roads and connecting rail tunnels) on their respective sides of the bridge. The Øresundsbro Konsortiet is then responsible for the management and operation of the bridge, including toll collections, road operations, maintenance, and administrative functions (e.g., marketing, finance, and customer service). The overall management of the rail line also lies with Øresundsbro Konsortiet, but the railway agencies control the capacity and day-to-day operations of that part of the Øresund link.17

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16  In Figure 4, "Vägverket" and "Banverket" are the Swedish road and rail authorities, respectively, while "Sund & Bælt" is the Danish authority which oversees the major Danish island linkages. A/S Storebælt (far left of Figure 4) acts as a holding company for the Great Belt Fixed Link, much as A/S Øresund does for the Øresund Bridge.

17  The national railway agencies of the two countries pay a fixed (indexed) sum to Øresundsbro Konsortiet for the right to use the railway on the link. The agencies then sell capacity on the link to rail operators.