Bosnia agrees funding for highway construction plans

Bosnia’s highway company Autoceste Federacije BiH will invest €500 million in the construction of the Corridor Vc road.

The 1054 European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide a loan of €166 million to part finance the project. The plans call for the construction of the 56km highway as well as an additional 10km of the Sarajevo ringroad. The cost of the project is three times higher than any other that the country has so far planned. Autoceste Federacije BiH has said that it will finance land expropriation. Meanwhile five bids have so far been submitted for the construction of the Sarajevo ringroad project. Bids have come from two consortia and a joint venture partnership. These are from a Bosnian consortium comprising GP Put Sarajevo, GP ZGP Sarajevo and Euroasfalt Sarajevo, a consortium comprising Granit Skoplje, Integral Inzinjering, JV Cesta Varazdin and 1332 Alpine Bau, followed by a bid from a joint venture comprising 945 Strabag, Osijek Koteks and HP Investing.

Meanwhile the government of the Bosnian autonomous entity Republika Srpska has admitted that the level of built roads network in the entity is too low at 16.4%. This is below the European average of 77%. The state said that a total of €68.51 million has been invested in construction of the Mahovljani-Glamocani road part of the Banja Luka-Gradiska motorway. In 2010, an average investment in road maintenance fell 1.4% compared with the previous year.