ZAGREB, January 26, 2018 - Work on the most difficult stretch of Montenegro's first motorway to run from the port of Bar to Boljare on the border with Serbia, which is being built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRCB) that will also build the Pelješac Bridge in Croatia, will be finished according to schedule, in May 2019, Montenegro's Minister of Maritime Affairs and Transport, Osman Nurković, has said.
Croatia recently chose the CRBC to build the Pelješac bridge, a structure of more than two kilometres in length that will connect Croatia's southernmost regions with the rest of the country by bypassing Bosnia and Herzegovina's territory.
The Chinese company's bid, worth 2.08 billion kuna and with a completion deadline of 39 months, was more favourable than bids submitted by Austria's Strabag and a consortium comprising an Italian and a Turkish company.
Nurković said that the Montenegrin government was satisfied with the Chinese partner and their subcontractors from Montenegro, countries in the region and other countries, as well as with the quality of work of domestic workers hired for the project, which, he said, confirmed the contractor's assurances that the project would be finished on time.
Working on the project are companies from China, Croatia, Italy, Sweden, Germany, Great Britain, France, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Hungary with a total of 3,048 workers - 1,886 Chinese and 1,162 workers from Montenegro and other countries of the region.
Nurković said that the quality of work on the motorway was very good and in line with the contract.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Duško Marković has said that the government has been working intensively on continuing the project after the completion of the first stretch, which runs from the capital city of Podgorica to Mateševo. The stretch is 41 kilometres long and includes 45 bridges and viaducts and 32 tunnels, and its contract price is 809.6 million euro.
"At my meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang at the end of last year, we agreed that our countries and governments want to continue, after the priority section of the Bar-Boljare motorway is completed, with the construction of other sections according to the model of public-private partnership between Montenegro and interested Chinese companies."
"The successful completion of the first and most difficult section is the best recommendation to continue the cooperation," said the Montenegrin PM.
