ZAGREB, 21 July 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that Pelješac Bridge would be opened next Tuesday, 26 July, and invited everyone to attend the ceremony.

"The construction of the bridge is a sovereignist move to connect the Croatian territory," the premier said at the cabinet meeting.

The entire project, including access roads, cost €525 million, of which €357 million was secured as a grant from the European Union.

The official name of the bridge is Pelješki Most in Croatian or Pelješac Bridge in English.

The 2,140-metre-long bridge spans the strait between the village of Komarna on the mainland and the village of Brijesta on the Pelješac peninsula.

The bridge will provide a direct road link between the southernmost part of Croatia and the rest of the country, which is currently cut off at Neum where Bosnia and Herzegovina has access to the Adriatic Sea. 

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković said today that the bridge marked significant headway in Croatian infrastructure development and an important step in ensuring road connectivity while providing a fresh impetus to the development of Dubrovnik-Neretva County.

The bridge has been built by the China Bridge and Road Corporation.

The contract was signed on 23 April 2018 between the HC road operator and the China Road and Bridge Corporation. Work on the bridge officially started on 31 July 2018.

A 74-metre long test pile was hammered in the seabed on 10 January 2019, and the bridge was fully joined together at a ceremony on 29 July last year.

The 2,440-metre bridge has 13 spans, of which five central spans are each 285 metres long, six 33-metre-high centrally installed pylons made of reinforced concrete, and two lanes, plus a hard shoulder for bridge maintenance.

The navigation profile under the bridge is 200 by 55 metres.

The bridge was designed by Marjan Pipenbaher.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 23 April 2022 - Croatia's cooperation and support are important for Vojvodina Croats' efforts and for strengthening their identity, representatives of three of their institutions said in Novi Vinodolski on Saturday.

Croatian National Council president Jasna Vojnić, the director of the Vojvodina Croats Culture Institute, Tomislav Žigmanov, and the director of the Hrvatska Riječ publisher, Ladislav Suknović were received by Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković and local officials.

Žigmanov said they came to talk about the challenges awaiting them this year and that the biggest one would be a population census in October.

He is also the president of the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina, which won a seat in the Serbian parliament in a recent election.

Asked if there was a possibility of his entering the Serbian government and what that would mean for Croats, Žigmanov said they were willing to talk about the new government's political and overall profile.

We wish to participate in policies which will lead Serbia to European integration, develop democracy in Serbia, strengthen the rule of law and the work of independent institutions, build policies for national minorities and integrate the Croatian minority in Serbian society, he said, adding that they also wish to participate in the normalisation and development of Croatian-Serbian relations.

Speaking of Vojvodina Croats' problems, Žigmanov said they were excluded from decision making, underrepresented in the public sector, and prevented from achieving certain interests and articulating their rights.

He said most of Serbia's society had a most negative opinion of Croats, and also mentioned social and economic problems as well as the identity of Bunjevci Croats.

Minister Butković said Žigmanov's election to the Serbian parliament was a big deal and good for the future status of Croats in Serbia. His becoming a member of the government would also mean a lot for them and bi a big step forward, he added.

He also said that Croatia's cooperation with Vojvodina Croats was very good.

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ZAGREB, 22 July (2021) - Sea, Transport, and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković said on Thursday the Pelješac Bridge would be connected with the last steel construction segment next week.

"We are connecting the Pelješac Bridge with the last segment of the steel construction. It will be a big event. It will happen on 28 July," he told the press in Omiš.

After that, the bridge will be completed with access roads, which should be built by the beginning of next year, Butković said.

"All of it will be put into operation early in June next year."

He said the bridge and the access roads would be "the project of all projects."

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ZAGREB, July 24, 2020 - Transport Minister Oleg Butkovic said on Friday that the government would not give up from flag carriers, Croatia Airlines and Jadrolinija.

"We will not give up from our national airline company. We are searching for the best solutions to stabilise and retain Croatia Airlines. We are sharing the same destiny as other air companies in Europe and in the world. This is an occasion for us to solve together this problem at the European Union level, Butkovic said while coming to the first meeting of the inner cabinet after the 5th government was sworn in on late Thursday night.

We have Croatia Airlines and Jadrolinija (shipping company), they are hit by (the corona crisis), we have solutions and will make it, he added.