July 12, 2020 - Given the increase in the number of infected in Croatia and other European countries, but also the intensification of tourist traffic, Croatian Motorways has launched an informative campaign for safe travel during the coronavirus pandemic.

HRTurizam reports that posters calling for compliance with epidemiological measures are being placed on the entire network of HAC and ARZ shares, and they will be located at rest stops, sales offices and petrol stations of INA, CRODUX, TIFON and PETROL, which are campaign partners. The bilingual posters contain a QR code link to the koronavirus.hr website.

Also, a leaflet in 8 languages was prepared and distributed to Croatian National Tourist Board offices, HAK, car clubs and camping organizations in the countries from which the majority of motorized tourist traffic comes. The leaflets contain information on travel planning, contactless payment models as well as recommendations for adhering to epidemiological measures.

With the opening of borders, the arrival of foreign tourists and the holiday season for domestic users, traffic on motorways is also increasing.

52 percent of last year's tourist traffic was realized in July by July 9, and there are currently 500,000 tourists in Croatia.

Although HAC and ARZ currently account for approximately 70% of last year's traffic, peak loads on the roads also create traffic jams on motorway facilities, so a balanced information campaign seeks to maintain coronavirus awareness and encourage responsible behavior.

"During the summer season, HAC conducts campaigns related to travel and safety on highways. After the excellent response of users to the campaign "Emergency Corridor Saves Lives", we planned a campaign for senior drivers for this season, but the conditions of the new normal imposed other priorities," said the President of the Board of HAC, Ph.D. Boris Huzjan.

The messages of the information campaign were harmonized by the experts and the Civil Protection Headquarters of the Republic of Croatia, and the templates of the information posters were given to other motorway concessionaires in the Republic of Croatia, Croatian Motorways concludes.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of August, 2019, HAC (Croatian motorways) are likely to cancel a tender worth a massive 380 million kuna for the construction of the Beli Manastir - Drava bridge section on the A5 Beli Manastir - Osijek - Svilaj motorway. The reason for this decision was the withdrawal of Integral inženjering (engineering) from Laktaši (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

The bidding for the construction of this subdivision on the Croatian part of 5c corridor received three bids. Of these, only Integral from Bosnia and Herzegovina offered a price which was within the estimated value of the works.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina-based company has offered to build the 17.5-kilometer highway for 359.1 million kuna. The value of the offer of the Chinese company Sinohydro Corporation amounts to 416.1 million kuna, while the community of bidders Osijek-Koteks, Gravija, Cestorad and PZC Brod offered a price of 446.1 million kuna, Vecernji list reports.

The bids opened back on the 19th of March, 2019, and on the 2nd of August, the HAC board decided to select Integral's offer, which still required the approval of the supervisory board. But then a major turnaround took place.

As has since been learned, HAC sent a letter to all bidders inviting them to extend the deadline for their bids, which expired on August the 17th. In the same letter, all those who offered their bids were also invited to extend their guarantees, or to offer new guarantees. The deadline for the submission of statements of extension of the validity period of the offer was until August the 20th, and for the submission of a new or extended guarantee, the date was set at August the 22nd, 2019.

The Chinese company and a consortium led by Osijek-Koteks sent the requested documents on time, but nothing came from Integral, creating major problems for HAC because the other two bids were above the estimated value of the works. Therefore, HAC could cancel the tender entirely and announce a new one with the same estimated value. In doing so, HAC is examining what legal steps they could take and whether or not they can sue Integral to protect their own interests, given that the aforementioned Laktaši company has abandoned its offer, putting them in a highly unenviable situation.

From HAC, the decision to select Integral in the tender for the Beli Manastir - Drava Bridge subdivision was made more than four months after the bids actually opened, and it apprently took so long because it was a complex, high value tender, so they had to make sure that the prices offered were technically correct. Therefore, they had previously asked the tenderer for an extension of the validity of the offer and the guarantee, and at that time they all responded to that invitation.

Why Integral did not respond to the second call for these extensions is currently not known to HAC. However, the construction company confirmed for Vecernji list that they definitely did not extend the validity of their bid in the HAC tender for the construction of a subdivision on the 5c corridor. Again, they provided no clear reason as to why.

"We can confirm that Integral engineering, having already extended the validity of its offer once, didn't do so again. In doing so, we were guided by an assessment of the situation and market developments," Integral, the largest construction company in Republika Srpska, told Vecernji list in Republika Srpska.

The company is already present on the Croatian market, is a subcontractor of the Dugo Selo - Križevci railway line, and has competed, among other things, for the construction of access roads to Pelješac bridge in Dalmatia.

It was excluded from that particular tender because of its unusually low price. HAC believes that this procedure, after the cancellation of the tender, will be carried out quickly because the Chinese and the consortium led by Osijek-Koteks will have no legal basis to appeal such a decision, since their bids are above the estimated value of the works anyway. Therefore, they believe that even if they do lodge an appeal, the State Commission for the Control of Public Procurement Procedures will quickly dismiss it, so that a new tender may be launched soon.

On the Croatian part of the 5c corridor, out of a total of 90 kilometres, the country is yet to construct those 17.5 kilometres from the Drava bridge to Beli Manastir, and another five kilometres from Beli Manastir to the Hungarian border, which are still under design. As for the Hungarian part of the 5c corridor, a highway from Budapest to Boly was built there, and another 20 kilometres from Boly to the Croatian border still need to be built.

The Hungarians should build these 20 kilometres by 2023, and by then Croatia should complete its last five kilometres to the Hungarian border. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a highway from Zenica to Tarčin was built on the 5c corridor, as was a junction with Highway 10 near Ploče.

The construction of the motorway around Zenica and the border section from Odžak to the Svilaj bridge on the Sava river are now underway.

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Croatian motorways saw fewer cars over the last week compared to the same period last year, and HAC and ARZ recorded lower toll revenues. 

According to the data of the concessionaires Croatian Motorways (HAC) and Rijeka-Zagreb Motorway (ARZ), a total of 793,600 vehicles were recorded from the weekend of July 12 to 14, which is 2 percent or about 27,000 cars fewer than the same weekend last summer, reports Poslovni.hr and RTL on July 15, 2019.

The tolls also collected 3.1 percent less in revenues or 44.4 million kuna without VAT.

Over the past week, from July 8 to 14, the motorways of HAC and ARZ also saw slightly fewer cars than last year - 1.6 million or 0.1 percent less, while toll revenues from the total of almost 90 million kuna excluding VAT are down by 1.2 percent.

On Istrian motorways, according to data from the company Bina-Istra, last weekend also saw 1.2 percent less traffic with 150,400 vehicles, which is about two thousand less than the previous year.

Furthermore, only on Saturday, July 13, Bina-Istra recorded nearly 6 percent fewer vehicles than the comparable day of last year.

Fewer vehicles have also been reported by the Zagreb-Macelj Motorway (AZM), which recorded fewer cars, or a total of 110,800 each day, which is down 4 percent or about 5,000 cars fewer than the same weekend in 2018.

Judging by the first half of July, this tourist season could halt the continuation of record-breaking seasons. In the first 12 days of July, 100,000 fewer tourists visited Croatia than in the same period last year, RTL reported.

While the only exception is Split, which has recorded an increased number of arrivals, the rest of the coast is looking for reasons why the season is weaker.

According to data from eVisitor on the first 12 days of July, there were almost 100,000 fewer tourists who realized half a million overnights fewer than in the same period last year. 

In the first weekend of July, more than 730,000 vehicles went through Croatian motorways which paid 39,650,000 kuna in tolls. Compared to 2018, this was an increase in the number of vehicles by 1.3 percent, however, toll revenues fell by 1.5 percent.

“On Sunday until 18:00, the Lučko toll station welcomed 31,000 vehicles, and employees counted 11,000 at the exit. It is far from those daily average traffic numbers in the past years when Lučko saw more than 60,000 vehicles per day The current situation also confirms this: At the exit of the Lučko toll station there are no crowds, no traffic,” said RTL reporter Ilija Radić on Sunday.

Radić explained that a similar situation could be found at the entrance to the highway. HAK claimed that the traffic was intensified in the direction of the sea, and the direction of the mainland for all of Sunday. However, longer stops, bigger crowds, and more traffic couldn’t be found. 

“If it is to be judged accordingly and to all of the above, we can conclude that the season is not what it is has been the previous two or three years. There is about a month, or a month and a half of the peak season that may be able to fix the situation and maybe we can reach the figures from the past,” Radić concluded on Sunday. 

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