prijava
SARAJEVO, August 1 (FENA) - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Treasury Vjekoslav Bevanda and Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Office in BiH Ian Brown signed a grant agreement today in Sarajevo, secured by the European Union for the construction of Banja Luka - Doboj section on the Corridor Vc.
On behalf of the donors, the signing ceremony was attended by Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and EU Special Representative to BiH, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark.
The Corridor Vc is the main international transport corridor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which support economic development and contribute to regional integration by improving connectivity within Bosnia and Herzegovina and with its neighboring countries.
Minister Bevanda expressed content with the signing of a grant agreement between BiH and the EBRD worth EUR 12.9 million, which will enable continuance of the construction of road infrastructure on the Corridor Vc.
He noted that this grant was approved by the European Union through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) and will be managed by the EBRD, which will help the public enterprise the RS Motorways to continue construction of two loops on the motorway in Johovac and Rudanka.
Also, the section between the two loops, six kilometers long, will also be under construction, as well a two-lane access road and, in part, the road over the Bosna River.
Bevanda recalled that this was part of the package, and in 2017, a loan agreement was signed with the EBRD of EUR 70 million for these motorway sections.
“Such agreements, accompanied by loans from European banks, first and foremost the EBRD, mean a great deal in jumpstarting domestic companies, creating new jobs and, ultimately, our reproaching to Europe in the sense of road communication,” Bevanda said.
Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Office in BiH Ian Brown expressed satisfaction with the signing of the agreement, which he said illustrates the satisfactory progress being made towards the construction of the Corridor Vc.
According to him, establishing better ties within the country and connecting it with Europe will serve better integration of BiH, not only in the economic sense.
He said he was leaving BiH soon and that, after spending five years in BiH, he said that he really cares about the big infrastructure projects and investments that this country needs, "and the Corridor Vc is the most important infrastructure project in the country."
Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and EU Special Representative for BiH Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark explained why he, on behalf of the EU, or the EU, are not the ones who are signing this grant agreement today, saying that the reason is that the EU has entrusted this grant in the amount of EUR 12.9 million in the hands of the EBRD.
He noted that the total amount of grants provided by the European Union is EUR 15 million because, in addition to this EUR 12.9 million, another sum is being provided for technical assistance, which comes from the EU taxpayers' money.
Ambassador Wigemark said that this entire amount of grant of EUR 15 million, or almost 30 million KM, was the basis that enabled Bosnia and Herzegovina to borrow from the EBRD the amount of EUR 70 million.
“I find it necessary to clarify this for the media and the citizens because very often we talk about different figures when money and funds are concerned,” Ambassador Wigemark noted.
He said that this is a joint venture between the EU, the EBRD and local authorities in BiH.
(FENA) S. R.
