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ZENICA, December 9 (FENA) – President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Marinko Čavara and Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and EU Special Representative Ambassador Johann Sattler officially launched the beginning of the north tunnel portal construction of the Zenica Tunnel, at subsection Ponirak – Vraca of corridor 5C.
The left pipe of this tunnel, which company Euroasfalt is to build in the next 30 months, will be 2.475 meters long and the right pipe will be 2.420 meters long.
Čavara stressed that the construction of infrastructure projects, such as the 5C corridor, will "enable BiH, which normally belongs to Europe", to be fully integrated into all EU institutions by the end of its construction. He hopes that there will be a change in EU enlargement policy.
Sattler said the construction of the 5C corridor will increase traffic safety, reduce pollution, especially in major cities, but also connect BiH to the EU.
"This corridor is part of a much larger story, the story of how this country connects with the region and EU countries. BiH has been able to "pull" 200 million EU aid over the past years for 13 projects along this corridor, which include bridges near Gradiška and Svilaj, which will soon be completed and provide a connection to motorways in Croatia," said Sattler.
He expressed hope that the formation of the state government, the Council of Ministers of BiH, as well as the FBiH Government will enable faster implementation of infrastructure projects, which can be a chance for BiH.
Minister Lasić noted that a contract worth 59,408,825 EUR without VAT was signed with the BiH company Euroasfalt for the construction of the Zenica tunnel.
The funds for the construction of the tunnel were secured with a loan of EUR 50 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and EUR 19 million grant from the European Union, under the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), and within the same Agenda, the EU, through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), also donated EUR 12 million for the construction of the subsection Donja Gračanica - Zenica Tunnel. Thereby, the EU grant for the two subsections reached EUR 31 million.
The project is an important step towards integrating the Western Balkans region within the Connectivity Agenda, launched by the European Union in 2015 and in line with the European Commission Strategy for the Western Balkans.
(FENA) A. B.
