Highway from Počitelj to the border with Montenegro will be built

Minister of Communications and Transport Damir Hadžić, addressing participants of the Fourth BiH Road Congress in Sarajevo today, said that transport infrastructure is one of the bases for the sustainable development of the country, the region, and local communities, and that is why his priority is the intensive construction of roads in BiH, reports the Patria News Agency.

- Road congresses are an opportunity to discuss the development of road infrastructure not only at the national but also at the global level. In the Federation of BiH, the new investment cycle involves the construction of 80 kilometers of highway. In the Republic of Srpska, the construction of the Banja Luka – Doboj section and its connection to the Johovac interchange is underway. As I said at the beginning of my term, we are putting one-third of Corridor Vc into operation – the first 100 kilometers of highway. We have been building intensively and are putting into operation everything we planned," stated Hadžić during his introductory presentation.

According to the signed Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union, Bosnia and Herzegovina has committed to developing the basic regional transport network of Southeast Europe, which includes the Adriatic-Ionian Highway, and which will be part of the European road network in the future. In April 2011, a protocol was signed with Montenegro on the harmonization of the connecting point between the two countries on the Adriatic-Ionian Highway at the border area between the two countries near the settlement of Aranđelovo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Adriatic-Ionian transport corridor will ensure even better connectivity for BiH with Europe. This corridor will connect the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, through the territory of Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and further through Montenegro towards Albania and Greece.

- Considering that the construction of the Međugorje - Počitelj section will begin by the end of the year, following the development of the planning and study documentation, which is being realized with allocated funds by the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the construction of the future Adriatic-Ionian Highway route from Počitelj to the border with Montenegro, approximately 110 kilometers long, will follow. Decisions of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina provide funds for the financing of the planning and study documentation of the Adriatic-Ionian Highway in the amount of approximately 2.2 million euros - said Minister Hadžić.