Director of the Public Enterprise Motorways of FBiH Jasmin Bučo spoke about planned activities on the construction of the Corridor 5C, increase in excise taxes on fuel, debts, planned activities, biggest challenges and the continuation of construction of the highway towards the north of BiH.
With the adopted Draft Law on excise taxes, the allocations for highways will increase by 0.10 BAM per kilometer. Bučo highlights that this increase will be very important for the continuation of dynamics of the construction of highways, because perspectives are opened regarding the developmental projects. The plan is to build two thirds of the Corridor 5C until 2020.
“It is very important that we put an end to the break in the construction of the Corridor 5C that started in late 2014 due to lack of financing sources. We are intensively working on completing a financial construction for 85 new kilometers of highway on the Corridor 5C, worth 900 million EUR,” Bučo said.
It is clear that BiH needs new models of financing for the construction of highways and that increasing excise taxes cannot solve all financial shortcomings. The question arises: what after the credit potentials are drained out?
What represents a particular problem in the functioning of PE Motorways of FBiH are short-term and long-term debts of the enterprise, which prevent full credit potential, as well as construction of new sections.
Regardless of that, in 2016 this enterprise intends to construct 30 kilometers of highway whose construction will cost around 130 million BAM.
However, even when a certain section is built, there is great dissatisfaction of citizens with high prices of tolls. Bučo explains that it is not true that citizens pay for the highway twice. Allegedly, funds from excise taxes are allocated for the highway construction, while the funds from tolls are used for highway maintenance.
(Source: klix.ba)
