The work was suspended after the costs increased enormously.
The section Vranduk – Ponirak near Zenica has not yet been completed, and the works have not continued even after five months.
To recall, the contract for the construction of the section Poprikuse – Zenica north (Donja Gracanica), whose subdivision is Vranduk – Ponirak, was signed on May 15th, 2019. The consortium of companies “Azvirt L.L.C” (Azerbaijan) and “Hering” d. d. Siroki Brijeg was selected as the contractor.
The value of the contract for the construction of the subdivision Vranduk – Ponirak was originally EUR 76,592,799 including VAT, and the funds were secured through the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). However, in April of last year, an additional debt of 25 million euros was requested for the subdivision Vranduk – Ponirak, from the former creditor OFID.
After that, on August 22nd, the works were preserved, the machines were withdrawn from the construction site until the investigation of the competent authorities on how there was an enormous increase in the expenditure of millions of euros on this section was completed.
Despite the fact that the works have been stopped, Public Utility”Motorways of Federation of BiH”, (FBiH) according to the decision of the Dispute Resolution Committee, must pay 11 million BAM even though there is no work in sight.
The dispute against “Motorways of FBiH” was initiated by the Azerbaijani company “Azvirt” as the main contractor on the Vranduk – Ponirak section. The dispute resolution committee estimated that the costs had risen to 11 million BAM, and, in any case, they will be paid out of the citizens’ pockets!
Reporters visited this deserted construction site on Tuesday. It looks even spookier than in September last year, when there were still some machines. Everything is empty without a single worker.
The construction of this section is under the scrutiny of the investigators of the Federal Police Administration (FUP), and after the Prosecutor’s Office of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton received a criminal complaint about alleged illegalities in the construction. It is about the actions of the former Administration of “Motorways of FBiH”, led by Elmedin Voloder.
”Costs on this section as of December 31st, 2022 for the implementation of the project amounted to 73,804,435 euros, and almost 2.5 of the total 5.3 kilometers were completed. There are changes in projects due to inadequate initial design, which requires additional responsibilities, and which results in escalating costs and breaking construction deadlines,” it was stated, among other things, in the report of the Office for the Audit of FBiH Institutions, Biznis Info writes.
E.Dz.
