Representatives of the European Union, BiH and Croatia symbolically laid the foundation stone for the construction of the cross-border bridge between BiH and Croatia, which was funded by the European Union, yesterday in Svilaj near Odzak.
Works on the construction of the bridge started last year, and the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn visited the site today in the framework of his visit to BiH.
Besides him, the foundation stone was symbolically laid by Denis Zvizdic, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Ismir Jusko, Minister of Communications and Transport of BiH, Oleg Butkovic, Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure of Croatia, and Jakov Ivankovic, Mayor of Odzak.
Attendees stated that they expect the bridge in Svilaj to also mean a better future for this place, and the hope that going to the European Union will not go in only one direction.
According to Mayor of Odzak, the bridge over the Sava River is a chance to launch the economy, and the projected value of the total investment is 109.5 million EUR.
The contribution of the European Union for costs of investments, technical assistance and preparation of the project is 27.59 million EUR, and the loan of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development amounted to 21.96 million EUR. Contributions of users and other grants amounted to 18 million EUR. The deadline for completion of the works is 700 days.
“The plan is to build one bridge during 2017 since the bridge consists of two bridges, and one is a connection in order to facilitate the logistics, and then the other side will be completed in 2018. Later on, together with the construction of the motorway, this part of the border crossing and corridor 5C, we can be connected with Croatia and the European Union, stated Ivankovic.
(Source: fokus.ba)
