In an interview for business newspapers, the BiH Minister for Communication and Transport Damir Hadžić spoke of the transparency on the selection of operators for the construction of a highway on Corridor 5-C and of the ‘accelerated construction’ of the highway.
“The interest of large operators from developed countries for the construction of a highway on Corridor 5-C is great, because they could obtain development loans or commercial banks much easier than BiH could. The only question is our decisions, capabilities and will to implement a transparent, open procedure of selection. Operators are from large and developed countries, and due to the distribution of risk, they often join together and offer a joint offer. It is important to have competition, which is now the case in the RS for a portion of the highway on Corridor 5-C. Unsolicited offers of private companies are not desirable’’, said Hadžić.
When asked at what state the formation of a coordinated body for the construction of Corridor 5-C is, whose task is to draft an action plan to accelerate construction of a highway on that corridor, and what is seen and what comprises ‘’accelerate construction’’, Hadžić said: “Corridor 5-C is the largest European infrastructure project of BiH, the EU and international financial institutions. The slow pace of implementation of this project has brought to financial losses of around 2,5 million euros due to unrealized loans. The need to accelerate the implementation of the project of Corridor 5-C is due to the following reasons: provision of additional funds, settlement of disputes around determining motorway sections, expropriation, coordination, and monitor progress. Head of EU Delegation to BiH and Represenative of EU to BIH Peter Sorensen launched an initiatve again that was ongoing in 2011, to form a group for coordination that would include representatives of relevant state and entity institutions and international credit institutions. I fully agree that now is the right time to intensify construction of Corridor 5-C. The Ministry is doing everything to accomplish this in cooperation with all relevant institutions’’, said Hadžić.