The authorities in the Republika Srpska (RS) recently signed a memorandum with a Chinese company for the reconstruction of the road from Foca to Scepan Polje worth 100 million euros, under conditions that have not been announced publicly, which could make this important project significantly more expensive because they had previously negotiated with the European Union (EU) for significantly more favorable and more transparent conditions.
The Chinese company “CRBC” is currently the closest to getting the job of rebuilding or building the road between Foca and the state border with Montenegro worth 200 million BAM after the Government of RS signed a memorandum with them according to which the entire job will be financed by a Chinese bank.
In this way, instead of the unsafe macadam road from Foca to the state border, a modern road will be built. After years of ignoring calls to repair the road, the RS authorities began negotiating with the EU to finance the road – partly from a soft loan and partly from a grant.
Now, when the funds become almost certain, they are changing those negotiations for more expensive and less transparent financing from Chinese sources.
“It would be crazy to choose such an option”, believes Edin Forto, State Minister of Transport and Communications, who says that Chinese conditions cannot be more favorable than European ones.
The EU has already allocated 2.2 million euros for preparatory works through funds from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) allocated to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The EU Delegation says that these funds supported the preparation of technical documentation, as well as the drafting of a tender for the execution of works in 2017.
The Delegation also confirms that negotiations are ongoing for financing the construction of the road.
At the same time, the Government of the RS recently signed a memorandum with the Chinese company “CRBC” (China Road and Bridge Corporation) on the reconstruction of a part of the main road Foca – Scepan Polje worth 100 million euros, the content of which is unknown, despite the much more favorable loan that could be offered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank.
The Minister of Transport and Communications in the Government of RS says that he wants to make a competition.
“Whoever decides sooner that he will participate in the financing of that road, seriously, it is not certain yet“, says Minister Nedjeljko Cubrilovic and adds that the EU offered 70 million euros for the construction, Slobodna Evropa writes.
E.Dz.
