The decision on the construction of highway section from Konjic to Mostar through the Prenj Mountain is more and more certain, after the Government of FBiH reached that decision in order to shorten the mentioned section and save more than 300 million EUR.
However, the issue of influence on the environment and the proposed financing model are in question.
Professor at the Faculty of Transportation and Communications in Sarajevo Osman Lindov said that the model of public-private partnership is better, but that the country must have strong guarantees.
There are several controversial aspects regarding the construction of the mentioned section, primarily the ecological aspect and influence on the environment in case the mountain Prenj is broken through. Association for environmental protection Zeleni Neretva from Konjic is warning about this kind of danger. It remains to be seen in which way the Government of FBiH will react after the Environmental impact study is conducted.
During the negotiations with international financial institutions regarding the construction of this section, it has been pointed out that there are no minimum elements of economical feasibility and therefore they are not willing to lend for construction.
Given that this is one of the most demanding sections at the Corridor 5C, the Government of FBiH proposed financing through public-private partnership, i.e. according to the BOT system: “Build-Operate-Transfer”.
Such financing model is not applicable to all sections because primarily the private sector expects profit when investing money in that project, and it is questionable how much traffic there will be on the mentioned section after the completion of construction, whether the private investor will be able to return the investment, and eventually whether the state is ready to guarantee the return of investment to the private investor.
Average annual daily traffic on the section from Zenica towards Doboj, or from Lašva towards Travnik can attract a private investor to invest, while other sections are questionable, Lindov added.
Experts highlight that the public-private partnership model is very good, but the state must have significant guarantee funds in order to attract the private sector to invest in construction.
(Source: klix.ba)
