Slovenian firm wins $40 mln Bosnia project
SARAJEVO – Bosnia’s Muslim Croat Federation awarded yesterday a 56.7-million-Bosnian-marka ($40 million) contract to a Slovenian firm to build a bypass near Sarajevo that will be part of a future north-south highway. Regional Transport and Communications Minister Nail Seckanovic said the SCT firm won the tender and will construct the 5.5 kilometers of the bypass near the capital, seen as the most complex section of the highway, within three years. «This is the largest postwar infrastructure investment in Bosnia,» he told a news conference. SCT General Manager Ivan Zidar said construction will include the largest interchange on the highway, two tunnels, three viaducts and two bridges and added that his company would aim to complete it before the deadline. The federation government had earlier announced plans to build 142 kilometers of road between Sarajevo and the towns of Zenica in central Bosnian and Mostar in the south. Construction should take six years and cost 2.3 billion marka. So far, only 11 kilometers have been completed of a road network that is eventually designed to expand to 336 km through Bosnia, boosting trade and creating jobs. The highway is part of a new corridor being built in 10 European countries. The region decided to fund the road itself, despite a decision by Bosnia’s central cabinet to announce an international tender for concessions to build and operate the nine sections of the highway for at least 30 years. Bosnia-Herzegovina is made up of the Muslim Croat Federation and the Serb Republic, which last year formed a joint venture with Austrian builder Strabag for a -2 billion section of highway under concession terms. The plan still awaits state approval.
