Post by bob1389 on Nov 24, 2008 10:06:00 GMT -5
BANJA LUKA, Bosnia, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The government of Bosnia's Serb region and Austrian builder Strabag on Monday signed a long-delayed 2.91 billion euro ($3.67 billion) contract for the construction of a highway network.
In the largest single investment into Bosnia after the 1992-1995 war, the Serb Republic government granted a 30-year concession to Strabag to build 430 kilometres of roads. The term can be extended under new conditions for 15 years at the most.
"This is a capital project that will significantly change the image of the Serb Republic, improve its communications and create conditions for a new economic development," the region's Prime Minister Milorad Dodik said after the ceremony.
Bosnia is made up of the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat federation, the two autonomous regions co-existing under a weak central government.
The deal, which had been negotiated since 2006, was made possible after the government agreed to settle expropriation of the land along the future routes, estimated to cost up to 500 million Bosnian marka ($322.6 million). Strabag pledged to help with a favourable loan.
Strabag Director Rudolf Krapf said his company would do its best to fulfil the contract terms as soon as possible. "This project will improve the quality of life here," he said.
Dodik and Krapf also signed a separate 490 million euro contract for the construction of the first highway section linking the towns of Banja Luka in the north, Doboj in the northwest and Odzak/Vukosavlje in the northeast. "The construction could start in the second half of the next year," said Dodik. He has earlier said the completion was expected in 2013.
The Serb Republic and Strabag formed a new concession company in which the government holds a 10 percent stake. They will sign separate contracts for each of five highway sections that will be built in the west of the Serb Republic.
The highway will also include sections earmarked for a future north-to-south highway, the part of a pan-European highway connecting Budapest with the Croatian port of Ploce. The construction will create 5,000 jobs and another 2,500 people would be employed for maintenance.
Masala, nek se radi i gradi - zivela Republika!
In the largest single investment into Bosnia after the 1992-1995 war, the Serb Republic government granted a 30-year concession to Strabag to build 430 kilometres of roads. The term can be extended under new conditions for 15 years at the most.
"This is a capital project that will significantly change the image of the Serb Republic, improve its communications and create conditions for a new economic development," the region's Prime Minister Milorad Dodik said after the ceremony.
Bosnia is made up of the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat federation, the two autonomous regions co-existing under a weak central government.
The deal, which had been negotiated since 2006, was made possible after the government agreed to settle expropriation of the land along the future routes, estimated to cost up to 500 million Bosnian marka ($322.6 million). Strabag pledged to help with a favourable loan.
Strabag Director Rudolf Krapf said his company would do its best to fulfil the contract terms as soon as possible. "This project will improve the quality of life here," he said.
Dodik and Krapf also signed a separate 490 million euro contract for the construction of the first highway section linking the towns of Banja Luka in the north, Doboj in the northwest and Odzak/Vukosavlje in the northeast. "The construction could start in the second half of the next year," said Dodik. He has earlier said the completion was expected in 2013.
The Serb Republic and Strabag formed a new concession company in which the government holds a 10 percent stake. They will sign separate contracts for each of five highway sections that will be built in the west of the Serb Republic.
The highway will also include sections earmarked for a future north-to-south highway, the part of a pan-European highway connecting Budapest with the Croatian port of Ploce. The construction will create 5,000 jobs and another 2,500 people would be employed for maintenance.
Masala, nek se radi i gradi - zivela Republika!