- EBRD loan of up to €210 million for next step of Corridor Vc project
- New motorway section will include bypass for town of Doboj
- Road project essential for country’s regional and European integration
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s further economic integration with the Western Balkans and the rest of Europe will take an important step forward thanks to an EBRD loan for the construction of a new section of the Corridor Vc Motorway project.
The development of Corridor Vc is a strategic priority for Bosnia and Herzegovina. When it is completed, the motorway will cross the country from the port of Ploce in the south to the border with Croatia in the north. It is currently the biggest construction project in the country.
The 14-kilometre section will start at the Rudanka interchange in the Republika Srpska and bypass the town of Doboj at the Medakovo interchange in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Doboj is a major national transport hub, linking different parts of the country.
Once completed Corridor Vc will serves as an extension of the Trans-European Transport Networks to the core network of the Western Balkans. More than 50 per cent of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina lives within the 30 kilometre-long corridor, an area which contributes more than 60 per cent to the country’s GDP.
The completion of Corridor Vc is expected in 2030 and total cost estimated to be approximately €4billion. To date, about €1.1 billion has been invested.
In addition to the EBRD and EIB, the largest contributor is the European Union through the Western Balkans Investment Framework. Other co-financiers of Corridor Vc include OFID and Kuwait Fund.
In addition to creating modern transport infrastructure the new section of Corridor Vc will incorporate climate resilience measures to strengthen the asset against increasingly frequent extreme weather events such as flooding.
It will also benefit the over 70,000 inhabitants of Doboj whose quality of life will improve thanks to less traffic exposure.
EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti said at the signing during the EBRD Annual Meeting in Sarajevo today: “This signing today represents a major next step forward in the development of Corridor Vc. Connecting Bosnia and Herzegovina with the region and the wider outside world by creating the physical infrastructure but also by supporting the adoption of European standards and regulations is a priority for the country as well as for its international supporters. The EBRD stands by Bosnia and Herzegovina as the country undertakes serious efforts to build a more prosperous economy for its entire population.”
As a long-standing partner of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EBRD has been supporting the country’s sound and sustainable growth through a combination of investment and assistance for policy reforms.
Since the country became a shareholder of the Bank in June 1996 and operations began, we have invested €2.3 billion in around 160 projects.
Last year alone the Bank invested some €200 million in 15 new projects.