Government selects best bidder for Montenegro’s biggest development project

Podgorica, Montenegro (4 July 2013) – At today’s Cabinet session, the Government of Montenegro selected the Chinese companies CCCC International (China Communications Construction Company) and the CRBC (China Road and Bridge Corporation) as best bidders for the construction of the Bar-Boljare highway, that is its priority section Smokovac-Uvče-Mateševo. The negotiations are to be continued with the aim of concluding final agreements regarding the project design, construction and financing, Transport Minister Ivan Brajović told the press conference following the Cabinet meeting. He added that the offered price for the construction of the priority part of Montenegro’s greatest infrastructural project is EUR 809.577.356,14.

Minister Brajović noted that the priority section is planned to be funded through the Chinese EXIM Bank’s preferential loan, which includes a 20-year repayment period, a five-year grace period, and 2% of fixed interest rate. The loan should be provided within a loan line for countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe in the amount of $ 10 billion, announced by China’s ex Prime Minister Wen Jiabao at the Warsaw’s conference in April 2011. The final legal and contractural arrangements will be submitted to the Parliament of Montenegro for decision making.

According to Minister Brajović, the construction of the Bar-Boljare highway will ensure more balanced development of all parts of Montenegro, better exploitation of natural resources, more rapid development of tourism, better and safer transport and overall economic development of the country.

During the last six months, the Government of Montenegro negotiated the construction of the priority section of the highway with a number of high-profile companies, namely the Turkish DOGUS-GUSLAN consortium, American-Turkish consortium Bechtel-Enka and Chinese CCCC and the CRBC. The key criteria in choosing the partner for this project were financial sustainability of the offer with regard to Montenegro’s budget, time-frame for carrying out the project, partner’s references, engagement of Montenegro’s construction industry, equipment, materials and workforce and the application of European TEM standards, Transport Minister Ivan Brajović concluded.