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PM Marković attends motorway conference: This is not just roadway, but path to Western value system

Published on: Mar 11, 2020 • 5:03 PM Author: PR Service
Podgorica, Montenegro (11 March 2020) -- The Bar-Boljare motorway is not just a roadway, it is a path to the Western value system, no matter how much sometimes it wished to be presented on the contrary. This is first and foremost a path to a better standard of living for all our citizens, especially those in the north, Prime Minister Duško Marković noted.

"So, it is the road towards an economically independent, and therefore a free individual - a responsible factor of our society," Prime Minister Marković stated at a conference on the construction of the first motorway section, organised by the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS).

The Prime Minister noted a small number of projects have influenced the development of the Montenegrin economy, such as the construction of the Bar-Boljare motorway, and I believe almost none will affect the overall development of Montenegrin society to such an extent.

Although misunderstandings and passages about certain segments of this grandiose and complex project on a daily basis - political level are inevitable, Prime Minister Marković claims that one thing is obvious: by the end of the first section from Smokovac to Mateševo, Montenegro will be a significantly better place to live.

The Prime Minister pointed to the importance of the motorway, in terms of safety and comfort of traveling north, but also emphasised that this project accelerated growth of our economy to a remarkable 4.7% in 2017, 5.1% in 2018, and it is certain - about 4% in 2019.

"It is clear that there were challenges during the implementation of the priority section and that there are still challenges. This is best evidenced by the heated controversy we have about the impact on fiscal stability; about the risk of so-called "Debt bondage"; environmental impacts; the challenges of safety at work; even the issues of transparency of certain segments of the project," Prime Minister Marković stressed, adding that no such project, not even the Montenegrin motorway, is isolated from global challenges, such as the current coronavirus.

But it is important to separate the central from the secondary subject. And the central subject is - Montenegro, which is developing a 21st century custom infrastructure for its citizens!

"Montenegro, which, like all EU member states, will provide every resident with quick and safe access to the key road infrastructure. It is a matter of mobility, it is a prerequisite for economic development, and ultimately a matter of civic and national pride for all of us," Prime Minister Marković pointed out.

He particularly underscored the aspect of economic and social equality of the Montenegrin man. The only responsible response to the contemporary challenges of balanced regional development, including the issue of population outflow, was to create the same or at least approximate living conditions throughout our country, the Prime Minister stated. 

"Of course it is important that the need for a better life does not put us in a position to borrow more than we can pay back. As you know, this Government has, through concrete measures, succeeded in maintaining the stability of public finances. For the fourth year in a row, we have a current budget surplus, and new borrowings are focused solely on the implementation of the capital budget. Therefore - to schools, kindergartens, health centres, roads and other physical and social infrastructure," Prime Minister Marković noted, adding that this year a strong trend of falling public debt began.

Prime Minister Marković underlined that there was no talk of bankruptcy or "debt bondage," as it has often been speculated.

He also said that we count on the already expressed and announced support of our European partners, who specifically assisted prepare the necessary technical documentation for the continuation of work towards Andrijevica. We believe in the continuation of this support in the future as well, especially through the Western Balkan Investment Framework (WBIF).

In this project, we have demonstrated the administration capability for fiscal discipline, the economy's resilience to the challenges of high indebtedness, the readiness of domestic knowledge and the profession to actively contribute to crucial segments of our development.

"In this project, we also show a readiness to a wide and open dialogue. Not necessarily because of compromise or broad consensus, because development cannot wait for perfect solutions. We need a dialogue so that mistakes do not occur to us, or, if they have already occurred, to draw lessons from them. The dialogue is also necessary for us, as a society, in order to develop the ability to cross solid and well-intentioned arguments," Prime Minister Marković noted.

OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER 



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