A loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) worth €180 million will help to pay for the construction of the Corridor Vc highway project. This highway is of key importance for the economic development of Bosnia and Herzegovina as it will provide and improved transport connection with Europe.
The loan will help to pay for the construction of three new sections of Corridor Vc, measuring some 16km. The loan will be provided in two tranches, with the first of up to €120 million and being used to co-finance the construction of a motorway section from Poprikusa to Nemila along with the European Investment Bank (EIB). It will also help pay for construction of Tunnel Ivan. Meanwhile the second tranche 2 of up to €60 million will help to finance the construction of a highway section from the Mostar South Interchange to Tunnel Kvanj.
The loan is expected to be co-financed by an investment grant in the amount of €11.8 million from the European Union, through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) which is expected to be approved in December 2018.
The project will improve mobility and traffic safety. The loan is part of a wider commitment following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in February 2018 between the EBRD and the Ministers of Transport and Communications of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska for an investment programme of over €700 million for the period 2018-2020.
Corridor Vc is a branch of the fifth Pan-European corridor and with a total length of 700 km will connect Hungary and eastern Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Adriatic Sea. The longest part of the route goes through Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the road also serves as the shortest connection of the eastern and southern parts of Croatia.
Since the beginning of its operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina the EBRD has invested €2.1 billion in almost 150 projects in the country.
