Montenegro looks to Serbia for joint funding of highway project

The European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano announced earlier this week that the bloc would not aid Montenegro in paying back a loan from a Chinese bank taken out to pay for the construction of a highway.

Montenegro’s Minister of Capital Investments Mladen Bojanić said following the EU's refusal that he would speak to his counterpart in Serbia, Tomislav Momirović, about jointly applying for funds to complete the road, which runs from Belgrade to the Montenegrin port city of Bar in the country's far south.

The Montenegro section of the highway, from Bar to the border town of Boljare, is proving problematic. The road is being built by Chinese construction firm China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and is being paid for mostly by a loan from China's Exim Bank.

Also read: China's CRBC awarded third roadbuilding contract in Serbia

However, following delays, the cost has risen from the initially agreed €800 million to €1.3 billion.

Bojanić said that "a new agreement was made (with CRBC), and they committed to complete this section by 30 November."

The minister added that the government in Montenegro wanted to complete the project, as well as the modernisation of the Belgrade-Bar railway, primarily because the government in Serbia has "serious plans" for the Port of Bar.

The move comes in the wake of last month's announcement by the Montenegrin government that it was launching an investigation into environmental damage to the UNESCO-protected Tara River caused by CRBC during the motorway construction.

Also read: MEPs warn of environmental impact of Chinese industry in Serbia

The investigation came as a surprise to local environmentalists as the government had hitherto ignored repeated warnings that the project risked causing serious damage to the riverbed and the wider area through the construction of bridges and gravel and sand disposal.

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