The town of Osijek celebrated their day yesterday, and as a part of that celebration, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković opened yet another section of the popular Slavonika highway, Večernji list reports. Corridor 5C is an international traffic route whose goal is to connect Budapest and Ploče, and its Croatian section will be 88.6 kilometres long, and all but the final five kilometres have now been completed. The last five kilometres between Beli Manastir and Ivandarda will be completed in 2024.
This was a joint venture, thanks to HBOR and EBRD, whose funds and extremely favorable interest rates made this project a reality, Plenković added. This means that the balanced regional development of Croatia, transport connectivity and the construction of transport infrastructure are strategic priorities of our Government. The investment in this section of the highway was HRK 206.4 million.
The construction of Slavonika, which is what the Croatian section of the corridor 5C highway is often called, started in 2005, and two years later the first section from the Sredanci rest stop to Đakovo, 23 kilometers long, was put into traffic. The mayor of Osijek, Ivan Radić, stated that the opening of the Baranja section is the best gift to Osijek. He pointed out that Osijek is now two hours away from Zagreb, and now they will be two hours away from the capitals of the neighboring countries, Budapest and Sarajevo.
The Osijek Baranja Prefect Ivan Anušić pointed out that the bridge over the Drava River, as part of Corridor 5C, is the longest bridge in Croatia, and bears the name of the 3rd Guards Brigade, which made the greatest sacrifice in the Homeland War. The mayor of Beli Manastir, Tomislav Rob, said that this is a historic day for Beli Manastir and the whole of Baranja, the biggest one since the peaceful reintegration.
