ZAGREB, July 20, 2018 – An agreement was signed in the eastern city of Slavonski Brod on Friday for the construction of river port infrastructure valued at more than 100 million kuna, as well as a concession agreement for the port.
Port director Marijan Jurić signed the infrastructure construction agreement with the GH Holding company and the concession agreement with the Mansped company.
The signing ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković who said that these projects prove that the town was among the government’s priorities.
The port has been recognised as an important part of Europe’s transport infrastructure and the construction project will be co-financed through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The eligible amount for co-financing under the CEF is 11.68 million euro and the EU will provide 6.63 million euro.
The government on the other hand approved a state guarantee to the port administration for a loan of 80 million kuna from the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development to finance the project.
“I am very pleased that for this large investment more than 56% of the funding is coming from the CEF programme. That means that we have recognised the development of river waterways, the development of Slavonski Brod, investing in infrastructure, the port plateau and access roads. In that way, with its guarantees and partnership with Brod-Posavina County and the port administration, the government is making its contribution to the development of Slavonski Brod and the whole of Slavonia. In four years time, we will draw the line to see how far Slavonia has progressed during this government’s term and during this parliament,” Plenković said.
Port administrator Marijan Jurić described the concession agreement as the final step in reviving activities in the port. “The government has stood behind this project and made the necessary decisions within six months. Concessionaires have recognised this too. After a long battle for this area to be finally put into function, the deadline for the completion of the construction works is two months. For us the arrival of the concessionaire is the most important thing, which justifies the investment. It will work and employ people here for the next 15 years. After that, partners interested in investing within the port area itself can embark on investing in production and storage capacities,” Jurić explained.
He made mention of the Crodux company which has been paying the concession fee for the past seven years and is likely to go ahead with its investment.
Tomislav Bagarić, the sales director at the Mansped company that signed the concession agreement for the port, said that this is the third terminal acquired by the company. “We will make it possible for business entities from Slavonia to enjoy all the benefits of doing business through our port, including container and other forms of transport,” he said, underscoring good transport connections with Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary.
Construction works are expected to commence in September after archaeological investigations are completed on the construction site.
