Istria is one of few parts of Croatia without a real motorway. That is about to change.
One of the items on today’s session of the Croatian government in Pula is a change to the concession agreement with Bina-Istra, which should enable the construction of a full-profile motorway on the Pazin-Učka section of the current “Istrian Y” highway. The investment amounts to 165 million euro and the government has lobbied intensively for it in Brussels. The green light for the concession extension was issued by the European Commission in June this year, reports Večernji List on September 13, 2018.
The government expects that the construction of the second lane on the northeast part of the highway, from Rogovići to Vranje in the length of 28 kilometres, will begin by the end of the year. The construction includes 11 new viaducts, 14 underpasses, three new overpasses, and numerous supporting walls and auxiliary buildings.
The Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure says that this is a fairly demanding section because it is necessary to build 31 road objects in a total length of 2,510 metres.
The works on the section will take three years, and the first six-kilometre-long section Rogovići-Ivoli will see the first traffic about two years after the start of the works. The government says that 95 percent of the works will be performed by Croatian companies, as sub-contractors of Bouygues TP. The investment will enable the employment of 1,000 people during construction, and about ten people after the construction in the maintenance services. It is expected that the investment will have a positive impact on GDP growth, by about 0.5 percent during the construction.
In order to make the project possible, it is planned that the concession contract with Bina-Istra will be extended to June 2034. The contract has been a frequent target of criticism because of the fact that since 1995, when Bina-Istra was granted the concession, the state has been obliged to cover the company’s potential losses due to reduced traffic. The European Commission has now insisted on reducing the risk assumed by the state, so part of the toll collection risk will be borne by the shareholders in the future.
The government expects that the concessionaire will pay up to 986 million kuna in concession fees by 2034 and that the contract will have a positive effect on the state budget as well.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Iva Boban Valečić).
