ZAGREB, May 22, 2018 – Grant agreements for the upgrade and electrification of the Vinkovci-Vukovar railway and the procurement of buses for the Polet Vinkovci company, valued at almost 700 million kuna, were signed on Monday in Vinkovci.
The reconstruction and electrification of 18.7 kilometres of railway tracks between Vinkovci and Vukovar as well as the reconstruction of railway stations along that line and level crossings is valued at almost 680 million kuna.
HŽ Infrastruktura Management Board chair Ivan Kršić said that the project would make it possible for trains to develop a speed of 120 kph compared to the current speed of 70 kph.
The director of the Polet bus company Mijat Kurtušić said that the procurement of seven new buses valued at 15 million kuna would resolve problems with the current bus pool which has an average age of 14 years.
Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković said that now that motorways had been completed, new projects were focusing on railways. “This year we expect to sign a project valued at 300 million euro for a railway from Koprivnica and Križevci to the Hungarian border. We are also focusing on Corridor 10,” Butković said and added that HŽ Infrastruktura was now preparing documentation for a project to reconstruct the Okučani-Vinkovci railway.
Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Gabrijela Žalac said that the government was doing its best to boost development in eastern Croatia. “So far we have contracted 33% of the funds for the Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem project,” Žalac said.
Vukovar-Srijem County Prefect Božo Galić thanked the government for continually investing in projects in the county. “These projects, valued at 680 million kuna, plus the future overpass at Borinci, and the 130 million kuna that is being invested in Vinkovci’s eastern bypass, make a total of more than one billion kuna to be directly or indirectly invested in Vinkovci’s development. That is what we wanted and expected to be signed this year,” Vinkovci Deputy Mayor Ivan Bosančić said.
Vukovar Mayor Ivan Penava said that the electrification of the Vukovar-Vinkovci line was more than necessary because it connects Vukovar as the administrative centre of the county and Vinkovci as the largest town in the county.
