ZAGREB, March 17, 2018 – During a visit to the southern peninsula of Pelješac, where he attended the opening of a renovated primary school in Orebić municipality, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said he believed that appeals against the results of the tender for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge would be resolved soon and that the project would continue as planned.
The primary school in Orebić, attended by 240 children, was renovated with the help of EU funds worth 35 million kuna and money from the Council of Europe Development Bank intended for social infrastructure.
Plenković commended efforts by the Regional Development and EU Funds Ministry, stressing that attention was increasingly being focused on social infrastructure and that he expected renovation work on 74 other schools to be financed in line with the same model. He added that investing in quality education early on was the key to Croatia’s future and adaptation to the fast-changing world.
The prime minister said that he believed 2018 was the year in which the state commission for public procurement would make final decisions on appeals regarding the tender for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge.
The project, for which an EU grant of 357 million euro was approved, will be completed if not by the end of the term of the incumbent government, then by the beginning of the next government’s term, Plenković said, adding that the bridge would ensure better connectivity, particularly in the summer months when visitors to the area get stuck in traffic jams while passing through Neum, in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Pelješac Bridge is to connect that southern Dalmatian peninsula with the mainland and thus connect Dubrovnik-Neretva County with the rest of the country, facilitating the transport of people and goods throughout the year, notably during the peak tourist season. The state-run road operator Hrvatske Ceste said on January 12 that, of the three bids submitted for the first stage of construction work on the bridge, it had chosen the one by China Road and Bridge Corporation, worth 2.08 billion kuna, not including VAT.
