Montenegrins could learn from Bosnians

All the countries of the region have built or are building their highways mostly only with loans, and some with the help of fuel taxes, such as Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Investors and builders are not exempted from taxes in any of the special laws, except for those in accordance with agreements on the avoidance of double taxation.

The construction of highways in Slovenia, Albania and Kosovo was marked by accusations of colluding with monopolies and raising prices, and in Slovenia some participants were sentenced to prison terms. Croats cannot pay back loans from tolls, and Serbs are currently building two corridors - 10 from Hungary to Macedonia and Bulgaria and 11 from Belgrade to the border with Montenegro.

The international corridor 5C passes through Bosnia and Herzegovina, where 92 kilometers out of 335 were completed in four years. Data from collections on the constructed sections show that the companies managing the highway will be able to repay the loans taken from the collection and other revenues.

Although the study on the feasibility of the Montenegrin highway has not been published, the Ministry of Transport, led by Ivan Brajović, claims that it will be profitable. Montenegro needs to pay back about 14 billion euros or about 1,06 million per year with interest for 76 years. This is the official government estimate, while recently the leader of Forum 2010, Žarko Rakčević, announced that a section of the highway will cost us 1.150 million euros, that is, an incredible 28,5 million per kilometer, that this will mean that the public debt will be at the level of almost 100 percent of GDP. - and that it is a harmful project.

Slovenija

Since 1994, i.e. since the establishment of the State Highway Company (DARS), 528 km of highways, expressways and other public roads have been built in Slovenia. DARS is financed from its own resources and from loans, for which it must receive a guarantee from the Government. Slovenia built the last section of the highway in June 2010.

The final price for the construction of highways, according to the first estimates, was supposed to amount to 1,52 billion euros, and it is estimated that it amounted to around six billion.

In April 2010, the editorial office of the business daily Finance received documents proving that Slovenian construction companies, at least since 1998, were connected in a cartel.

According to the "Zemon contract" (contractors met in the Zemono castle), jobs from the highway program were divided, and SCT Ivan Zidar received the majority. There is a court case against him today, and the bankruptcy administrator of SCT Leon Benigar Tošič filed a motion to start personal bankruptcy proceedings against Zidar. According to the assessment of the bankruptcy administrator, Zidar damaged the company for 8,54 million euros.

The "Zemon contract" created a "big coalition" and a "small coalition" of highway builders.

In the National Highway Construction Program, it was estimated that the construction of the highway will cost taxpayers 2033 billion euros by 7,3. Of that, the large coalition would get 82 percent, and the small coalition the rest. The small ones got 70 percent of the highway maintenance jobs, and the big coalition got 30 percent. The former Minister of the Economy of Slovenia, Matej Lahovnik, later stated that the corruption of the builders reaches the political top, and that there are suspicions that the highways were overpaid by several billion euros.

Croatia

The Croatian network of motorways and semi-motorways is a total of 1.416 kilometers long, of which 1.288 kilometers are tolled. The network is managed by four companies that were investors - Hrvatske autoceste, Autocesta Rijeka-Zagreb, Bina Istra, Autocesta Zagreb-Macelj.

Croatian highways have 901 kilometers that they built from loans and compensation in the price of fuel, which until the beginning of this year was HRK 0.60 per liter (eight euro cents), and as of January 1 this year it was reduced to HRK 0,20 (2,7 euro cents), and from the toll after deducting the company's maintenance and operating costs.

In May of last year, an independent auditor warned that the company would not be able to repay the loans. Last year, the total income of the company Hrvatske autocesta was HRK 1,4 billion (EUR 185 million), and loan obligations amounted to HRK 2,5 billion. Obligations for repaying loans will grow in the following years and will amount to HRK 2017 billion in 8,1.

Bina Istra is a Croatian-French company that built and manages 140 kilometers of highway in Istria and has a concession for 32 years since 1995. The construction cost 305 million, or slightly more than two million per kilometer.

The company Autocesta Zagreb - Macelj, in which the Austrian Štrabag has 51 percent of the shares, and the state of Croatia 49 percent, manages 26 km of highway, built with loans. The company Autocesta Rijeka-Zagreb is state-owned and manages about 200 km of highway financed by loans. During the construction of the highway, none of these companies was exempted from paying VAT and profit tax.

Serbia

In Serbia, two corridors - 10 from Hungary to Macedonia and Bulgaria and 11 from Belgrade to the border with Montenegro - are financed from loans borrowed by the state, partly from the budget for expropriations, and some shares are given for concession.

The 107-kilometer stretch from Požega to Boljar would not be profitable, so the possibility of a cheaper option, i.e. a high-speed road, was also mentioned earlier. On corridor 10, the construction of all remaining sections has been contracted, and the entire road will be completed by the end of 2016.

On the 270-kilometer highway from Belgrade to the border with Montenegro, six sections of a total of 103 kilometers are under construction - from Obrenovac to Preljin near Čačak. Part of the route from Belgrade to Obrenovac and from Praljin to Požega will be built by a Chinese company through a concession. The Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said two months ago that he expects the highway to Požega to be completed by April 2017. The official plan is to look for a partner to build a concession from Požega to Boljar, but if there is no interest, due to lower profitability, it is possible and alternatives such as the expressway.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The international corridor 5C passes through BiH, which goes from Budapest to the Port of Ploče in Croatia and intersects with the future Adriatic-Ionian highway. This highway should be completed by 2020. So far, in the Federation of BiH, 92 kilometers have been put into operation on this corridor out of a total of 335. The 32-kilometer section of the local highway in the Republic of Srpska Banjaluka - Gradiška has also been completed, so BiH now has a total of 124 km highway.

Highways are built by entity companies - Highways of the RS and Highways of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When they started five years ago, it was agreed to build from fuel taxes and loans. This tax was not introduced in addition to the price at that time, but 10 pfennig (5,1 euro cents) was taken from the amount of the excise tax and dedicated to these needs. The price of fuel for consumers remained the same. Currently, three more sections on corridor 5C are being built in the Federation, and in another entity, the local section Doboj - Prnjavor.

Federation highways have a website where all studies, tenders and contracts are published, as well as all costs per share and financial reports. Those reports show that builders pay all taxes, including VAT. The study foresees that all the loans for the highway company "Autoceste Fédération BiH" will be able to pay back from its revenues.

Albania and Kosovo

The highway connecting Tirana and Pristina, which was completed two years ago, is 137 kilometers long. Although the price should have been at least twice as low, the highway ended up costing the citizens of Albania and Kosovo 1,8 billion euros, the Balkan Research Network (BIRN) announced in May of this year.

The profit of the American-Turkish construction consortium Bektel-Enka, engaged in the construction of the highway, is measured in hundreds of millions of euros.

This "Patriotic Highway" was built under the assumption that it will bring profits to Albania and Kosovo from increased trade and tourism, but trade has only increased slightly, writes BIRN.

The tender for the first phase of the construction of the highway from Tirana to the border with Kosovo was organized according to an accelerated procedure. The job for the construction of 60 kilometers for 418 million euros was awarded to the American company Bektel and its Turkish partner Enka in 2006. In the end, the price reached 950 million euros.

The 102-kilometer part of the road from the border to Pristina was supposed to cost 400 million, but in the end, 820 million euros were paid for 77 kilometers. The performers were also Beklel and Enka. Construction companies in Kosovo say that the prices offered by the American-Turkish consortium, which BIRN first published, are also "two or three times higher" than those offered by domestic companies. The Bektel-Enka consortium was also exempted from paying tens of millions of euros of VAT in both Albania and Kosovo.

The director of the construction company Eskavatori emphasizes that domestic companies did not receive those tax benefits, which enabled the American-Turkish consortium to save 113 million euros in Kosovo alone. Bektel-Enka is believed to have saved a similar amount in Albania.

Everyone builds bridges and tunnels, but only we pay the most for it

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, two months ago, the most expensive section of the highway in this country was opened, 20 kilometers long, which cost 300 million euros. It has seven tunnels with a total length of 5,5 kilometers, seven bridges with a total length of one and a half kilometers and three loops. This means that a kilometer of road on which tunnels and bridges make up 40 percent of the road cost 15 million euros.

On the 43-kilometer section of the Montenegrin highway Podgorica - Kolašin (Smokovac - Mateševo), which will cost 809 million euros without interest, according to the Ministry of Transport, tunnels, bridges and viaducts amount to 41 percent of the total road. This means that an average kilometer, if there is no additional work, would cost 18,8 million euros, according to the Government's estimate.

The highway from Tirana over the mountains to the border with Kosovo cost 15,8 million per kilometer, and the estimated value was seven kilometers. From the border to Pristina, it cost 10,6 million per kilometer, while the plan was 5,2 million. The Chinese in Serbia are building two sections near Obrenovac and Ljig with a total length of 50,2 kilometers for 333 million dollars, or about 270 million euros. On the sections, which have a total of 30 bridges, 41 culverts, a 990-meter tunnel, 21 local roads are being relocated... a kilometer will cost 5,4 million euros.

Azerbaijanis in Serbia are building three routes with a total length of 40 kilometers for 308 million euros, which is 7,7 million euros per kilometer. On these routes, there are five tunnels with a total length of 1,9 kilometers, 78 bridges and overpasses, 40 water flow control systems, 46 retaining walls with a total length of 6,1 kilometers, 28 noise protection walls with a total length of 7,3 kilometers...

The Serbs got much better conditions than the Chinese

In the contract with the Chinese partner, the Government of Montenegro stipulated that at least 30 percent of the value of the works be entrusted to domestic subcontractors. There is also an item that this percentage can be lower if they cannot find domestic contractors for some jobs.

In the contract with the Chinese contractor "Shandong Hi-speed", the Government of Serbia stipulated that domestic subcontractors will receive 49 percent of the jobs and that 70 percent of the jobs must be domestic workers. Azvirt, the Azvirt contractor in Serbia, also has to give 49 percent of its work to domestic subcontractors.

The text was written in cooperation with media partners from the region http://me.biznis-plus.com/

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