The toll on the Meljine-Petijevići road is abolished, the Ministry pays the investor four million euros

The Minister of Finance and Social Welfare, Milojko Spajić, signed today with the Municipality of Herceg Novi and the investor Univerzal Monte doo the Agreement on Termination of the Agreement on the Construction, Operation and Transfer (BOT) of the Meljine-Petijevići Road, the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare announced.

"This is an incredible success of this Government, the signed Agreement is of immeasurable importance for the citizens of Herceg Novi, but also for Montenegrin tourism, bearing in mind that before the outbreak of the pandemic, tourists from Bosnia and Herzegovina spent over a million nights in Montenegro. The Government today once again proved that it is firmly committed to solving the problems that, for years, have been harming the Montenegrin economy and citizens," Spajić pointed out.

The announcement adds that in April the Government of Montenegro accepted the initiative of the Municipality of Herceg Novi to abolish toll collection on the Meljine-Petijevići road section and began negotiations with the concessionaire Univerzal Monte doo

"In record time, less than a month, an agreement was reached with the concessionaire and the Agreement was signed today, which enables the permanent removal of the toll plaza," the announcement reads.

The President of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, Stevan Katic, said that this is a great day for all citizens of Herceg Novi and all of Montenegro.

"We are glad that this Government recognized the problem and decided to solve it, because all our appeals to the previous Governments were without result. This was the only highway in the region on which tolls were charged," stressed Katic.

The Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare said that the Agreement on the Termination of the Agreement on Construction, Operation and Transfer (BOT - take, build, use and return) of the Meljine-Petijevići road stipulates that the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare will pay compensation to the investor in the amount of four million euros, no later than January 31.01.2022, XNUMX. year, while toll collection will be canceled already during the next week.

"The same Agreement obliges the investor to complete the started rehabilitation of a part of the road at his own expense, by August of this year at the latest. It is also foreseen to hire an auditing firm that will confirm the state of the investor's credit obligations, which amounts to 4.602.150 euros. Previous Governments, despite numerous initiatives of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, but also of the citizens, have not tried to solve this issue for years. By signing the Agreement today, this Government has sided with the citizens and solved another of the many problems encountered, which were inherited from the previous government," concludes announcement.