The Bojana bridge is waiting for the Spatial Plan

The construction of the bridge on Bojana, which should connect Montenegro and Albania, will certainly not begin before the adoption of the Spatial Plan (SP) of the country, because the bridge is counted among infrastructure projects and must be recognized as such in this strategic document.

This information has been officially confirmed by the Ministry of Capital Investments (MKI).

Prime Ministers of Montenegro and Albania Dritan Abazovic i Edi Rama at the beginning of June, they presented in Skopje at a bilateral meeting within the framework of the "Open Balkans" summit a joint project of building a bridge over Bojana that will connect Ulcinj with Velipoj.

Government in office Zdravka Krivokapića at the proposal of the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, postponed the preparation of the PP of the state until the end of this year, although the original deadline was March 7.

It is certain that this strategic document will not be completed by the end of this year. Minister of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism Ana Novaković Đurović announced in the parliament at the beginning of July that the concept of the PP had been created, on which the Audit Council would give an opinion, after which the drafting could be started. She could not specify exactly when that document, as well as the new Law on Spatial Planning and Building Construction, will be adopted.

"If we have to exceed the deadlines, we will do so for the sake of quality," said the minister.

MKI explained that they are not in possession of the technical documentation of the bridge over Bojana.

"Given that it is an infrastructural facility that connects two countries and that the PP of Montenegro until 2040 is being drawn up, which will consider the possibility of including the bridge in question in the PP, after that it will be defined through the bridge with the Republic of Albania obligations and responsibilities of both parties in terms of technical documentation and execution of works", said the department he manages Ervin Ibrahimovic.

Abazović said in June that he believed that in early September they would be able to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation that would specify the obligations of both sides.

"This project, i.e. the bridge, is not only important because it would reduce the length of the road connecting these two cities and two countries, but also because this area has the potential to be a very attractive tourist destination, which the construction of the bridge would certainly contribute to . We all hope and believe that this would improve and develop our country for the better", he emphasized during the presentation of the project.

The prime minister's office said that discussions about this project began during Abazović's first visit when he was vice-president of the 42nd government, when work on the construction of the international bridge over the Bojana river was announced.

"We need to establish an agreement and mutually understand the total budget for this investment. We are in favor, and the project is fantastic. The bridge would enable much better communication between these two countries," Rama announced.

In the announcement of the Prime Minister's office, it was also stated that in the budget for 2022, "about 3.500.000 euros have been set aside for the construction of the aforementioned infrastructure project that will connect the two countries", and that about 34 kilometers of underutilized sandy beaches in the area of ​​these two countries it has a demand of about 500.000 tourists annually.

It was pointed out that the current distance between Ulcinj and Velipoja is about 73 kilometers, and that with the construction of the bridge it would be reduced to about one kilometer.