Head of government Milojko Spajic he promised that in the next five to seven years, he will complete 18 sections of highways and expressways through Montenegro, a total of 480 kilometers long, the value of which is estimated at eight billion euros, and that such an investment cycle has not been seen in Europe since the 60s and In the 70s.
The "Vijesti" interlocutor, who participated in earlier projects, states that current experience shows that due to the large number of complaints and repetition of tenders, it will take significantly longer time to select the designers of the preliminary projects, that out of 18 sections, only one Mateševo - Andrijevica project has been completed, for one has a conceptual design and for five there is a conceptual solution, for eight shares tenders for conceptual solutions are in progress, and for three shares nothing has been started.
"These projects have been mentioned in spatial plans for 40-50 years, and only in the last ten years did something more serious work begin to be done on the preparation of projects and their realization. When they could be realistically completed is difficult to say because of everything I have listed. And if we have ready money, enough designers and contractors, it is more realistic that the deadlines for their completion are at least twice as long as what the prime minister said", said the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
The first spatial plan in which the highway in Montenegro is mentioned was drawn up in 1969, and only 53 years later was the first section of 41 kilometers completed.
The South Adriatic Regional Spatial Plan, which included the largest part of the then Yugoslav coast and its hinterland in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, and which was completed in 1969, provided space for a highway in the hinterland of the coast, with the possibility of its further elaboration and connections with other then planned highways in Yugoslavia.
In 1986, the first Spatial Plan for Montenegro was completed with a plan until the year 2000. This plan, with an amendment from 1991, provided for four branches of the highway through Montenegro - Adriatic-Ionian in the hinterland of the coast (from the BiH border to Podgorica), Bar - Belgrade, Andrijevica - Peć and further towards Pristina and Niš and from Podgorica to They are also suing Shkadra. This plan also envisaged an expressway along the Montenegrin coast, as well as the development of other expressways that would be connections between highways.
In other words, almost everything that is still in the plans and that is discussed at conferences was planned almost 40 years ago. The development of these plans was prevented by the wars of the 90s, followed by political crises and the struggle for independence... It was only in 2007 that the story of the construction of the highway was started with the promise that the works would begin the following year. The start of construction was still delayed until 2015, and instead of four years, the works lasted seven years and three months until the final opening of the first section of 41 kilometers on July 13, 2022.
In December last year, the Prime Minister said that the Mateševo-Andrijevica highway section was "squeezed" into the budget for 2024.
"It should only be built from the end of 2025, the beginning of 2026. We can't wait. We will finance it from the capital budget, we will go to the quick tender PAF PAF and in 2024 in September, I want to see the Ashov in the country. And in 2024, that highway should be launched and that it be built in record time," Spajić said at the time.
However, in April of this year, it was announced that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) accepted to participate in financing the construction of this section, which is why the Government is changing the plan, in order to save money, but this also means postponing the start of construction until the tenders are completed at the EBRD.
"The implementation of the project will start at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, which is a year and a half faster than planned. Preliminary solutions for 10 roads have been launched. This is the vision of Montenegro that we should all support. When we push through these projects, we make the future possible, not only for this one, but also for the next several generations. We understand our political competitors, that they don't understand how we managed this", said Spajić.
After the affair, talk about investments
Two days ago, Spajić at a very wide-ranging press conference, after a series of criticisms in the public about the "Europe Now 2" program, trips to Saint Tropez, affairs in the field of security, connections with dubious businessmen,... restarts the story of large investment projects from the field of road traffic, which will transform Montenegro.
"These are 18 sections of highways and expressways that we plan to build. Highways are not built 100 times, they are built only once. "Germany is Germany because of its infrastructural connection and its strategic location," said Spajić and pointed out that Montenegro behaves as if it does not have a similar market and position.
"Each of the 18 projects essentially has three big steps to realization, in total we have 54 steps to complete the traffic and road infrastructure in Montenegro, as far as highways and expressways are concerned. Of the 54 steps, do you know how many were completed by the 44th Government? Zero, zero was finished. Today we have completed eight steps, by the end of the year we will have 24 steps or 23, by the end of 2025 we will have about 30 steps, by the end of 2026 we will have 25 steps completed... And I will slowly complete the infrastructure of Montenegro", he said. is then Spajić.
He stated that in order to start the works, a conceptual solution is first needed, but that it did not exist.
"Until now, all politicians have only talked about conceptual solutions, they never had them, it was a fairy tale, blah blah story all this time. No one ever had any solution, from all those politicians, now we have some conceptual solutions. And we will have many more of them, by the end of the year practically all conceptual solutions will be completed. So we will have routes where all those roads pass, we communicate intensively with the locals and we do not want to step over the dead in order to build infrastructure in Montenegro, we want to build together in cooperation with local communities because it is for them, for their benefit", he said. Spajić two days ago.
He stated that it will take 5 to 7 years to complete these sections.
"Every country needs that much. By the end of 2030, most of these projects will be completed, which is something that no one could even dream of. This investment cycle has not been seen in Europe since the 60s and 70s," Spajić said.
Procedures at Monteput and EBRD
Currently, Monteput and the EBRD, as co-investors, are in the process of selecting a contractor for the following 24-kilometer section from Mateševo to Andrijevica, as well as for the selection of a consultant for the implementation of projects according to the EBRD's conditions and for supervising the preparation of project documentation and execution works.
It was previously announced that these procedures at the EBRD could be completed by the end of the year, when the chosen contractor would be known. At the pre-qualification tender for the contractor, which ended at the end of June, eight bidders applied - five companies and three consortia. Those applications are being reviewed in accordance with the EBRD criteria, and the bidders who pass them will participate in the final competition where they will submit specific bids with the construction price, deadlines and other conditions. It was previously announced that the construction of this section should be completed in four years.
At Monteput, eight tenders are underway for various stages of designing as many sections of highways and expressways. In some tenders, future designers were selected, but complaints followed, so the procedures were repeated.
Offer for three conceptual solutions under appeal
The company "Via project" from Podgorica was selected as the most favorable in three tenders for the development of conceptual solutions for two sections of future high-speed roads and one future section of the highway, with the offered price for these works of 360.000 euros.
This applies to the expressway from Danilovgrad to Nikšić and from Bijelo Polje via Pljevlja to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also for the highway section from Andrijevica to Čakor (border with Kosovo). This company will perform these tasks with the subcontractors "GP team", "CDS project" and "Geo project".
In mid-August, an appeal was filed against all these tenders through the Montenegrin electronic public procurement system (CeJN).
And Andrijevica - Boljare in correctional facility
Monteput will have to re-select the company that will do the conceptual design for the Andrijevica-Berane-Boljare section of the highway, after the Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures overturned the decision according to which the work went to the "Monte Tim" consortium due to an appeal.
State Monteput announced a tender for the creation of a conceptual project for this route on January 31, and its estimated value was 4,95 million euros.
At the beginning of May, the "Monte-team" consortium's offer worth 4.865.748 euros was chosen as the most favorable, but there was a possibility of appealing that decision. This tender has not yet been repeated.
Macedonians draw the road across the Boka
"Monteput" chose the offer worth 144.900 euros made by the company "Građevinski Institut Makedonija" as the most favorable in the tender for the conceptual solution for the section of the expressway, which will cross the Bay of Kotor and connect Herceg Novi and Budva. This company will perform the work with two subcontractors from Podgorica, the companies "Geotest Engineering" and "lnstitute for Construction".
The designer's task is to analyze all variants of connecting these two coastal cities, especially considering the limitations in the area of Kotor. This tender, that is, the documentation, is the basis for determining the position of this corridor in the proposal of the Spatial Plan of Montenegro (PPCG), and will also serve as a plan for future Government investments in traffic infrastructure.
Designers are waiting for Bar - Sukobin and Smokovac - Božaj
On July 22, Monteput announced a tender for the preparation of the Conceptual Solution of the Adriatic - Ionian highway, section Bar - Ulcinj - Sukobin. This tender lasted until August 7.
The project, with a length of 42 km, as announced from Monteput, has a key role in improving the traffic infrastructure and connecting the southern part of Montenegro with Albania, which will contribute to the economic and touristic development of the region.
On June 5, Monteput announced a tender worth almost EUR 97, for the development of a conceptual solution for the Smokovac - Tuzi - Božaj expressway, in order to find the optimal route, develop this part of Montenegro, and connect the highway with neighboring Albania. That tender, according to data from the Montenegrin electronic public procurement website, lasted until July 4.
The beginning of the section Smokovac - Tuzi - Božaj will be on the existing loop of the highway in Smokovac, after which it will extend to the loop in the settlements of Dinoša and Vuksanlekići in the municipality of Tuzi, and end in the wider area of the Božaj border crossing. This route is about 23 kilometers long.
Spajić would drive over the limit
Two days ago, Spajić also announced "what concretely these projects mean for the citizens".
"The Podgorica-Belgrade highway will be a three-hour drive, an easy drive so that people don't get tired, people will go to and from Belgrade for the weekend much faster and easier," Spajić said.
According to data from the project, the length of the highway from Podgorica to Belgrade will be 370 kilometers. This means that this distance could be covered in three hours if the average speed was 123 kilometers per hour, without stopping and any delay at the border crossing.
According to the current projects, the maximum permitted speed on this highway will be from 80 to 130 kilometers per hour.
Speeds of 130 kilometers per hour are allowed on straight and straight sections, which already exist on the part from Belgrade to Čačak, a maximum speed of 100 kilometers is foreseen on sections with smaller climbs, and 80 km per hour on sections with larger climbs or places where strong gusts of side wind are possible.
On the current section Podgorica - Mateševo, where the altitude of a thousand meters is overcome in 41 kilometers, the maximum permitted speed is 100 km, and in some parts it is limited to 80 kilometers per hour.
Given that the section from Mateševo to Požega in Serbia is missing, which will mostly pass through hilly and mountainous areas, most of the route will be limited to a speed of 100 or 80 kilometers per hour.
If the average speed on the road from Podgorica to Belgrade was 100 km per hour, the trip would take three hours and 41 minutes.
The Prime Minister later enumerated how much the journey to cities in Montenegro and the region will be shortened.
"These are exact figures, which are conservative, which do not imply the maximum permitted speed, but an average speed," Spajić stated at the time.
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