In the Reform Agenda, the government nominated three major projects in the field of transport for co-financing from European Union funds through the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans project, namely the construction of two sections of the highway from Metesevo to Andrijevica and from Smokovac to Farmak, as well as the reconstruction of the railway line from Podgorica to the border with Albania.
The reform agenda stated that the construction of the highway section from Mateševo to Andrijevica would cost 527 million euros, from Smokovac to Farmak 317,2 million euros, while the reconstruction of this section of the railway was estimated at 73,5 million euros. According to the evaluation of the preparedness of the projects, the documentation for the Mateševo - Andrijevica highway section could be completed by the end of 2025, and for the section to Farmak by the end of 2026.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said in December 2023 that both the Bar - Boljare and Adriatic-Ionian highways through Montenegro should be completed by the end of 2030, as well as four expressways. Then in August of this year, when he listed 18 sections of highways and expressways, he said that "by the end of 2030, most of these projects will be completed." According to what is written in the Reform Agenda, in the best case, these two sections to Andrijevica and Farmak could be completed by the end of 2030. For other shares, which have lower levels of documentation preparation, it is not specified when and how they will be financed.
The reform agenda, which also includes projects from other areas of education, health, justice,... was adopted by the Government in September, and approved by the European Commission on Friday last week. Minister of European Integration Maida Gorcevic announced then that through this agenda, Montenegro will have access to funds in the amount of over 380 million euros.
The European Commission, as part of the Economic and Investment Plan (EIP) for the Western Balkans, already in July adopted a decision to finance a grant of 100 million euros to support the construction of the section of the Bar-Boljara highway, between Mateševo and Andrijevica, which would represent the first tranche of EU support. , which will be supplemented with up to 100 million euros in the second tranche of EU funds.
According to the assessment of the maturity of the project (readiness for implementation), the Mateševo - Andrijevica section would be ready for construction by the end of 2025. In this project, the co-investor will be the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with which the tender for the development of the main project and the contractor is still in the procedure. The signing of the contract on the design and construction of the second section of the highway is planned for the beginning of 2025, while the estimated time for the development of the main project is 12 months from the signing of the contract and four years for the construction itself from the completion of the project.
The goals of the project for this section of the highway are better connectivity within the country and Montenegro with the region, the development of the corridor for the Port of Bar, but also the reduction of the number of traffic accidents.
"The main goal is to create assumptions that enable the realization of the entire Bar-Boljare highway, as one of the key infrastructure projects in the field of traffic in Montenegro, of which this section is an integral part, and which, together with the Podgorica ring road section, represents the second phase of the realization of the Bar highway project - Boljare. The full construction of the Bar-Boljare highway project will enable the development of the corridor from the port of Bar, and thus a better connection of this port with its gravity zone and further with the network of trans-European corridors. The implementation of the entire Bar-Boljara highway is expected to: shorten travel time (~48%), reduce traffic accidents (~22%) and increase the newly generated volume of traffic (~20%)", stated in the Reform Agenda.
The section from Smokovac to Farmak represents the western bypass around Podgorica, but also the connection of the Bar - Boljare highway with the Adriatic-Ionian highway, which will reach Farmak from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then the second section will go from Smokovac to Albania.
In the assessment of the maturity of the project, it was stated that the documentation for the start of the works could be completed by the end of 2026. At the beginning of September, when Monteput announced a tender for the development of a conceptual project of a part of this section from Smokovac to Nikšić road near the Komanski bridge, the prime minister Milojko Spajic and director of Monteput Milan Ljiljanic said that this section is about ten kilometers long and would cost 180 to 200 million euros.
For the second part of this section, from the interchange at the Nikšić road to Farmak, it was announced at the time that the tender for the preparation of the preliminary project will be announced when the connection point with the Adriatic-Ionian highway is determined, which is expected to be above Farmak, along with the existing Podgorica highway - Cetinje.
They then announced that they expect that this section will also be partially financed from EU funds, that the works will begin in 2026 and be completed by the end of 2029.
"The goal of the project is to create assumptions that enable the implementation of the entire Bar-Boljare highway, the integral part of which is the section in question that bypasses Podgorica, and which, together with the Mateševo-Andrijevica section, represents the second stage of the implementation of the Bar-Boljare highway project. By the end of September 2024, the preliminary design is expected to be prepared, followed by the announcement of a tender for the preparation of the preliminary design (which happened). Remaining activities covering the period 2026-2030. XNUMX are negotiations regarding the conclusion of the financing contract, preparation of tender documents, contracting the preparation of the main project and the execution of works", stated the Reform Agenda for the goals of the project of this section of the highway.
The EU is financing the modernization of the railway from Podgorica to Tirana
The reconstruction of the Podgorica - Skadar railway from the Montenegrin side covers 25 kilometers, and the project includes the electrification of the railway, the reconstruction of railway crossings and the construction of a joint control point for passengers and cargo at the current Tuzi railway station. Currently, only freight traffic takes place on this railway, and after the completion of the reconstruction, passenger traffic will be possible from Podgorica all the way to Tirana.
"The goal of the project is to bring this section of the railway into essential compliance with the TEN-T standard, thus promoting regional integration, cohesion and modal change from road to rail. The electrification of the railway line would significantly improve environmental protection and create conditions for the opening of passenger rail traffic Podgorica - Skadar (Albania). This line has mainly regional importance and is the only railway connection between Albania and the rest of Europe", stated in the Reform Agenda.
In the evaluation of the maturity of the project, it was stated that the documentation required for the reconstruction of this railway could be completed by the end of 2027, while the period of the reconstruction itself was not specified.
Albania previously received support of 380 million euros from EU funds for the reconstruction of the railway from the Montenegrin border to Tirana and Durrës.
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