The cost of the first section of the highway from Smokovac to Mateševo until the beginning of this year amounted to 1,28 billion euros, representatives of the Association for Social Justice (ASP) announced.
"This price includes all construction work, four types of supervision, the cost of expropriation and loans, as well as fiscal exemptions, which referred to exempt VAT, customs duties, taxes and contributions on the earnings of foreigners and the refund of part of the excise duty on fuel," said ASP, adding that the opening of bids for the continuation of the highway construction is expected in a few days.
They specified that the cost of the main and subsequent construction works amounted to 881,5 million, but that it was not known whether the issue of the guarantee deposit, which was over 21 million two years ago, had been closed.
The guarantee deposit, as stated by ASP, belongs to the contractor, namely the Chinese China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).
"Additional works include expenses for power supply to the main construction site, construction of the Smokovac interchange, water supply and cable sewage, as well as the cost of building a power supply system for the highway section and the reconstruction of the access road to Kolašin," the statement said.
ASP recalled that the contract with CRBC was concluded in 2014 for a price of 809 million euros, with the completion of the works in four years. This price was later corrected to 801 million euros, while the finalization was delayed by more than three years, so the section began operating in July 2022.
ASP representatives announced that the four types of supervision cost over 30 million euros and were carried out by the French-Italian consortium Ingerop Geodata, two state expert commissions, a special highway unit at the state-owned company Monteput, as well as a special implementation unit formed at the Ministry of Transport.
"Supervisions practically overlapped and unnecessarily overpaid," said ASP, adding that around 22 million euros were allocated for the expropriation of the first section.
They said that by the beginning of this year, expenses for interest, loan processing and fees for unwithdrawn funds amounted to over 80 million euros.
A loan agreement worth USD 944 million was concluded in 2014 with the Chinese state-owned Exim Bank. The loan was hedged twice due to currency risk.
Fiscal exemptions amounted to at least 266 million euros, and were applied based on the lex specialis of the Law on the Bar-Boljare Highway. This law exempted from VAT products and services related to the construction of the highway, taxes and contributions on the earnings of foreigners engaged in the construction of the section, and customs duties on goods, equipment and facilities.
"In relation to the total amount of fiscal exemptions, over 36 million were exemptions for the salaries of foreigners who worked on the first section project. At the same time, the Chinese subsidiary of CRBC in Montenegro reported a salary cost of 386,9 million euros for the period from 2015 to 2022. During 2018, when the highest intensity of work was recorded, the average salary at CRBC was 5,5 thousand, while in the country it was 770 euros," the ASP statement said.
They added that that year, monthly salaries of top managers were recorded at up to 45 thousand euros.
The Highway Law also provides for exemptions from paying concession fees for technical construction stone taken from the construction site and installed in the section.
"The amount of the exemption is unknown and it has never been officially announced how many cubic meters of that stone were installed in the section," ASP said.
They announced that after the first years of traffic on the Smokovac-Mateševo section, the revenue from toll collection will probably be enough for Monteput just to cover the expenses for its regular maintenance.
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