One year before the end of the Government's mandate Milojko Spajić adopted the Proposal for the Master Plan for Infrastructure Investments 2026-2030, according to which by the end of 2030, Montenegro will receive three more sections of highway and one expressway, while at the beginning of the mandate it was promised that both entire Bar - Belgrade and Adriatic-Ionian highways, as well as four expressways, with a total length of 500 kilometers, would be completed within that period for nine billion euros.
These four sections, which are now said to be completed by 2030, will total about 80 kilometers and cost 1,8 billion euros.
It is now certain that in June next year, during the campaign for the parliamentary elections, the Mateševo - Andrijevica highway section will be under construction, for which a contractor has been selected to work on the main project and is starting preparatory work, as well as the section of the expressway from Markovići (on the Cetinje - Budva highway) to Lastva (on the Jaz - Tivat highway). It is likely that construction of the Smokovac - Tološi subsection will also begin by June next year, for which the selection of the contractor is underway, and perhaps also the section of the Bar bypass highway, for which the documentation is being finalized. The Master Plan states that these four sections will be completed by the end of 2030.
The new single list of priority infrastructure projects in the field of transport, which will also be financed from European Union funds, is worth 5,88 billion euros, and includes the construction of several sections of highways and expressways, the reconstruction of the railway, the modernization of Podgorica and Tivat airports, the deepening of the seabed and the expansion of the infrastructure of the Port of Bar, and the reconstruction of several main highways.
This is stated in the Proposal for the Master Plan for Infrastructure Investments 2026-2030, which was adopted by the Government. The list of priority infrastructure projects in the field of transport is almost the same as in the Transport Development Strategy 2019-2035, which was drawn up eight years ago, with the difference that most of the deadlines have been postponed, and the value of the projects has been increased from 3,38 to 5,88 billion, or by two and a half billion or by 70 percent.
Thus, the 2019 Strategy envisaged that the Mateševo - Andrijevica motorway section would be completed in 2027 and that its construction would cost 295 million euros. However, only at the beginning of this year was the contractor selected, a consortium of companies Powerchina Ltd.- Stecol - PCCD, which should complete the main project within five years and build this section of about 24 kilometers for 694 million euros. Now, the Investment Master Plan states the end of 2030 as the deadline for completion of this section and that the total costs will be 730 million euros, which is two and a half times more than the estimate from 2019.
According to the new Master Plan, the 11-kilometer Smokovac - Tološi subsection will also be completed by 2030, which is stated to cost a total of 150 million euros. However, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced in April that it would participate in financing its construction with a favorable loan. The EBRD stated at the time that it would provide 100 million euros, as well as that the European Investment Bank (EIB) would participate with 100 million euros, while Montenegro would invest 70 million euros.
In the Master Plan, in the table listing priority projects in which the EU will participate in financing, the Smokovac - Tološi - Farmaci section is listed, which is 18 kilometers long (seven kilometers more), where it is stated that it will cost 317,5 million euros. In the 2019 Strategy, the Smokovac - Tološi - Farmaci section is left to be completed by 2035.
By the end of 2029, according to the Master Plan, the bypass - expressway around Budva (from Markovići to Lastva), with an estimated value of 257 million euros, will be completed. At the beginning of May, Monteput selected the bid worth 237,4 million euros, submitted by a consortium consisting of "Briv Construction", "Herc gradnja", "Hering", "IPSA Institut" and "Shadong Foreign Economical & Technical Cooperation", as the most favorable offer in the tender for the design and construction of the eight-kilometer bypass around Budva.
According to the Master Plan, by the end of 2030, a section of the highway - the bypass around Bar, which will cost 420 million euros, will also be completed. This route is part of the Gradac - Zaljevo section (around the hinterland of Bar), for which Monteput is still preparing documentation. This section will be common to both the Bar - Belgrade highway and the Adriatic-Ionian highway, which will continue from Bar towards Ulcinj and cross into Albania at Sukobin.
According to the Master Plan, the modern highway Pošćenje - Brezna should be completed by 2030, costing 382 million euros. This road will be a connection between the two expressways Nikšić - Šćepan Polje towards Sarajevo and Nikšić - Šavnik - Žabjak - Plužine.
The remaining sections of the Andrijevica - Boljare highway, for which documentation is currently being prepared, are to be completed after 2030. This section would be 50 kilometers long and, according to the new estimate, would cost 804 million euros. According to the 2019 strategy, this section was estimated at 731 million euros.
After 2030, the eight-kilometer Tološi - Farmaci subsection remains to be built, as well as the Farmaci - Gradac section, where the intersection with the Adriatic-Ionian Highway is located.
After that year, sections of the Adriatic-Ionian Highway from Farmak to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as from Bar to Sukobin and the border with Albania, remain to be completed.
From the Prime Minister's promise from 2023, the remaining expressways for after 2030 are Bijelo Polje - Pljevlja to Sarajevo, Andrijevica - Peć, as well as from the border with Croatia to Budva, if it is built across or around the Bay of Kotor. At that time, he also announced the expressway Bar - Ulcinj - Albania, but in the meantime it was decided to build it as a highway.
The share that the French received is not planned until 2030.
The Master Plan for Investments in Transport Infrastructure, which would be completed by 2030, does not include the 16-kilometer section of the Adriatic-Ionian Highway Čevo - Krivošije Interchange (near Grahovo on the Vilusi - Risan road).
Monteput signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the French company "Bouygues" for this section last week.
As announced at the time, the Memorandum of Understanding represents the initial institutional framework for the further development of the project, which is part of the broader idea of building an Adriatic-Ionian highway through Montenegro. In the long term, this road should improve regional connectivity, relieve existing road traffic and ensure faster communication between the country's interior, the coast and neighboring countries.
The memorandum was signed on the basis of a previous intergovernmental agreement between Montenegro and France.
DPS's priority was to complete the road to Serbia by 2027
In the current Master Plan compared to the Strategy from 2019, important differences in priorities can be seen.
The then government, led by the DPS, prioritized the completion of the sections from Podgorica to Serbia, so their plan stated that the Mateševo - Andrijevica and Andrijevica - Boljare (border with Serbia) sections would also be completed by 2027.
They planned to complete the Smokovac - Tološi section only by 2035.
The current government has postponed the Andrijevica - Boljare section until after 2030, while it has scheduled the Smokovac - Tološi section for completion by 2030.
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