The President of the Government of Montenegro Dritan Abazović and the General Director of the Chinese company Shandong (Shandong International Economics & Technical Cooperation Group) Cai Kun, today made official the start of work on the construction of the boulevard, i.e. the reconstruction of the Adriatic highway on the stretch from Tivat Airport to Jaz.
It is one of the most frequent and congested roads in Montenegro, and the length of the section that will be transformed into a boulevard-type road through reconstruction and extension is 16 kilometers.
The route of the boulevard passes through the territory of three municipalities: Tivat, Kotor and Budva, and the works have started on the section between the Kotor intersection and Tivat, over a part of the land of the former agricultural era of Montepranzo, the expropriation of which has only been completed so far.
"Today is a big day for Montenegro because we are starting the reconstruction of the most frequent road in our country. For years, there was only talk about the need to reconstruct this section, and I am very pleased that we, as the 43rd Government, very quickly got into a situation to open the works, and I hope in two years, we will witness the opening of a 16-kilometer boulevard, which will significantly help the flow of traffic between Budva and Tivat," said Abazović, adding that "this is not the end, because of course, a bypass around Budva and around other cities on the littoral".
"All road routes that gravitate to the coast should have at least four traffic lanes. This is the challenge that lies before us because many generations in Montenegro dream of such roads, of course along the highway. I believe that if we work diligently and focus on the development of infrastructure, we won't have any major problems when it comes to the development of tourism," said Abazović.
He said that "Montenegro is a prestigious tourist destination" and agreed with everyone who claims that "it is completely unacceptable for citizens and tourists to wait in kilometers long lines on the roads".
He thanked everyone who participates in this project and called for faster planning and construction of adequate roads throughout the country, but also for patience, because after the season, works on the Tivat-Jaz boulevard will begin to be carried out on the part of the route where they will affect the flow of traffic on the current highway.
He pointed out that Montenegro is "open to all those who want to do fair business" and invited companies from all over the world "because we do not make any distinctions" to participate in future tenders for the construction of new facilities in Montenegro.
Cai Kun thanked the Shandong company for the trust shown to build this road and emphasized that Shandong, which is already present in the region where it builds large infrastructure facilities in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), will strive to prove its quality on the Tivat-Jaz boulevard as well. and abilities, but also show social responsibility.
"Improving the traffic infrastructure in our friendly country Montenegro will bring more opportunities for the development of the country and its economy. Shandong Company is ready to work with the Montenegrin Government to deepen mutual understanding through close cooperation, as well as to improve the local economy through the implementation of such projects, as well as to improve cooperation with Montenegro in other areas as well," underlined Kun.
The reconstruction of the Tivat-Jaz section, by the way, involves the construction of a road that will have two carriageways in each direction, sidewalks on both sides, a dividing strip and even 14 roundabouts on the section through Grbalj.
In parallel with the new road, a new pipeline of the Regional Waterworks for Tivat will be built in order to improve the water supply in the three municipalities.
In accordance with the requirements of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), from whose loan funds this project is financed, the Chinese consortium Shandong Foreign Economic & Technical Cooperation Co., Ltd & Shandong Luqiao Group Co Ltd was chosen to perform the works, whose offer amounted to 53.915.262 euros without VAT.
The deadline for the completion of the works is two calendar years from the introduction of the contractor into the work.
The ceremony organized on the occasion of the start of the works was attended by the Ministers of Economic Development and Tourism Goran Đurović and Ministers of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism Ana Novaković-Đurović, Ambassador of China to Montenegro Fan Kun, representatives of the Traffic Administration, Monteputa Regional Waterworks and leaders of the municipalities of Tivat and Kotor.
Chinese Ambassador Fan Kun said that investment in infrastructure construction is a key factor for the progress of any country's economy.
"The reconstruction of this section of the highway will enable everyone to travel more easily to the important tourist centers of Tivat, Kotor and Budva, and to a large extent it will also promote the development of the Montenegrin tourism industry and allow more tourists to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of Montenegro. The transformation of the Regional Water Supply will make everyday life easier of the local population and improve the overall level of management of the coastal city municipalities," emphasized Ambassador Kun.
He called on Montenegrin officials to use the international initiative of the Chinese government "Belt and Road" for further improvement of the traffic infrastructure in Montenegro, adding that such projects through this initiative of the Chinese state, "are always implemented on the principles of equality and mutual benefit".
Director of the Regional Waterworks Borislav Ivanković pointed out that the laying of an additional, second branch of the waterworks from Budva to Tivat, which will be done in parallel with the construction of the new boulevard, will enable an increase in the flow of water to this part of the coast from the current 300 to 750 liters per second.
The director of the Traffic Administration, Radomir Vuksanović, pointed out that the construction of the Tivat-Jaz boulevard is the largest investment of the Administration so far, and that the supervision of the works that will be carried out by the Chinese will be carried out by the Italian firm IRD Engineering.
"This is the busiest road in Montenegro where we have daily traffic of over 30.000 vehicles and we really have a bottleneck here that we will solve by building a boulevard," he concluded.
The boulevard will not solve the congestion and traffic jams, bypasses that do not exist would achieve that
Although all the officials at today's ceremony exuded optimism that the expansion of the Tivat-Jaz highway into a boulevard will solve the problem of traffic jams and congestion on that road, where they are now in the peak season. kilometer columns and vehicles moving at a snail's pace, this will most likely not happen.
Traffic experts warned that the four lanes from Tivat to Jaz mean nothing because all the traffic from them then again flows into the narrow two lanes of the existing highway on Jaz, i.e. Tivat, and that it would be much more effective if the money that would be be spent on the boulevard, focus on the construction of bypasses above Tivat and Budva, because the main problem here is transit traffic.
The construction of the boulevard, in addition, literally "nailed" any possibility for a more serious development of the capacity of Tivat Airport, even though the Airport of Montenegro (ACG) asked the state in time to consider relocating the existing highway so that the airport would have contact with the now unused large land of the former agricultural property on which new capacities of that airport can be built.
When asked by "Vijesti" why almost 70 million euros are being invested in a way that will not solve the key problem, and why this money was not directed to the bypasses around Tivat and Budva, the director of the Traffic Administration Radomir Vuksanović said that "the question of the order in which it will take place certain projects have too many things that we have to satisfy".
"We had a project done for the Tivat-Jaz boulevard, and that allowed us to react faster. In any case, this investment in the boulevard will not slow down other investments that we intend to implement in the coming period," said Vuksanović, adding that they had recently been together with Monteputa, held talks with the head of the Municipality of Tivat and agreed that the state "will assist the city of Tivat with traffic to try to realize the project of building a boulevard through the city of Tivat itself", and similar discussions were held with Bar for the part of the highway from the turn for the Sozina tunnel to the settlement Shushanj.
He added that the story surrounding the construction of the bypass around Budva "has stalled a little because of the situation in the local administration, which you all know."
Abazović: I don't mind that the boulevard is being built by "Bemax", they are the best construction company in the country
When Prime Minister Dritan Abazović was asked by "Vijesti" if he personally had a problem with the fact that Shandong, as its main subcontractor for the construction of the Tivat-Jaz builevar, hired the company "Bemax", whose owners the Prime Minister often publicly calls out for alleged organized crime, Abazović answered in the negative.
"Nothing that is legal is a problem for me at all. The tender was public, several companies applied, the first-ranked bidder was the Chinese bidder, and they continue to hire subcontractors, as it works in all such projects. The government is only interested in everything being legal, transparently and that the work is completed within the deadline. Those are the priorities. The one who makes the best offer will work, and how and what they will do between themselves, that is not a problem for me," Abazović pointed out.
He rejected the claims of other media that the government's approval of "Bemax" to be the main subcontractor to the Chinese on a project for which the state will pay about 70 million euros, from him as prime minister, creates an "accomplice of a criminal organization", as Abazović calls the owners of the construction company from Podgorica.
"That thesis is completely wrong. The government does not cooperate with criminals, but works as prescribed by law. I believe that justice will reach many people in Montenegro, as it has already reached many of the people I mentioned. Many have not yet, but also that's the process, so when the institutions finish their work, those others will also be responsible for what they are doing or have done," Abazović said, adding that "we can't do some companies that have the kind of ownership they have, and they don't even know what their ownership is." , make it impossible for the Chinese who won the tender to be subcontractors".
He added that until the links of that or any other company with some illegal activities are officially confirmed, "they can do their job" and emphasized that Bemax, "as far as construction works are concerned, is the best company in Montenegro and that is indisputable." .
"I will not advertise to anyone, but they are the best construction company in Montenegro. Time will tell if they took advantage of a situation that happened 10-15 years ago to overtake all their competitors. However, for what they do and for the speed with which they carry out construction works, they must be given recognition that in our country this does not exist in others", concluded the Prime Minister.
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