The coal mine in Pljevlja is negotiating with the bankruptcy administration of the company "Vektra Jakić" about the lease of an asphalt base in the Pljevlja village of Bušnje, which has not been in operation for years, and which is owned by the company of a businessman from Podgorica Dragan Brković.
This was confirmed to "Vijesta" by the executive director of Rudnik Uglja Nemanja Laković.
He said that the company plans to launch new businesses within the framework of the Just Transition process, which includes the process of reforming the energy sector in Montenegro, especially those sectors that have the greatest share in environmental pollution.
President of the Municipality of Pljevlja Dario Vranes expects that the asphalt base will be in operation again, because it would be easier for them to procure asphalt and speed up the asphalting of rural and urban roads.
The municipality currently buys asphalt in Podgorica or other places in the area at twice the price due to high transport costs.
Vraneš says that a ton of asphalt costs 77 euros in Podgorica, and 155 euros in Pljevlja.
"Whoever owns the asphalt base in Bushnji, we will buy asphalt from them. In Pljevlja, we have a huge problem that we do not have an asphalt base, so we are forced to bring asphalt from other areas. A ton of asphalt in Podgorica costs 77 euros, and due to transportation, we in Pljevlji pay about 155 euros, which means that we pay more than double for a ton of asphalt in Pljevlji than in Podgorica or elsewhere," said the first man of the city to "Vijesta".
He also points out that asphalt loses its quality when it is delivered to Pljevlja, due to the long distance from where it is brought.
"By the time it reaches Pljevlja, the asphalt loses its quality because engineers say that it is best to install it at a temperature of about 180 degrees, and when it arrives in Pljevlja it is about 110 degrees and it is installed of poor quality, and the transport costs are enormous because a square meter of asphalt is thick six centimeters weighs 144 kilograms," said Vraneš.
Asphalt base in Bushnji worked for years as part of the former Pljeval company "Građevinar", which was bought by Podgorica businessman Dragan Brković.
"We have an asphalt base in Pljevlja that has not been working for years. That base has a good capacity and it produces 35 tons of asphalt in one hour. It was repaired by Slovenians in 2019 and is now conserved. It has a good aggregate. She has all the permits and has worked in Bushnji for thirty or more years. It is unacceptable that we have an asphalt base in Pljevlje and we cannot use it," said Vraneš.
The president of the municipality says that the local administration intends to buy machines for asphalting, paver and rollers, which would significantly reduce the costs of asphalting municipal roads.
"This year, we saved over 50 percent of our funds by purchasing machinery for the preparation of tampons, two excavators, crushers, six trucks, a grader and a roller. By purchasing this machinery, we pave twice as many roads. It was a real hit, and in a year and a half we asphalted 72 road routes on the territory of the municipality. If we had an asphalt base in Pljevlja, we would certainly do twice as much. We now drive 120 kilometers on asphalt, and we have a base only five kilometers from the city. Without roads, there is no development of tourism, villages and agriculture", said Vraneš.
He pointed out that the construction and reconstruction of roads is a priority of the local administration.
The municipality of Pljevlja has a thousand and a half kilometers of unmarked and categorized roads.
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