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BRČKO, June 15 (FENA) - A delegation of the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by Minister Vojin Mitrović, met today in the Brčko City Hall with a delegation of the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia led by Minister Oleg Butković.
Mayor of Brčko District Esed Kadrić, Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and the EU Special Representative in BiH Ambassador Johann Sattler and the First Deputy High Representative in BiH and the Principal Deputy High Representative and Brčko District Supervisor, Michael Scanlan, also attended the meeting.
The Ministry of Communications and Transport of BiH said that the topic of the meeting was the rehabilitation of the existing bridge at the border crossing Brčko-Gunja and defining a contact point for a new bridge that would connect Corridor X and motorway Rača - Brčko - Tuzla - Belgrade, or motorway Sarajevo - Belgrade.
The interlocutors agreed that it is necessary to rehabilitate the existing bridge at the border crossing of Brčko-Gunja to solve the problem of freight traffic.
“Good neighborly and bilateral relations have marked the cooperation between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for decades. In this regard, Croatia wants to continue to strengthen transport links with Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in places where they are needed. We agreed that the existing bridge requires extensive reconstruction, but also that there is a justifiable reason to build a new bridge to ensure a freight corridor that is extremely important for connecting this region,” said Minister Butković.
Head of the EU Delegation to BiH, Ambassador Sattler, said that the EU continues to support Bosnia and Herzegovina in its approach to the Union and continues to invest large financial resources in infrastructure projects. There are currently 15 of them in BiH, and the EU has invested a non-refundable 250 million euros in their implementation.
“I am pleased to have attended this very specific high-level meeting and I look forward to the opening of the Svilaj Bridge soon. I encourage the delegations to resolve the remaining open issues, such as categorization, and I look forward to the next projects to connect the region,” added Ambassador Sattler.
As Mayor Kadrić, who is also the host of this meeting, emphasized, the most important is to reach a joint solution as soon as possible in order for the freight traffic to function.
“Freight traffic is of great interest for the Brčko District of BiH and the Port of Brčko because we are starting a project for the reconstruction of the Port worth 10 million euros. Along with drawing the route of the motorway through Brčko, these are currently the most important infrastructure projects in this local community that will facilitate the trade of goods and services, but also the development of the economy that is significantly affected by the current coronavirus pandemic,” said Kadrić.
“Today is a significant step in building a transport network that will strengthen the economies on both sides of the Sava River because Brčko will connect the region and the markets of the Western Balkans with the European Union. The prosperity it will bring to the Brčko District and its neighbors also envisages that the District accelerates ongoing reforms to strengthen good governance, improve fiscal discipline and budget transparency, improve public services and grow the private sector,” said Brčko Supervisor Scanlan.
(FENA) A. B.
