Montenegro completes about 90% of the Smokovac-Matesevo highway section

Map of Smokovac-Matesevo highway in Montenegro

 Montenegro has completed 89% of all construction work on the Smokovac-Matesevo section of a planned highway, which will connect the port city of Bar with the border with Serbia, the government said. Construction of 16 tunnels along the section has been completed and bridge construction has been completed at 91%, the government said in a statement on Thursday.

The government is preparing to build the Matesevo-Andrijevica and Smokovac-Farmaci sections of the highway under a public-private partnership model.

In November 2018, the Montenegrin government applied for a 54.6m-euro ($ 61.3m) loan to build the Matesevo-Andrijevica section, which represents 20% of the total project cost. An additional 20% will be provided through a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and 60% will be provided by private partners.

Smokovac-Metesevo was built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). The initial deadline for the completion of the project is September 30, but according to Montenegrin media reports, the Chinese company applied last month for its extension due to the coronavirus crisis. A total of 1,080 workers were hired to carry out the project, including 460 Chinese nationals.