Motorway section from Vrgorac to Ploce inaugurated

The Zagreb-Dubrovnik motorway's 16.1-kilometre-long section between Vrgorac and Karamatici near the southern seaport of Ploce and a 7.5-km section of motorway from the Metkovic junction to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina were formally inaugurated on Friday. The investment is estimated at HRK 1.7 billion exclusive of Value Added Tax.

Addressing the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Karamatici, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sinisa Hajdas Doncic said that an entry road into the port of Ploce would be built in 2014, and that the Svilaj bridge across the Sava River at the Croatian-Bosnian border in east Croatia would be built after the approval of a loan for that purpose, explaining that this was a part of the pan-European Corridor Vc.

This motorway infrastructure will enhance the competitiveness of the seaport of Ploce, which primarily serves the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the minister said.

He added that Croatia would no longer build motorways with its own funds and that future plans for road construction would be based on co-financing from the European Union's funds.

With the opening of the two new sections, the route from Zagreb towards the southernmost Croatian city of Dubrovnik is 438 kilometres long and the toll for a passenger car travelling from Zagreb to the exit at Karamatici costs HRK 228 (approximately 30 euros).