Transport minister attends REXPO panel on investment in transport sector

Over the next decade, transport projects in Croatia will be financed primarily from EU funds and in cooperation with private investors, the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Sinisa Hajdas Doncic, said at a panel discussion on investment in the transport sector, held as part of the REXPO Adriatic conference in Zagreb on Tuesday.

The minister said that the largest investments were expected in the railway sector, citing the Rijeka - Botovo railway as the most important project. In addition to that railway, which will be used primarily for freight transport, he also mentioned a railway that would connect Zagreb's airport with the city centre, as well as investment in the modernisation of airports, including Dubrovnik airport, construction of a new terminal at Zagreb airport, and modernisation of Split airport. Smaller airports, such as those at Osijek and Rijeka, would have a chance to focus on cargo operations.

Minister Hajdas Doncic said that much of those investments depended on the success of monetisation of the debt of the motorway operators HAC and ARZ. He noted that the European Commission considered the Croatian model of issuing loan guarantees to the present concessionaires to be untenable. Therefore, if the monetisation fails, the government will have to choose between increasing excise taxes and cutting budget expenditures. - the minister said.


(Hina)