The chairman of the board of the Rijeka-Zagreb Highway company, Jurica Prskalo, and the director for transport at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Riccardo Puliti, signed on Wednesday a EUR 50 million loan contract for the completion of the highway connecting Croatia's largest seaport and its capital. The contract signing was also attended by the Minister of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development Božidar Kalmeta.
At the same time, Finance Minister Ivan Šuker and an EBRD representative signed a contract on a Croatian government guarantee for the financing of the project.
The loan was approved for a 25-year period, with four years' grace, and complements a EUR 210 million EBRD loan contract signed in March, thus securing the funds necessary for the project, said Prskalo.
The project envisages the construction of 11 bridges, nine tunnels and facilities on 27 per cent of the 44.26 km Kikovica-Vrbovsko section.
The section is expected to be opened for traffic in late 2008 and will finally complete the construction on the Rijeka-Zagreb highway, which began about 30 years ago.
Puliti said that such investments in the infrastructure made Croatia's roads part of the European road network and also helping Croatia's political integration into the European Union.
The EBRD has been active in Croatia since 1994 and has secured EUR 1.6 billion to finance over 60 projects, mainly in the private sector, said Minister Šuker, adding that three loans had been approved to the state and 13 with state guarantees.