Despite the global economic recession, Croatia will not scrap the construction of a Danube-Sava canal, which will improve its economic competitiveness, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Božidar Kalmeta said in the eastern city of Vinkovci on Thursday.
He was speaking to the press after discussing the improvement of the transport infrastructure in Vukovar-Srijem County with county and city leaders.
Kalmeta announced the reconstruction of a 33.5 km long Vinkovci-Tovarnik railroad section, an investment of EUR 75 million, of which 28 million is a grant from the ISPA pre-accession program.
The minister said HRK 714 million would be invested in the county's rail infrastructure by 2012.
Referring to the upcoming four – years Program of Construction and Maintenance of Public Roads, Minister Kalmeta announced the planned construction of the Vukovar-Vinkovci-Županja four-lane highway, as well as the construction of a road connecting Ilok and Lipovac and an annex to Highway A3.
Asked by the press about plans for the construction of the Pelješac bridge in the southernmost part of Croatia, Kalmeta said Croatia would not scrap the project, or the construction of a highway crossing Bosnian territory, but added that an acceptable agreement must first be reached with the neighboring country.
Kalmeta also visited the 32.5 km long section of the future A5 highway connecting Beli Manastir, Osijek and Svilaj. (Hina)