A feasibility study on the Peljesac bridge should be completed by spring next year and by mid year we could have a decision with how much the European Union (EU) would co-finance its construction, transport minister Sinisa Hajdas Doncic said on Friday.
Hajdas Doncic attended a meeting of EU transport ministers in Brussels on Wednesday and on Friday he met with commissioners Violeta Bulc for trans-European transport networks, Corina Cretu for regional policy and the European Coordinator for the TEN-T Mediterranean Corridor Laurens Jan Brinkhorst.
"My personal impression is that the new commissioners are responsive to the Peljesac project and so I believe that sometime mid next year we could have a decision on the amount of EU subsidies. Now we have three instruments, three funds plus Juncker's initiative and so I believe that there will be sufficient money for that important project to be co-financed from EU funds," the minister said.
He added that after a repeated tender a contractor has been selected to prepare a Study of the necessary works which will also be financed by European funds and the completion of that study is expected late April or early May which will be synchronised with the issuance of a building permit for the bridge. "Then we will be ready to discuss the amount of co-financing and I believe that that will occur, it's just a question of whether that will be in the middle or end of next year or beginning of 2016," he said.
Hajdas Doncic announced that the European Commission would be making a decision soon about granting 163 million euro to reconstruct the Dugo Selo - Krizevci railway line which will be the first decision of that nature since Croatia joined the EU.
The reconstruction itself should start later in the spring or early summer if the schedule for the public procurement is adhered to.
We can also expect decisions on the co-financing of three other projects: Dubrovnik airport, the Ciovo bridge and a ring road around Vodice which should be funded from the finance period 2007-2013 which the commission has re-allocated for Croatia.
He presented commissioners Bulc and Cretu with Croatia's transport strategy. "We were commended because we are one of the few countries that have prepared their strategy according to the new methodology," Minister Hajdas Doncic said.
(Hina)