“Funds from the increase of the excise duties on fuel will be used exclusively for the construction of motorway and modernization and construction of main roads in BiH. Entity governments will not be able to use it for any other purpose than the construction of road infrastructure,” stated the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Denis Zvizdic.
He emphasized that 10 fenings from excises will go on the construction of motorways and 5 fenings for the modernization of main roads.
Bridges in Srebrenik, Bihac, Kljuc, Jajce, Nemila, Olovo, Gorazde and other places will be reconstructed and built.
“We are talking about the construction of new main roads, such as Stolac-Neum, Karaula 1, as well as more than 30 new kilometers in the territory of Una-Sana Canton. The modernization of roads is accelerating the flow of goods, people, and capital, and BiH will be turned into an attractive country for both domestic and foreign investments,” noted Zvizdic.
According to Zvizdic, the beginning of construction of aforementioned sections and, as he says, 13 sections on the Corridor 5-C, for which is secured a total of 860 million EUR, mean start of at least 25 economic sectors that are related to road construction as well as opening of hundreds and thousands of new workplaces.
“It would be possible to construct a total of 150 kilometers of the motorway, thus the motorway, except for one section of 25 kilometers, would be practically completed. This would place BiH among the countries with high-quality infrastructure, which is more than necessary if we want fast European development and to valorize resources and put them in the function of economic development in an optimal way,” said Zvizdic.
“Without the road infrastructure, BiH will not be attractive for domestic and foreign investments,” concluded Zvizdic.
The proposed set of laws on excise duties provides an increase of excise duties on fuel by 15 fenings per liter, for the construction of motorways and main roads.
The adoption of these laws is one of the conditions for the continuation of the arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and it is a condition for BiH to successfully pass the first review within the Extended Arrangement after which it would receive the tranche in the amount of about 155 million BAM.
(Source: faktor.ba)