138.5 km of new highways opened for traffic in Croatia by the end of June

Zadar, June 30 - The 82-kilometre-long newly-built section of the Zagreb-Split highway from Udbina via Gornja Ploca to Zadar was opened for traffic, cutting the travel time between Zagreb and Dalmatia by about one hour. The construction of this part of the highway cost approx. USD 106.95 million. Thus, five newly-constructed sections of Croatian highways, with the total length of 138.5 km, were opened for traffic in Croatia in the last week of June.

Opening the section for trafic at the beginning of tourist season, Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan recalled that criticism about and mistrust in the possibility of building this highway had been expressed but also that the entire project of a highway towards the Croatian south had been dreamed of for decades. "We succeeded in accomplishing this goal when Croatia's political, economic and financial rating is improved", Racan said.

"The government is realizing what it promised, finishing a project on which it had been working for three years, within set deadlines, quality and ecological standards and construction licenses, which was not usual in Croatia several years ago", Racan said.

"Construction works on the highway to Dubrovnik have been intensified and the 30-km-long highway to the border with Serbia, will also be completed", Prime Minister said.

"Croatia", Racan said, "is building a road network in order to benefit from its geo-strategic position, integrate itself in Europe, and ensure a better standard for its citizens".

He thanked everybody who contributed to the construction, primarily Croatian citizens who showed confidence and support.

At the opening ceremony, singer Vice Vukov sang his famous patriotic song, written in early 1970s, time of Croatian Spring, when the then Croatian political leadership led by Savka Dabcevic Kucar and Mika Tripalo for the first time emphasized the importance of plans for the construction of the Zagreb-Split highway as a Croatian strategic goal.

Savka Dabcevic Kucar attended Monday's opening ceremony. She said she believes the opening of the sections was due to all those who carried the highway in their hearts 35 years ago, and whose first attempts to realize the project were truncated.

Attending were also President Stipe Mesic and parliament president Zlatko Tomcic.

The Udbina-Gornja Ploca-Zadar II section has 42 facilities and it also includes the 5,6 km-long St.Rok Tunnel. U.S. company Bechtel built the 36 km section of the Zagreb-Split highway. Bechtel will continue to work on the project in next two years as well.

Earlier in the week, on June 24, the new 9.5 km section of the road that connects Croatian capitol Zagreb with Hungary has been opened for traffic. The section is an investment worth USD 75.9 million. It was inaugurated by Radimir Cacic, the minister for public works, reconstruction and construction.

Prime Minister Ivica Racan was also present. "This section is important for the area as well as for linking Croatia with northern Europe", he said.

Construction of Zagreb-Gorican highway, which is on the Vb European corridor and part of Europe's highway grid, will be finished by the end of this year when another 15 km will be opened.

Also, a new, 17.7km section of a highway connecting Zagreb with Rijeka, from Kupjak to Vrbovsko, was opened on June 25. It was opened by Croatian parliament president Zlatko Tomcic in the presence of President Stjepan Mesic and Prime Minister Ivica Racan. The highway connects Rijeka, Croatia's largest port and an important business centre, with Zagreb and further on with the Central and Western Europe highway network. The Zagreb-Rijeka highway is part of the future Adriatic-Ionic highway.

This was the most technically challenging section of the Zagreb-Rijeka highway to build, costing about USD 138 million. It is expected to cut travel time between Zagreb and Rijeka on the coast by about 20 minutes and makes Croatia's integration with Europe physically possible. The entire lenght of the highway is due to be completed in June 2004.

Croatian President Stjepan Mesic opened for traffic two new highway sections on June 26, one on the Zagreb-Rijeka and the other on the Zagreb-Split highway, in the total length of 46 km and worth USD 336.95 million.

Mesic, judging Croatia's model of investing and highway building as currently the best in Europe, said highways were crucial for making Croatia competitive. "Highways are not built with cash from the state budget and building them would not be possible without long-term foreign loans, on which interest is favorable due to Croatia's good credit rating", he added.

"We should use this opportunity to develop all other branches of the economy, because the construction of highways makes that possible for us", Mesic said in the presence of Croatian parliament president Zlatko Tomcic and Prime Minister Ivica Racan.

Next year, another 190 km of highways will be constructed. The Rijeka-Zagreb highway will be completed, as well as highway that connects Zagreb with Hungary. The Zagreb-Split highway should be completed in 2005, the highway to Dalmatian southernmost Dubrovnik by 2008 and all envisioned highways in the country by 2010.

Construction works on highway sections which will be opened this year in Croatia total USD 842.95 million, with the Zagreb-Split highway accounting for most of the funds. The government will invest USD 1.04 billion in the construction of the highway next year and around USD 190 million in the last construction year, 2005.