CROATIAN, BOSNIAN TRANSPORT MINISTRIES AGREE ON COOPERATION

ZAGREB, Feb 20 (Hina) - Bosnia-Herzegovina Communications and Transport Minister Branko Dokic said on Friday that candidates for drawing up the study and project documentation for the building of corridor Vc through Bosnia had been short-listed. He said the the candidates include a consortium from Croatia comprising Zagreb's Civil Engineering Faculty and one from Bosnia which also includes Croatian companies such as the Croatian Construction Institute.#L# Corridor Vc is of primary importance in the infrastructure sector for Bosnia, Dokic said after talks with Croatian Minister of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development Bozidar Kalmeta. Dokic said the project is worth three billion US dollars. The two ministers signed an agreement on navigation through inland waterways, under which the two countries will jointly cover the costs of navigation maintenance of the Sava river. The talks also focused on establishing a better road connection, particularly in light of the realisation of the Corridor Vc project, the Adriatic-Ionian Highway, the Okucani-Stara Gradiska-Banja Luka highway, the reconstruction of the bridge in Jasenovac, the Metkovic belt-way and the Hrvatska Kostajnica-Bosanska Kostajnica border crossing. The two ministers also tackled the claims the Croatian Railways company has towards Bosnian Railways which, according to unofficial sources amount to some EUR6.5 million. Kalmeta said agreement was reached on all issues and joint interest was established. He said Croatia was interested in seeing Croatian engineering and construction companies participate in the building of the Bosnian 330 kilometre-long section of Corridor Vc, connecting Hungary's Budapest, Croatia's Osijek, Bosnia's Sarajevo and Mostar and Croatia's southern seaport of Ploce. Kalmeta said adding that the project was important for both countries. (Hina) it sb