VRBOVSKO, June 25 (Hina) - A new, 17.7km section of a highway connecting Zagreb with Rijeka, from Kupjak to Vrbovsko, was formally opened Wednesday.
VRBOVSKO, June 25 (Hina) - A new, 17.7km section of a highway
connecting Zagreb with Rijeka, from Kupjak to Vrbovsko, was
formally opened Wednesday. #L#
The section was opened by Croatian parliament president Zlatko
Tomcic in the presence of President Stjepan Mesic and Prime
Minister Ivica Racan.
The value of the construction works on the most difficult and
technically most demanding section of the 146.5-km-long highway is
988 million kuna (EUR132 mln). This section will shorten the trip
from Zagreb to Rijeka by some 20 minutes.
Opening the highway section, Tomcic said it brought new prospects
of economic development. This is a well-conceived road-building
project which has become the most stable and the most realistic
Croatian project in just a couple of years, he said.
Tomcic voiced satisfaction with the fact that Croatian companies
were doing most of the work on the project.
The highway makes Croatia's integration with Europe possible and
shortens the trip from Zagreb to Rijeka and vice-versa.
The A-6 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.
The construction of one kilometre of the highway cost around EUR7
million on average.
The Kupjak-Vrbovsko section was financed by a EUR98 million loan
from the KfW German development bank, agreed on in early October
2001. The loan's grace period is until 2006.
The length of the highway section with three lanes in each direction
is 6.8km, while the length of the semi-highway is 10.98km.
Another section of the highway, 130.1km long, will be opened
tomorrow.
The highway is planned to be finished in June of next year.
(hina) lml sb