SARAJEVO, July 14 (Hina) - Croatia's Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Monday that an agreement with Bosnia-Herzegovina on the seaport of Ploce could be ratified in two months' time, and announced that in the coming three to four
weeks Zagreb would offer to Sarajevo a model and programme for the construction of sections of the pan-European Vc road corridor.
SARAJEVO, July 14 (Hina) - Croatia's Prime Minister Ivica Racan
said on Monday that an agreement with Bosnia-Herzegovina on the
seaport of Ploce could be ratified in two months' time, and
announced that in the coming three to four weeks Zagreb would offer
to Sarajevo a model and programme for the construction of sections
of the pan-European Vc road corridor. #L#
After talks with a delegation of the Bosnian Council of Ministers,
led by Premier Adnan Terzic, in Sarajevo, Croatia's PM told
reporters that the two sides assessed that the problem of the
southern Croatian port of Ploce should finally be taken off the
agenda.
"I am here taking on the obligation to see the agreement (on the
issue) be ratified by the Croatian parliament," Racan said, adding
that this should happen within two months. In addition to the
ratification of the said agreement, a protocol should be adopted
which envisages the elimination of an international arbiter from
the future managing council of Ploce Port.
The protocol would stipulate the possibility of ad hoc arbitration
in cases of dispute, but the Croatian PM believes that the two
countries are capable of solving problems of that kind on their
own.
"I maintain that neither Bosnia nor Croatia need protectorate any
longer," Racan said.
He added that the two countries would solve part of an agreement
regarding passage through the Bosnian coastal town of Neum in the
same package.
The matter is becoming more important now that Croatia decided to
build a highway from Split to Dubrovnik through Bosnian territory,
namely the area of Neum, and free passage would be guaranteed by an
inter-state agreement, Racan explained.
Commenting on the issue of the construction of a highway, which
would connect Budapest and Ploce passing through Bosnia, the
Croatian premier described the project as extremely important to
both countries, given that it would integrate them into Central
Europe.
"We offer concrete cooperation through the elaboration of models
and programmes of cooperation," Racan said.
He said this was a sort of statement of intent which would assume its
concrete forms in the coming three to four weeks.
Croatia is explicitly interested in the public announcement for
tenders at which the job would be given to those who meet criteria,
as this is the most transparent and favourable manner to find the
best solution, he explained.
He added that in this way international financial institutions
would show more interest in financing the project and they could in
also offer more favourable conditions for loans than commercial
banks.
The Bosnian ministerial council's chairman, Adnan Terzic, said the
elaboration of the project for the said corridor was actually at the
beginning, and Sarajevo would consider all that Croatia could
offer. He added that concessions for the construction of the
highway would be in any case given to companies and not to states.
Terzic said that the authorities would continue negotiating with a
private company called Bosmal on the issue, if Bosmal managed to
collect 300 million euros required for the elaboration of a
feasibility study and other accompanying documents referring to
the highway.
Commenting on the status of Ploce Port, Terzic said the Bosnian
authorities treated it exclusively as an economic issue and not a
political one.
(hina) ms