COMPANY TO BE SET UP FOR CONSTRUCTION OF SPLIT-ZAGREB EXPRESSWAY

SPLIT, Feb 14 (Hina) - A contract was signed on Monday in the southern coastal city of Split on the establishment of a company for building an expressway from Split to the Croatian capital. The company is going to be set up by the coastal towns - Split and Dubrovnik. Their mayors - Ivan Skaric and Vido Bogdanovic respectively - who signed the contract, assessed this document as the crown of one-year-long preparations for the construction of this road. The mayors called on local authorities in Dalmatia to join this limited liability company. They said they were confident that Croatia's recently-appointed Government would show more understanding for this project that the former one. The 331-kilometre long expressway (50 kilometres shorter than the planned toll motorway) will cost twice times less than the construction of the toll motorway, Skaric and Bogdanovic said. They believed that the Government would accept their proposal that 300 million US dollars, ensured by the American firm Bechtel two years ago for other purposes, could be re-allocated for the building of this speedy road and in that case Bechtel can carry out all construction works on it. If the Government approves it, the construction of the Karlovac- Plitvice section can begin this year. (hina) mm ms