The construction work is estimated at HRK 950 million, without Value Added Tax, and the bridge is expected to be built in next 30 months by Croatian companies: Viaduk, Osijek-Koteks, Konstruktor-Inzenjering Split, Skladgradnja-Grupa Imotski and Hidroelektra Niskogradnja Zagreb. The funds for this purpose have been ensured from a loan granted by the German KfW development bank.
Laying the cornerstone, PM Kosor said that this exceptionally important project would contribute to the development of this area.
She announced the construction of one more bridge at Svilaj as part of the Beli Manastir-Osijek-Svilaj section of the A5 motorway.
Kosor recalled that from 2004 to 2010 a total of 413 kilometres of roads and motorways had been constructed with HRK 23 billion having been invested for that purpose.
Despite the recession, two billion kuna will be invested in transport infrastructure construction in this year, she added.
All of this shows what our priorities are. This year we will certainly go out of the crisis and register positive results, Kosor said.
Recalling that with the finalisation of the accession negotiations with the European Union, Croatia had attained an extremely important historic objective, Kosor said that Croatia would be focused on the strengthening of its economy, notably infrastructure, towards its admission to the Union.
The 2,507-metre-long Drava bridge is the most significant facility on the Beli Manastir-Osijek motorway section within the pan-European Vc corridor going from Budapest via the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo to the southern Croatian seaport of Ploce.
Croatia will have two sections in this corridor -- the 88-kilometre-long A5 motorway from the Hungarian border to Svilaj, a border crossing with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the 23-kilometre A10 motorway from the Mali Prolog border crossing with Bosnia to the seaport of Ploce. Currently, the 55 kilometre-long Sredanci-Osijek section of the A5 motorway is available for traffic.
(EUR = HRK 7.4)