BECHTEL WILL START CONSTRUCTION WORKS ON MOTORWAY ON OCT 20

( Editorial: --> 7054 ) WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Hina) - The US company BECHTEL should start construction works on a motorway running from the Slovene border via Zagreb and Sisak to the border with Bosnia-Herzegovina on October 20, high Croatian officials reported in Washington on Thursday. Finance Minister Borislav Skegro and Croatian National Bank (HNB) Governor Marko Skreb, who took part in the annual session of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), said that the project would be joined by the US bank Chase, which would act as a financial advisor, and Exim bank, which would invest US$230 million into the project. Skegro and Skreb assessed that this year could be the best year in regard to direct foreign investments. Still, they added that they had been warned in Washington that the situation in Croatia next year would not be as it had been during the previous years, due to the global financial crisis. (hina) rml 091042 MET oct 98