November 27 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a 26 million euro ($31 million) sovereign loan for the reconstruction and upgrade of the road section between Montenegro’s northern municipalities of Berane and Kolasin, the lender said on Friday.
The funding will cover the construction of 13.9 km of road as well as the finalisation of the 2.8 km-long tunnel that will link Berane with Kolasin, considerably shortening travel time between the two cities and improving connectivity in Montenegro's less developed northern regions, the EBRD said in a statement.
The loan follows two previously signed financing agreements between the EBRD and the government of Montenegro totalling 25 million euro, the bank said.
The new funds will also support the preparation of a road asset management system, which will store road data information and help plan short and long-term road maintenance services, contributing to the optimisation of road planning and resource allocation in the Montenegrin road sector, the EBRD added.
The EBRD has been involved in road sector reform in Montenegro since it began investing in the country in 2006. So far, the EBRD has invested 710 million euro in 74 projects in the country.
($ = 0.838582 euro)