March 18 (SeeNews) - The construction of the Banja Luka–Doboj motorway in Bosnia's Serb Republic should start in early July, local business news portal Capital reported on Wednesday.
The start of construction will depend on several factors, Capital (www.capital.ba) said, quoting the public relations officer of the Serb Republic's Ministry of Transport an Communications, Radmila Kocic.
"The state service on geodesy and property/legal affairs said that it will complete its part of the workload related to the project by June 30, which is when we should expect construction to get underway," Capital quoted Kocic as saying.
The launch of construction will also be preceded by the setting up of a concession enterprise that will be in charge of the funding, development, construction, operation and maintenance of the Republic's road network, Kocic said, adding that the enterprise should be incorporated by mid-May.
The construction of the Banja Luka–Doboj motorway should be completed by the end of January, Capital said.
The 72 kilometre motorway will have 20 bridges and will be part of the European Union-defined Corridor Vc, connecting the Hungarian capital Budapest with the Croatian Adriatic port of Ploce and passing through Bosnia.
It will also be part of the motorway that connects the Serb Republic's administrative centre of Banja Luka with Gradiska at the border with Croatia.
No estimate was immediately available for the cost of the motorway project.
The contract for the Banja Luka–Doboj motorway was signed in November, when the Republic's government granted Austria’s Strabag a 30-year concession to build some 430 kilometres of motorways and high-speed roads.
The government in Banja Luka and the Austrian company will form a 10/90 joint venture company to implement the project, government officials said earlier.
The construction of a network of roads in the Serb Republic will be one of the biggest investments in Bosnia after the 1992-95 war in the country.
The Serb Republic is one of the two autonomous parts forming war-divided Bosnia. The other is the Muslim-Croat Federation.