July 16 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Thursday it is lending 55 million euro ($63 million) to Croatia to finance the construction of two sections of a Corridor Vc motorway.
The loan will go towards the construction of the 17.5-km Halasica bridge - Beli Manastir motorway section leading to Croatia's border with Hungary in 2022, as well as a 5-km motorway section between the town of Beli Manastir and the Hungarian border, the EBRD said in a statement.
"Climate change resilience improvements have been incorporated into the design of these sections to address the risks of the impacts of flooding and extreme rainfall," the statement read.
It added that the completion of the Croatian part of the motorway towards the Hungarian border will increase regional connectivity and reduce bottlenecks.
The EBRD also said that its financing is complimented by a 52 million euro loan provided by the Croatian development bank HBOR. Both loans will help state-owned HAC to complete the construction of the last two remaining sections of Corridor Vc in the country - the Halasica bridge - Beli Manastir section and the Beli Manastir - border with Hungary section.
In April, HAC signed a 443 million kuna ($67 million/59 million euro) deal with a local consortium comprising Osijek-Koteks and GP Krk for the construction of the Halasica bridge - Beli Manastir section.
The Croatian section of European transport Corridor Vc is some 90 km in length.
Corridor Vc is part of the Western Balkans Core Network. It has been established as an extension of the Trans-European Transport Networks and will eventually link the Hungarian capital Budapest to the Croatian Adriatic port of Ploce via Bosnia.
(1 euro = 7.5385 kuna)