PRISTINA (Kosovo), May 29 (SeeNews) – The European Investment Bank (EIB) said on Tuesday it is providing a loan of up to 80 million euro ($93.3 million) to co-finance the construction of a 30 km highway section in Kosovo.
“This project is part of the South-East Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO) Route 6b, linking the Kosovo capital Pristina to the border with Montenegro,” the EIB said in a statement, following the signing of the loan agreement between EIB vice-president Dario Scannapieco and Kosovo finance minister Bedri Hamza in Luxembourg.
“We are extremely pleased to sign our biggest loan to date with Kosovo. The investment will have significant impact on Kosovo’s economic growth and will further enhance its integration with the rest of the Western Balkans region, bringing it closer to Europe,” Scannapieco said.
Meanwhile, Kosovo's infrastructure ministry is seeking a consultant to undertake a road financing and institutional study related to the construction of the highway section linking the Kijeve village, near the capital Pristina, with the town of Peja, close to the border with Montenegro, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said last week.
The assignment, with an estimated cost of 100,000 euro, is expected to start in second half of 2018 and has an estimated overall duration of 24 months.
The EBRD has extended a sovereign loan of up to 71 million euro to Kosovo to co-finance the project.
The construction of the highway will be also financed by a 3.2 million euro grant funding from the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) for project preparation.
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