PRISTINA (Kosovo), May 29 (SeeNews) – Kosovo inaugurated on Wednesday the 65-kilometre long motorway linking capital Pristina to the border with North Macedonia, Kosovo’s infrastructure ministry said.
The Arben Xhaferi motorway, Route 6, was built by a consortium of U.S. engineering company Bechtel and Turkish construction and engineering firm Enka, the infrastructure ministry said in a press release, following the inauguration ceremony attended by Kosovo's prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, his North Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev and other regional leaders.
Kosovo is moving forward with the construction of modern infrastructure as part of its transformational vision, for strong economic ties and sustainable development, Haradinaj said in a Facebook post.
The new motorway will enable fastest and safer flow of people and goods between the two countries, Zaev said in a separate statement, adding that Kosovo is among the top 20 countries in terms of trade with North Macedonia.
Kosovo started building the motorway worth around 600 million euro ($696 million) in 2014. The motorway, Kosovo's second, comprises eight bridges, six intersections, 29 overpasses and 17 underpasses.
Kosovo’s first motorway, Route 7, which runs from Morina on the Albanian border to the north of Pristina, was built by the Bechtel-Enka consortium and delivered a year ahead of schedule in November 2013.
The Bechtel-Enka tie-up has successfully delivered a number of major infrastructure projects in the region, including motorways in Albania, Croatia, and Turkey. The two companies have built more than 28,000 kilometers of motorways and roads, 100 tunnels totalling some 350 kilometers in length, and 25 major bridges.
($ = 0.89443 euro)