PODGORICA (Montenegro), April 10 (SeeNews) – China’s Ex-Im Bank may provide a loan under preferential conditions to Montenegro for its motorway project Bar-Boljare, in particular for the priority section Podgorica–Matesevo, the Montenegrin government said.
The loan would be provided as part of a $10 billion (7.7 billion euro) credit line for the countries in Central and Southeastern Europe, announced by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in 2011, the government in Podgorica said on Tuesday.
Montenegrin transport minister Ivan Brajovic informed Ex-Im Bank’s officials on the progress in the selection of a contractor. The government is in talks with a consortium of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), a Turkish consortium of Dogus and Gulsan, U.S-Turkish consortium Bechtel-Enka and the European Investment Bank which have shown interest in the Bar-Boljare project.
The bank officials said that the loan may be provided under preferential terms and a lower interest rate, if Montenegro selects the Chinese consortium.
The 169 kilometre Bar-Boljare motorway will be part of the longer Bar-Belgrade stretch of EU-wide transport Corridor X linking Montenegro's Adriatic coast with the Serbian capital.
($=0.7666 euro)