Strabag starts construction of Banja Luka-Doboj highway in early summer

The contract for the works on Banja Luka - Doboj highway should be signed between the Government of Republic of Srpska and Austrian company Strabag in early April.

That was announced by the Minister of Transportation and Communications of RS, Nedeljko Čubrilović, after the meeting with Strabag's representatives in Vienna.

- We talked about some details at the meeting and we are now on our way to meet the conditions in order to obtain building permits and sign the contract in the first week of April - said Čubrilović.

He reminded that the preparation works should start on June 1st, while the official date for commencement of works is July 1st.

Čubrilović said that the negotiations with Strabag were completely in the spirit of the concession contract and that the chances that Strabag would close the whole financial structure of the project were big. Viennese economic daily newspaper Wirtschaftsblatt announced that Strabag must provide the banking guarantee worth over 500m EUR that week, but the representatives of the Austrian company denied that later.

The Government of RS and Austrian Strabag signed the Protocol on formation of a concession company for construction of the highway network in RS on May 19, 2010, in Banja Luka. The first part of the highway in that network, on Banja Luka - Doboj route, should be 71 km long.