January 10 (SeeNews) - Montenegro hopes to start the construction of the Bar-Smokovac and Matesevo-Boljare sections of the motorway linking the port city of Bar to the Serbian border by the end of 2022, capital investments minister Mladen Bojanic said.
"This is about 70 kilometers in total for those two sections. Projects are being worked on in a hurry and I believe that we can get to work by the end of the year," Bojanic said in a video file posted on the YouTube channel of the Mina news agency on Saturday.
Montenegro intends to soon open the Smokovac-Matesevo section of the motorway, which the government is considering to be a priority, because of its significance as a link between Podgorica and northern Montenegro, Bojanic noted.
"I dare not say that it will be opened on January 15, but it will be soon. We came close," he added.
The Smokovac-Metesevo section featuring 18 tunnels, 13 bridges, five viaducts, and four interchanges, is being built by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). The original deadline for the completion of the project was September 30 but according to Montenegrin media reports, the Chinese company has requested an extension due to the coronavirus crisis. A total of 1,080 workers were hired for works on the project, including 460 Chinese citizens.