Although the Bosnian part of the 5C Corridor – a European route that connects Budapest with the Adriatic Sea – is under construction, another deadline has been missed. The longest part of the Corridor stretches through Bosnia and Herzegovina, where there are currently three active construction sites.

Our crew visited one of them to check on how works are progressing. We have also asked authorities when the machines will be finally moved to new sections.

Workers and machines of the Siroki Brijeg construction company “Hering” are busy building the 2,3 kilometer-long Drivuša – Klopce section. It includes a 650 meter bridge – the longest on the 5C Corridor. The construction costs of this part of the corridor is 33 million Euros, financed from a loan provided by the Kuwait Fund.  

The works on this section are behind schedule, but are expected to be finalized by the end of June. Engineers say this is the most complicated part of the highway. The three years-long construction of it was to be finished on March 15, but it wasn’t.  

This is also the second time the deadline for this section has been missed, apparently because unfavorable geology, a large number of objects that had to be removed and additional work that had to be done. Workers had to demolish 37 houses that stood in the way.

Nearly 1,000 workers are indirectly working on this section every day. Power lines had to be dislocated as well as gas pipelines.  

“We had to relocate 2,5 kilometers of the Sarajevo – Zenica gas pipeline but so that the Zenica steel mill never looses gas. We did that,” Ahmed Musija, a representative of the investor said.  

These 2,3 kilometers are equal to 20 kilometers built on flat land, he said.  

Although works on this section are in full swing, critics say progress is still too slow and that the Bosnian Federation entity has not opened one new kilometer of the highway for years.  

Authorities have said that they have created the conditions for new kilometers to be built.

“We have created the financial preconditions for a faster construction of roads and highways. Now it’s up to the entity ministries,” said Bosnia’s Prime Minister, Denis Zvizdic.  

Those preconditions include the adoption of an increase of excise duties. However, the three currently active construction sites on the 5C Corridor are being financed from previously agreed sources.

When will the machines be moved to new sections?  

“We are planning to sign the contract for the 7,2 kilometer-long Pocitelj – Buna project by the end of April so that the construction can start end of May,” said Adnan Terzic, the head of Autoceste FBiH – the Federations’ public motorway company.  

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD, approved 700 million Euros for the construction of the Corridor after Bosnia adopted the increase of the excise duties. This amount will allow the works on five more sections to start within the next two years.