Bosnia and Herzegovina started constructing a new border crossing to Croatia, located by the bridge over the Sava River in the village of Svilaj, near Slavonski Brod, it was announced on Tuesday by the Indirect Taxation Authority (ITA) of Bosnia.

The ITA and three Bosnian companies signed a €9.5 million contract on building the border crossing, which should be completed within 300 days.

The three companies that won the tender are “Niskogradnja” from Laktaši “Alfa term” from Mostar, and “Tehton” from Banja Luka.

Four lanes will be built at the entrance to the border crossing Svilaj, and three at the exit, which will facilitate the separation of passenger transport from freight transport.

The new border crossing is a prerequisite for opening the new bridge over the Sava River located in Svilaj, which would take some traffic away from Slavonski Brod, one of the busiest border crossings to Bosnia at the moment.

The Svilaj bridge is one of the key structures on the route of the future motorway in the Vc corridor, which will connect the Hungarian capital of Budapest and the Croatian southern seaport of Ploce. The Croatian section of the motorway from Hungary to Bosnia stretches over 59 kilometres, going via Beli Manastir, Osijek, and Djakovo.

At the Bosnian side of the border, a ten-kilometre stretch of the motorway from the bridge to the town of Odzak was built earlier, but it will only have a purpose after the remaining seventy kilometres of motorway to Zenica are built.

No deadlines have been yet given for finishing this infrastructural project in Bosnia.