Bosnia and Herzegovina officials on Friday signed in Mostar a €167 million contract on the construction of a section of a highway that is part of the transport corridor Vc in the north of the country.

The contract is part of plans for the construction of 85 kilometres of the pan-European transport corridor worth €3.5 billion in the next two years.

The construction of the highway section running from Putnikovo Brdo to Medakovo near Tesanj municipality will be financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The contract was signed by representatives of the Autoceste Federacije BiH highway operator and the competent Federation ministry and the contractor, the Euro-Asfalt company from Sarajevo. The value of the construction work is €167 million and the deadline for the completion of the highway section is 24 months, the Autoceste BiH highway operator said.

Autoceste Federacije BiH director Elmedin Voloder said that currently, work was underway on 40 kilometres of the Corridor Vc highway in the BiH Federation entity.

“This and next year construction work will start on another 85 kilometres of the highway, worth €3.5 billion,” he said, noting that by the end of the year work would begin on the entire northern section of the Corridor Vc highway towards the Serb entity of Republika Srpska.

The Corridor Vc highway to pass through Bosnia and Herzegovina is an integral part of the pan-European transport route running from Budapest via Osijek and Sarajevo to the Croatian port of Ploče. The highway is more than 330 kilometres long, of which 126 kilometres have been built so far.