Denis Lasic, director of the FBiH Highway Public Company said at the opening ceremony of the Pocitelj - Zvirovici subdivision and the Hercegovina Bridge, one of the largest infrastructure facilities on the Vc corridor and one of the highest bridges in this part of Europe, that, although a demanding project, it was still placed at the service of citizens.

“The Highway Administration brought this big project to an end and showed that it can handle extremely demanding projects,” Lasic said.

Simultaneously with the opening of the grandiose Hercegovina Bridge, he announced that by the end of this year, three more contracts will be signed for the section to Mostar North. According to Lasic, this will boost the construction sector in southern Herzegovina all the way to Mostar North. He added that they currently have active construction sites on a 50-kilometer section in the northern part, from Sarajevo to Odzak and they expect that part to be completely completed by 2026.

“The Prenj tunnel is waiting for us as one of the most demanding sections, for which we are signing a contract at the end of this year and at the beginning of 2030, we’ll be at the border where we want to complete the corridor”, Lasic added.

Federation (FBiH) entity’s Minister of Transport and Communications Andrijana Katic expressed her satisfaction at the opening of the 11-kilometer Pocitelj-Zvirovici section and the ceremonial opening of the Herzegovina Bridge, noting that it is an extremely complex structure, the most demanding on the Vc corridor, and one of the largest bridges in the region.

“The significance and role of today's event is great. The construction of the bridge and the release of this section into traffic are not just important for traffic connections. This is a developmental step, not only for the surrounding municipalities and the county but also for the entire Federation and Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Katic said before the ceremony.

The Minister congratulated the contractors, supervisors and investors, and thanked everyone who contributed to the realization of this project. She also expressed the hope that the new road will be useful to all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as tourists and guests.

The FBiH Prime Minister, Nermin Niksic, congratulated and thanked the employees, company management, the public companies and the management of the FBiH Highway for the successful implementation of the project.

“The minister and I were supportive and we share the satisfaction that these projects finally started to be fully realized. Today we have 11 new kilometres on the Vc corridor, we have the imposing Hercegovina bridge, and soon we will be signing new contracts and starting new investments. Our goal is to turn the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina into one big construction site”, added Niksic.

The FBiH Prime Minister also thanked international creditors and the European Union, emphasizing that this is yet another step on Bosnia's path towards the EU.

Niksic also thanked Plenkovic for his engagement and for the fact that BiH won negotiations with the EU.

The Hercegovina Bridge is a strategic infrastructure project that connects the southern part of Bosnia with the European network of transport corridors. It is part of the subdivision Pocitelj – Zvirovici, which stretches for 11.07 kilometres and connects Pocitelj with the border of Croatia via the Bijaca border crossing.

The opening ceremony brought together numerous government representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, as well as international officials.