The European Union (EU) is stepping up its support for Corridor Vc, the key transport infrastructure project in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with additional grant funding of €45.2 million, the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina said on Thursday. This brings the total amount of approved EU grants for Corridor Vc to more than half a billion euro.

The grant funds signed today will pay the ongoing construction works on two motorway sections for Poprikuse-Nemila worth €36 million and €9.2 million investment grant for the Ivan Tunnel.

Corridor Vc is a pan-European transport project and the section in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is 325 kilometres long, will cross the country from north to south, eventually connecting the Adriatic port of Ploce in Croatia with the Hungarian capital, Budapest.

The motorway, which will bring Bosnia and Herzegovina closer to the EU, is co-financed from the EU grant resources and by favourable loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European Investment Bank (EIB).

The grant funds have been secured through the EU-supported Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), which aims to improve the region’s connectivity by building new transport links and upgrading outdated transport and environmental infrastructure.

Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassador Johann Sattler said this was “one of the flagship projects in the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans designed to encourage long-term economic recovery, sustainable growth and jobs, and economic integration in the region.”

“BiH needs to further accelerate works on Corridor Vc. To that end the European Union is granting more than half a billion euros through the WBIF to facilitate its completion,” he stressed.

The signing of the grant agreements today was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Finance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, EBRD and the EU.

Minister of Finance and Treasury Vjekoslav Bevanda said that the signing of these two contracts provided about €45 million euros in grants, which is of “immeasurable importance in total investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

“The project grants are provided by the European Union and the EBRD will manage the grants. On behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I would like to thank Ambassador Sattler for this great and important EU financial support,” he noted

EBRD Head of Bosnia and Herzegovina Manuela Naessl expressed content with being able to work together with European partners on supporting Bosnia and Herzegovina to build modern transport infrastructure, which will connect it closer to the people and trading partners in the EU.