SARAJEVO, JUNE 12 (ONASA) – A meeting was held today between the Minister of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Edin Forte, and the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia, Goran Vesić, after which they addressed the public and discussed the details of the meeting.
After the meeting, Forto said that Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the Government of Serbia, will apply for grants from the European Union and finance the construction of the railway that stretches from Banja Luka, through Doboj, Tuzla, Zvornik and further into Serbia, as well as the reconstruction of the bridges connecting the two countries.
– We also talked about the digitization of transport vehicles, which are becoming a kind of bureaucratic burden. We want to liberalize it and make a step forward in the digital sense, which some countries that are more economically developed have not made – said Forto.
He announced that on July 5, a conference will be held in Brčko on the topic of connecting with Belgrade, especially when it comes to issues that BiH needs to resolve, namely the highway Orašje – Brčko – Tuzla and determining the route.
– We have to make a momentum in which it will be completely normal to work hundreds of kilometers of railway and road at any time – said Forto.
He added that it is necessary to determine the routes towards Tuzla and Bijeljina when it comes to the Sarajevo – Belgrade highway project.
– Tuzla is key. How are we going to connect Tuzla, how is Tuzla going towards Brčko and how is it going further east. Sarajevo – Tuzla is an integral part of this issue. We will discuss all this on July 5 in Brčko – said Forto.
Vesić stated that he came to Sarajevo in order to meet with Bosnia and Herzegovina. delegation discussed concrete projects with the aim of connecting the region by traffic.
– Our goal is to connect with all our neighbors. BiH is certainly one of our most important neighbors and a priority when it comes to connecting. In the next few years, Serbia and BiH will be connected by two highways and two expressways. This was not even the case in Yugoslavia. For reasons I don’t know, there wasn’t much connection. This will bring good to the citizens of both countries. Our first highway is the Belgrade – Sarajevo highway. By the end of this year, we will finish our section from Sremska Rača to Kuzmin, that’s an additional 19 kilometers, and there is an integrated joint border crossing of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia on the Serbian side, which will be opened in 2025 – said Vesić.
He added that Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to finish its part so that Belgrade and Sarajevo are finally connected by a highway.
He emphasized that by the end of next year, Serbia will complete another high-speed road, with a branch that will also connect BiH and his country.
– At the moment, we are working on the Ruma – Šabac highway and the Šabac – Loznica expressway, which is the connection with the Šepak border crossing. That road will be completed by the end of next year – said Vesić.
He added that by the end of the year, Serbia should complete the 61-kilometer highway route to Požega, which will be the connection point with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
– Two highways start from Požega, one towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, towards Višegrad, and the other towards Montenegro – said Vesić, emphasizing that it is a very demanding project that includes the construction of 132 bridges and 27 tunnels.
He also pointed out that BiH and Serbia will be the first in Europe to introduce an e-transport list.
– This means that we will exchange data on the contents of the transport notes and at the border it will be enough to just scan the barcode and no procedures will be needed – explained Vesić.
He said that it is now up to the European Union to show support for the projects of BiH and Serbia, which, as he said, have proven to be countries that know how to come to an agreement.
– This is a kind of test for the EU as to how much it will support our joint projects. I believe we can be successful. This shows that when we perform together in front of others, we can have more success – said the Serbian minister.