The current government has admitted revenue from tolls will not even cover the road's annual maintenance, estimated at 77 million euros ($94 million). They warned that any benefits to commerce and tourism on the Adriatic, or development for poorer northern regions, would never outweigh the costs. Problems with the project were not unforeseen - experts queued up a decade ago to tell the government that it was not viable. ![]() The government has promised to investigate any corruption claims.įurther questions have been asked about the environmental impact after the construction work ruined a UNESCO-protected stretch of river near Matesevo, the Chinese firm agreeing to fund work to undo the damage. "Decisions on construction were wrongly made out of the public eye, and that is something we will now have to pay for," said the group's Dejan Milovac. There were no public tenders and the relationship between payments received and the work carried out was not clear, according to anti-corruption watchdog MANS. More than one-third of local subcontractors chosen to work on the project had links to the former ruling socialists of President Milo Djukanovic. Risky, reckless and, according to campaigners, corrupt. "If we do not find sources of funding to build on, then we are in big trouble," Infrastructure Minister Mladen Bojanic told AFP, saying he was committed to finishing the road.īojanic is now trying to get help from the European Union to rescue a project he bitterly opposed when he was in opposition, labelling it risky and reckless. With Montenegro's first repayment due in July, it could become the first European country to put those claims to the test. "If someone puts negative labels on China's investment, it is not only unfair to China, but also disrespectful to the countries of the western Balkans." "This cooperation is mutually beneficial and win-win," said China's Montenegrin embassy in a statement last month. ![]() If Montenegro cannot pay, it faces arbitration in Beijing and could be forced to give up control of key infrastructure, according to a copy of the contract seen by AFP.Ĭhina has been widely criticised for saddling small countries with unmanageable debt as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative.Ĭritics worry that it will use financial leverage to boost its political power, in what they dub "debt-trap diplomacy".īut Chinese officials have strenuously denied any ulterior motive to the investment in Montenegro and the wider region. It is unclear where the money will come from or how Montenegro - a country with a GDP of 4.9 billion euros - will repay its existing debt to China. The section linking Matesevo to a town near the capital Podgorica - the most difficult part to build - is set to open in November.īut the road is meant to connect the Adriatic port of Bar in the south with the Serbian border in the north, with the intention that the Serbians will then extend it to their capital, Belgrade. "I manage to sell some vegetables and chickens to the workers," added the man who did not want to be named, reflecting also that dirt mounds from the construction site stop the river from flooding. Some managed to sell their land and leave, which was impossible before," said one villager, whose two-storey home now sits metres from gargantuan concrete pillars propping up the four-lane highway. "This story has some good sides for us villagers. ![]() "It's like buying an expensive car and just leaving it parked in the garage."Ĭritics question how the rest of the road will be paid for and highlight environmental damage caused by the construction along with corruption allegations over the awarding of work contacts.īut locals are inclined to talk up the positives. ![]() "The construction looks impressive, but we must not stop at this," says 67-year-old Dragan who retired to the village of Matesevo. The government has already burnt through $944 million in Chinese loans to complete the first stretch of road, just 41 kilometres (25 miles), making it among the world's most expensive pieces of tarmac.Ĭhinese workers have spent six years carving tunnels through solid rock and raising concrete pillars above gorges and canyons, but the road in effect goes nowhere.Īlmost 130 kilometres still needs to be built at a likely cost of at least one billion euros ($1.2 billion). Two sleek new roads vanish into mountain tunnels high above a sleepy Montenegrin village, the unlikely endpoint of a billion-dollar project bankrolled by China that is threatening to derail the tiny country's economy.
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