Pelješac Bridge a Better Solution than the Corridor through Neum, Price Still Uncertain

At a meeting held yesterday at the Ministry of Transport, French consultants presented the scoring results for each of the possible eight solutions for connecting the southernmost part of Croatia with other parts of the country. The Pelješac Bridge received the highest score, while the corridor through Neum came in second.

Although the corridor would be a cheaper solution, the bridge turned out to be more competitive according to that calculation. Moreover, the bridge would be built in four years, while the corridor would take 20 years, reports Večernji list.

The Croatian side did not agree with the consultants on the price of the corridor during the meeting. The consultants claim that its construction would cost 50 million euros, while the Croats assert that the price of that solution is 130 million euros, as the consultants did not include the Schengen system in their price. Other criteria used to evaluate all possible solutions include regional, ecological, technological, geopolitical, and legal aspects. When all these criteria are summed up, the bridge emerges as the best solution.

The corridor, which is twice as cheap as the bridge according to the financial criterion (whose construction is estimated at 250 to 280 million euros), faces the most problems with legal criteria, as it would be built in another country. Representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina requested a postponement of the conclusion because they complained, according to sources, that they received the documentation too late, and they also seek to have the financial criterion carry more weight in the scoring.

The Croatian side agreed to the postponement as it did not want to further anger the European Commission, which believes that the Croatian side is pressuring the consultants to ensure the bridge “wins.”

As pressure on the consultants, the European Commission interpreted, according to our source from the Ministry, a letter from the Dubrovnik-Neretva County Mayor Nikola Dobroslavić, which he recently sent to Brussels, stating that the bridge is the best solution. Minister Siniša Hajdaš Dončić says that everything regarding the connection to the southernmost part of Croatia is still proceeding well.

At yesterday’s meeting, it was also concluded that the consultants from the STTE Consortium, who are preparing the feasibility study for the best solution to connect with the southernmost part of Croatia, will produce the final draft of the feasibility study by November 1. Within eight weeks, the consultants will provide a final report.
During this period, public discussion about the solutions or which of them would be the most favorable will not be allowed, it was concluded.