Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković signed on Monday in Tkon on the island of Pašman a contract for the allocation of non-repayable 32 million kuna for the construction of the Tkon ferry port and agreements for the allocation of a total of eight million kuna for the ports of Turanj, Petrčane, and Mandre on the island of Pag.
The contracts were signed by Butković with the director of the Central Agency for Financing Programs and Projects of the EU Tomislav Petric and the director of the County Port Authority of Zadar Davor Škibola.
>>>New Non-Repayable Funds Secured for Slavonian Entrepreneurs
– This is the first project in the Republic of Croatia financed from the European program Competitiveness and Cohesion, from which 80 million euros is allocated for infrastructural port projects on our coast. These are projects aimed at island connectivity in places, municipalities, and cities that have ferry connections to avoid congestion in the centers of towns. After Tkon, we will move on; we have projects in the northern and southern parts of the Adriatic that are currently in the preparation phase, emphasized Butković.
After the first and second phases of construction of the new Tkon ferry port, which were completed a year and a half ago, the construction of a pier with two berths, a loading-unloading area, a port platform, an underwater passage, a loading waiting area platform, a parking lot with one hundred parking spaces, and a connecting road to the state road DC 10 will now be financed with 32 million.
>>>Concession for Gaženica Awarded to the Sole Bidder, Opposition Discontent in the Maritime Committee
“The Tkon port has been the largest project of the County Port Authority of Zadar since its establishment in 1998 to this day. With this significant investment through EU funds and support from the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, the complete completion of the Tkon ferry port construction will be enabled within two and a half years,” stated the director of the Zadar Port Authority Davor Škibola.
The program of state aid for the development of ports open to public traffic in the Republic of Croatia, which was adopted by the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, is the basis for financing projects within the Operational Program “Competitiveness and Cohesion,” and for the first time, it opens the possibility of financing from EU funds, in addition to investments that have so far been allocated from the state budget. The Tkon port on the island of Pašman is the first of 28 projects that will be financed for the first time with non-repayable EU funds, and these investments, exceeding 176 million kuna, will continue in ports from Dubrovnik, Korčula, Brač, Pašman, Cres to Pula.
>>>Bulj: If No Action is Taken Regarding Gaženica, I Will Demand Minister Butković’s Resignation
Journalists were interested in the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure’s stance on the decades-old initiative to connect the island of Pašman with the mainland near Turanj.
– I am aware of that initiative; the Zadar County has included it in its spatial plans. However, Croatian Roads or companies that have worked and prepared such projects need to assess the feasibility of that project. I certainly support that initiative, but project preparation and feasibility studies need to be done, and only then can something more concrete be said, the minister conveyed.
>>>Contracts Signed for the Modernization of Ports Worth 8.5 Million Kuna
In response to a journalist’s inquiry about the announcement by the Austrian company Strabag and the consortium of the Italian Astaldi and the Turkish Ictas that they will file lawsuits with the Administrative Court against the decision of the State Commission for Control of Public Procurement Procedures, which recently rejected their complaints regarding the selection of the Chinese company China Road and Bridge Corporation for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge, Minister Butković stated that “he cannot and must not comment on lawsuits and court processes.”
– As for stopping the construction of the Pelješac Bridge, I think that question should be posed to all residents of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, to hear their response, and that response is also my response, he added.
>>>Contracts Signed in Poličnik for the Allocation of 40 Million Non-Repayable Euros
The minister also commented on the selection of a consultant for the future toll collection system on highways, stating that they are in the evaluation phase of the submitted offers. Four bids were received for the selection of a contractor for the development of a study on the electronic toll collection system – a consortium of bidders Ernst & Young Consulting Croatia and Ernst & Young GmbH Germany, MultiContract Consulting from Hungary, IDOM Consulting from Spain, and CGI Czech Republic from the Czech Republic.
– In a month, we will know the most favorable consultant, who will start working by the end of the year and begin seeking solutions, Butković stated.
>>>Rijeka Port Receives 34 Million Euros in Non-Repayable Funds for Two Projects
When asked to comment on last week’s protest by taxi drivers on the Pašman Bridge regarding the proposal for a new law on road transport, which is based on market liberalization, the minister emphasized that “the goal of the law is to provide citizens with cheaper and more accessible taxi transport, market liberalization, and equal rules and conditions that will apply to all.”
“I believe that we will create new jobs with this, allowing our people to stay in Croatia instead of leaving,” he said.
>>>Final Phase of the Tender for 71 Concessions in Zagreb’s Public Health
Journalists also asked the minister about the Gaženica port and the discontent of the Zadar opposition regarding the concession for that port. “The Republic of Croatia has built the infrastructure; Croatia must repay the loan. The process was transparent, and the goal is for Gaženica to thrive. No one is selling it! These are the lowest political points of the opposition. Our goal is to bring ships to Gaženica,” he conveyed.
Speaking about the investigation into the accident in the Učka tunnel that occurred when part of the ventilation system fell, Butković said that there is currently no information on that, and when asked what if it is determined that the concessionaire is responsible, he stated that whoever is responsible will bear the damage. “It is not up to me to determine responsibility; I can only receive the findings, and then someone else will have to determine that,” concluded Butković.
>>>Butković: Many Domestic Construction Companies and Shipyards Will Participate in the Construction of the Pelješac Bridge
After visiting Tkon, the minister will continue his working visit to Zadar County by touring the waterfront in Petrčane and then participating in a working meeting in the Municipality of Privlaka.
