The timeline for starting the construction of the most costly twelve and a half kilometers of asphalt along the M-18 highway linking the capitals of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro remains unclear. The Government of Republika Srpska has promised this new road for over a decade, while failing to maintain the current road satisfactorily. Following a long-standing prohibition, trucks and passenger buses will once again be permitted to use this route.

The project, backed by financing from the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is anticipated to cost Bosnia and Herzegovina approximately 100 million euros. Additionally, a modern bridge over the Tara River will be constructed with cooperative funding from both nations, alongside a joint border crossing on Montenegrin soil.

The delays can be attributed to at least three factors, according to the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG).

For the Sustainable, Integrated and Safe Road Infrastructure Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina, greenlighting by the BiH Presidency and the two houses of the Parliamentary Assembly is still required, following its approval by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors in March. The timeline for this ratification is uncertain, especially since the BiH Council of Ministers completed its segment of the process only at the end of May.

The public company, Putevi Republike Srpska (Putevi RS), which leads the project, has only referenced a tender for the design and construction of an interstate bridge in its procurement plan for this year, stating a completion deadline of 36 months without further elaboration.

In a notable development, the Transport Administration of Montenegro terminated the contract with the firm tasked to design the access route from the new bridge to the joint border crossing in Montenegro back in February due to proposed technical solutions that failed to ensure safe traffic conditions.

Building this new road holds symbolic significance for both nations. Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović prioritized the road reconstruction during his official visit to Sarajevo last year.

“I would like to remind you that Sarajevo and Podgorica are the two closest capitals, merely 170 kilometers apart. However, navigating the current road suggests otherwise,” stated Milatović.

While the section of road between Nikšić and Plužine in Montenegro is expanding swiftly, inequities become apparent upon crossing the border. Travelers from the Bosnian side face a bridge with wooden thresholds that accommodate only a few vehicles in one direction at a time, followed by the containers at the Hum border crossing and a dilapidated section of the major road.

Insiders report that over 300 vehicles flow through this border during the season. If fortunate enough to evade long waits at the crossing, travelers can expect a journey of up to an hour for just twenty kilometers to the town of Foča, traversing a narrow, winding, asphalt-macadam road with sporadic wooden bridges and streams undermining the road. Traffic congestion on the Bosnian side is exacerbated by vans ferrying tourists for rafting trips down the Tara River.

“This road is a significant barrier to the growth of this region, hindering not only tourism but the economy as a whole,” stated Ivan Doderović, director of the “Piva” Nature Park in Plužine, Montenegro.

“During the summer season, tremendous crowds form.”

Many residents of Foča are skeptical about the new road’s prospects, having endured empty promises from Republika Srpska officials for years. Recently, the public company Putevi RS has primarily funded maintenance on just the first segment of the existing highway from Foča to Kopilovi, where the Buk Bijela Hydroelectric Power Plant is scheduled to be built.

“Once those two saints pass by, work will commence immediately,” remarked the owner of a rafting camp and restaurant who opted for anonymity, with irony.

The project plans to construct a new main route positioned fifty to sixty meters higher than the existing one, theoretically allowing rafting camps to continue using the current road.

Representatives from the Municipality of Foča express confidence that everything is progressing as planned:

“Expropriation has been finalized on 57 of the 60 plots, supervised by two consulting firms for ecological, property, and technical documentation,” shared Vesna Rašević, Deputy Mayor of Foča.

However, Doderović from the Piva National Park remains skeptical:

“In February, the Municipality of Foča indicated that construction would start in March, only for people to later claim that an impact assessment was still ongoing, which is the first step. I doubt reconstruction will happen anytime soon.”

In a response to CIN-CG, the Ministry of Communications and Transport of BiH stated that both state ministries fulfilled their responsibilities and anticipated that “Putevi RS” would announce a tender for bridge construction shortly.

A significant concern remains regarding Putevi’s capacity to manage such a substantial project. The Main Audit Office of Republika Srpska issued a qualified opinion on the financial statements of Putevi RS for 2020. The former director, Nenad Nešić, who later became the State Minister of Security, is currently facing criminal allegations involving high-level corruption and money laundering directed at him and his successor, Milan Dakić, by the BiH Prosecutor’s Office since December.

For some, it’s a main road, for others, an access road

The project area is home to 586 people residing in eight settlements. Except for the localities of Brod na Drini and Kopilovi, where the existing road has been expanded and repaved, few residents of other villages are willing to brave winter, as they rely on macadam roads to reach their homes.

In the returnee village of Tečići, near Hum, we encountered Selim Bostandžić and Nusret Đendušić. They reported that last summer, within the Foča Municipality building, they signed contracts relinquishing their property for the new highway construction. Đendušić noted that his family surrendered around 2,800 square meters, comprising a smaller area of underbrush and a more significant portion of plum, walnut, and apple orchards. He feels that the compensation disparity between the orchard and underbrush was inadequate, but this classification was noted in the cadastre even before the war.

Their land, which was confiscated in the 1970s, now operates as a rafting camp. Before the war, the area along the Drina River was purchased by “Hidroelektrane na Drini” for the Buk Bijela Hydroelectric Power Plant project. Plans for road improvement from that time led to the construction of a bridge in the Kopilovi locality, now engulfed in foliage.

The first rafting camp on the Drina River opened in 1998, and currently, there are about 27 camps operating. Last year, the Foča Municipality Tourist Organization recorded over 21 reported overnight stays. Some municipal councilors suspect that owners of rafting camps don’t report their overnight stays accurately. During a session of the Foča Municipal Assembly, one councilor shared that after receiving criticism, a camp significantly increased its reported overnight stays from the previous year. This raises the possibility that far more vehicles are traversing this road during the summer than official statistics reflect.

“Upgrading the road could enhance traffic safety and improve access to rafting camps, potentially boosting visitor numbers and supporting tourism development,” stated Spomenka Popadić from the Tourist Organization of the Municipality of Foča.

Contrastingly, Montenegrin rafters argue that the location of the proposed crossing might not serve local residents well.

“If you’re coming from Montenegro, say from Plužine, and want to reach Šćepan Polje or neighboring villages… you’re stuck waiting at the customs terminal,” explained Jovan, a rafting camp owner from Montenegro.

“During peak season and holidays, the line extended about four kilometers.”

Jovan contends that a joint border crossing on the Bosnian side would better serve locals and rafters from both nations since ample space exists for connecting roads:

“So that neither group has to deal with any waiting.”

The Ministry of Transport of Montenegro has remarked that plans include establishing a border police checkpoint directly after the bridge in Montenegrin territory.

“The objective is to create a practical and efficient setup that minimally disrupts ongoing activities, including tourist ventures such as rafting,” a spokesperson from the Ministry of Transport of Montenegro informed CIN-CG.

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