The Ministry of Finance of Montenegro paid the Chinese Exim Bank the fifth installment of the loan for the construction of the priority sectionof the Bar-Boljare highwayin the amount of $40.7 million,Pobjeda reported.
The ministry clarified that $32.79 million relates to the principal amount, while the remaining $7.91 million relates to loan interest.
They added that if Montenegro had been required to provide dollars, without a hedging arrangement in place, the dollars would have been bought at the market exchange rate, so the euro cost of the fifth installment at the Central Bank’s average rate on July 19 would have been about 36.2 million euros.
So far, the government has repaid the Chinese Exim Bank $208.7 million of the highway construction loan.
Repayment of the highway construction loan to date
The first installment of the loan was paid on July 21, 2021: the principal repayment amounted to $29.21 million, and interest was paid in the amount of $8.12 million. The second installment of the loan was paid on January 21 last year — the principal amounted to $30.47 million, and interest to $8.2 million, Pobjeda recalls.
The third payment was made in July last year, with the principal amounting to $32.41 million and interest to $8.21 million, while the fourth installment was paid on January 21 this year — principal repayment amounted to $32.78 million, with $8.38 million paid in interest.
The ministry reminded that the loan with Exim Bank was concluded in 2014, with a repayment period of 20 years and a six-year grace period.
The priority section of the Bar-Boljare highway was officially opened on July 13 last year, and the next day it was put into traffic. The total length of the first section of the highway is 41.5 km, including 20 bridges on the main route, nine bridges on the interchange ramps, two overpasses, eight underpasses, 7.2 km of concrete retaining walls, and 16 twin-tube tunnels.
The section has four interchanges with toll ramps, connecting the highway with the existing road network, namely Smokovac, Pelev Brijeg, Veruša, and Mateševo. The maximum speed is limited to 100 kilometers per hour.