Interview with
Rudo
Vidovic
-
Minister of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina
-
Bosnia and Herzegovina
-
Newsletter: Special edition
-
January 2011
1. Inwhich modal transport
domains is at the moment the government focusing its activities to
support the development of the domestic economic sector
?
In view of supporting the national economy growth, the
government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is currently focusing its
activities on river transport development. The Stabilisation and
Association Agreement signed with the EU, commits Bosnia and
Herzegovina to cooperate on a regional level and to work on the
implementation of the core transport network. According to this
document, the regional waterway network is made of Sava and Danube
river waterways. Whereas the EU transport policy for Bosnia and
Herzegovina identified only two international trans-European axes
as the most important and priority transport links, that are Sava
river and Corridor Vc. The White Paper-European Transport Policy
for 2010 underlines the importance of the river transport and in
2006 the Development plan for European Inland Waterways was
designed, which represents a multiannual action plan for the river
transportation enhancement till 2013. Inland waterway
transportation will play a more and more important role in the
European freight transport. The EU Commission confirmed the crucial
role of this kind of transport for the future and announced the
so-called NAIADES programme, that aims at promoting inland waterway
transport in Europe. The EU has a clear goal to intensify the
transfer to this kind of energy saving transportation that is
environmental-friendly and has higher safety levels. Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia signed the Framework
Agreement on the Sava river basin in order to develop navigation,
provide maintenance and marking of the navigable areas along the
Sava river and its tributaries, in order to establish the
international navigation regime regularisation and to improve
sustainable water management. The Framework Agreement includes all
aspects of water resources management. Through this agreement the
International Sava River Basin Commission (ISRBC), located in
Zagreb, was founded, with the legal status of an international
organization. The countries of the Sava river basin, represented in
the commission, acting as a coordinating body, agreed on
activities, specific tasks and timeframe in the field of
international navigation regime and water management area, that
should result in implementing the strategic aims quoted in the
Framework Agreement. For this reason, the strategy on
implementation of the Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin
was adopted, that foresees activities and operational tasks till
2015.
Bosnia and Herzegovina defined the programme for restoration and
development River" for the 2010-2015 period. The main objective of
this programme is the sustainable development of the Sava river
navigation system, based on the expected economic and social
development, achievement of parameters for an improved movement of
people and goods, physical access to markets, jobs and other social
and economic needs in new globalisation, deregulation, market
liberalisation and integration processes in the region and in the
world in the field of transport. In order to achieve the main aim,
it is essential that the Sava navigation system, as well as the
intermodal and combined transport meet the social and economic
needs, offer the highest service level at lowest cost, guarantee
major safety and offer adequate information, that
they are financially sustainable and cover the maintenance,
improvement and development cost of the transport infrastructure
through the main financing sources. Moreover, they must follow and
comply with the EU regulations and directives, as well as maintain
the lowest environmental impact allowed.
2. How will the completion of the Corridor Vc
directly contribute to the implementation of activities of the Port
of Ploče? Can we consider this as an arising to a regional role of
the port ? What has still to be done to reach such an objective
?
Bosnia and Herzegovina has an important geo-strategic position
in the South East Europe. It is a bridge between the Central and
Eastern Europe and the Adriatic Sea. Infrastructure transport
system is one of the main actors that mutually influence
economical, social and spatial development of each region and
state. It is important to add that, the strategic document,
highlighting the need for Corridor Vc highway development, is the
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Development of the South
East Europe Core Regional Transport Network (Luxemburg, June 2004),
which is based on the development of the Road Core Network. Bosnia
and Herzegovina signed the EU Stability and Association agreement,
in which it accepted to implement the MoU as the main element in
the transport infrastructure sector. In the final report of the EC
High Level Group (Brussels, November 2005.), the Corridor Vc track,
that crosses the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was accepted
as the single transnational backbone, crucial for the European
Transport Policy.
As far as the ports' issue is concerned, Bosnia and Herzegovina
is connected to the Port of Ploče in Croatia more than with any
other port in the Adriatic sea. The Port of Ploče is an Adriatic
port that has been developing as a port for freight traffic
deriving from Bosnia and Herzegovina and it is connected with
Bosnia by road and rail. Container terminal construction and the
forthcoming realization of the terminal for bulk dry goods, as well
as further capacity for liquid goods, constitute a solid basis for
the Port of Ploče to become the most competitive port in this area
of the Mediterranean sea and will represent the best choice port
for its users. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the first country in the
region to have obtained the Intermodal transport study, that favors
the use of the railway Corridor Vc and the capacity for the ports
of Ploče and Šamac/Bosanski Šamac. In this way, the port of Ploče
is gaining a regional and international role and according to the
study, 70% of the freight transported over sea is imported to
Bosnia and Herzegovina through the port of Ploče. To reach the
above mentioned aim it is necessary to build as soon as possible
the rail and road corridor Vc.rail and road corridor Vc.
3. Which kind of implications would result from the
realization of the road connection from Sarajevo to Tirana through
Podgorica ?
At the SEETO's 6th Ministerial Meeting in Sarajevo,
held on December 1st, 2010, the ministers of transport
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania signed the
Memorandum of Understanding for the reconstruction and
modernization of the road Sarajevo - Podgorica - Tirana.
The main aims of the Memorandum are:
- overall improvement of mutual relationships among countries and
reciprocal cooperation enhancement in the social, economic and
political field;
- strengthening of the regional cooperation, single market
development, regional stability guarantee;
- enhancement of transport connections among the three countries
and major competitiveness;
- support of the development and environment protection.
The expected results from the project of reconstruction and
modernisation of the road Sarajevo - Podgorica - Tirana will give a
detailed plan for the drawing of technical and investment
documents, together with the main project, plan for the road
construction works, with a proposal of financial resources.