| | Transport Ministers adopt the Valletta Declaration on Road Safety (March 30, 2017) Transport Ministers of the Member States of the European Union meeting in Valletta under the patronage of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union reconfirmed their commitment to improving road safety by endorsing the Valletta Declaration on Road Safety.
With this declaration, Transport Ministers have agreed to continue to reinforce measures necessary to reduce the number of road deaths in the UE by 2020 from the 2010 baseline, and enhance cooperation between Member States—including relevant authorities, civil society, research institutes and the private sector—in particular with regard to road safety plans and strategies following a risk-based or an integrated approach.
They have also agreed to improve the safety of road users by developing safer road infrastructure, engage with relevant stakeholders on the possibility of expanding and integrating reduced speed limits, such as 30 km/h in high-risk areas, in particular areas where people work, cycle and play, and to continue developing measures to ensure post-collision care, early rehabilitation and social re-integration of road traffic accident victims, in cooperation with relevant public policy stakeholders.
Maltese Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Joe Mizzi, said that the message is that Europe’s top political leaders from all the EU member states and from the European Parliament, as well as high-level officials of the European Commission and the United Nations, are firmly and collectively committed to significantly reducing the number deaths and serious injuries on our roads. “I can confidently state that road safety is once again at the top of the agenda across Europe,” he said.
Detailed PDF of the Declaration can be found here:
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/sites/roadsafety/files/valletta_declaration_on_improving_road_safety.pdf |
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| | SEETO Transport Facilitation Working Group Meeting, 4th in a row (April 28, 2017) The 4th SEETO Transport Facilitation Working Group meeting was held in Podgorica on 28 April 2017, with the presence of respective representatives from the regional participants’ Ministries of transport, Ministries of economy, Ministries of interior (Border police), Customs administrations and Chambers of commerce. The meeting was also attended by representatives from the Ministry of the sea, transport and infrastructure of Croatia, and from the Hellenic Ministry of infrastructure and transport, both of whom were invited to share information and play an active role in the discussion on border crossing point agreements between the regional participants and their respective member states. DG NEAR was present as co-chair along with SEETO and contributed highly to the overall flow and success of the meeting, as well as in briefing the participants about 2017 Trieste Summit expectations and TCT state of play. |
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| | 8th Meeting of the SEETO Road Safety Working Group (April 3-4, 2017) The 8th Meeting of the Road Safety Working Group of SEETO took place in Podgorica and was hosted by the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs of Montenegro during 3-4 April 2017.
The meeting was opened by the Chairman Mr. Said Dahdah, Senior Transport Specialist, World Bank Group followed by a welcome to all meeting participants by Ms. Liljana Cela, SEETO Information Resources Manager.
One of the meeting highlights was the address of the European Commission representative Ms Maria Teresa Sanz Villegas, Policy Officer from DG MOVE Unit for Road Safety, who gave an update on the Valletta Declaration. Transport ministers of the Member States of the European Union, met in Valletta on 29 March 2017 under the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and reconfirmed their commitment to improving road safety. At a round table held with the Ministers from Western Balkans it was acknowledged that Ministries of Transport and Ministries of Interior must establish a Road Safety Agency which will coordinate the work in the area of road safety from both sides. |
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| | Project “TIMS” Study Visit to SEETO Secretariat (May 25th, 2017) Today, the project team from the project “Establishment of a Transport Information Management System (TIMS) for the TEN-T in Turkey” (EuropeAid/137243/IH/SER/TR) conducted a study visit to SEETO Secretariat.
Different stakeholders, the Deputy DG of Foreign Relations and EU Affairs from the Turkish Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communications, as well as other representatives from the ministry and project experts from the Spanish consulting and engineering firm IDOM and German consulting and project management company Dornier Consulting , attended the meeting.
The main purpose of the study visits planned under the project is to first hand exchange knowledge and experiences obtained from the already existing transport information management systems, such as TENtec Information System in DG MOVE and SEETIS in SEETO Secretariat. |
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Loan to Kosovo for motorway construction pending final review - EBRD (May 30, 2017) The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development has said a loan of 71 million euro ($79.4 million) aimed at co-financing the construction of a 31 km highway section in Kosovo has passed structure review and is awaiting final review.
The highway section is part of the road network linking Kosovo's capital city of Pristina with the city of Peje, the administrative and economic centre of Kosovo's western region, the EBRD said in a notice published on its website on Friday.
The estimated value of the entire project is 189.2 million euro.
Construction works are expected to last around two years and a half and will require some 100 people on site, the EBRD said. |
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| | | Serbia to complete Kragujevac-Batocina motorway construction in first half of 2018 (May 24, 2017)
Serbian infrastructure Minister Ms Zorana Mihajlovic said on Thursday the construction of the 24 km-long motorway connecting Kragujevac to Batocina will be completed in the first half of 2018.
Serbian state-owned company PZP Kragujevac is expected to complete the construction of the 18.5 km-long Zirovnica-Kragujevac stretch of the motorway by the end of June 2017, Mihajlovic said in a statement.
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| | INSTAT: Number of accidents dropped by 14.8 % in April (May 18, 2017)
In Albania, April 2017 has recorded 150 road accidents. In comparison to April 2016, the number of accidents has dropped by 14.8 %. According to a report published on Thursday by Institute of Statistics of Albania, the number of people involved in road accidents is 190 compared to 222 the previous year.
As a quarterly period, Albanian INSTAT (Institute of Statistics) announces that the number of those involved in accidents has dropped 7.2 %, in comparison to the corresponding period, the previous year. The number of people killed in road accidents during April is 22. In comparison to the average of those killed in accidents during 2016, this number has dropped by 1.8 %.
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| | Agreement on loan worth USD 297.6 million for Belgrade-Budapest railway signed with Exim Bank (May 17, 2017)
A loan agreement was signed with the Chinese Exim Bank in Beijing on May 16. The signing was attended by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, and the agreement pertains to the financing of the project of reconstruction and modernization of the railway section Beograd Centar – Stara Pazova. Annex 3 to the agreement on economic and technical cooperation in the field of infrastructure, as well as the memorandum on defining the action plan for trade and investments in agriculture, were also signed.
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| | International Forum “One Belt, One Road”- Albania and China sign memorandum of cooperation (May 14, 2017) During the proceedings of the top level international forum “One Belt, One Road” that is being held in Beijing, Albania and China signed the memorandum of cooperation.
Albania’s Transport Minister Sokol Dervishaj and the Chinese Director of the National Development and Reform Commission He Lifeng signed the memorandum of seven points aiming at strengthening of economic cooperation in the field of transport, infrastructure and finance. |
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| | Montecargo privatisation cancelled (April 28, 2017) The Council for Privatisation & Capital Projects has cancelled plans to sell stakes in national rail freight operator Montecargo and port operator Luka Bar to Poland’s OT Logistics Group.
The tender commission believed that while sole bidder OT Logistics was a credible investor and the process had been conducted transparently and in accordance with regulations, privatisation would not be in the best economic, social and security interest of the country. In particular, it was felt that the ongoing modernisation of the railway to Serbia and improvements to road links would increase the value of the port of Bar as one of the country’s strategic resources. |
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| | EUR 800 million Nis-Pristina highway to be built (Mar 23, 2017)
"The highway from Nis to Pristina via Merdare, which Serbia will build together with the EU, will connect around 100,000 citizens in the Toplica District with Corridor 10, the most significant traffic route in Serbia," the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Ms Zorana Mihajlovic said on Wednesday.
According to Ms Mihajlovic, the planned route will go from Nis via Merosina, Prokuplje and Kursumlija to Merdare, and continue to Pristina via Podujevo.
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| | New government for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (May 31, 2017) The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had been without a new government since early general elections on December 11, but the parliament elected a new coalition government led by former opposition leader Mr. Zoran Zaev on 31.05, ending a six-month political uncertainty.
Lawmakers voted 62-44 just before midnight to confirm a 26-member Cabinet proposed by Zaev, who leads the Social Democrat party. New Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, was sworn in by the parliament speaker immediately after the vote.
Mr. Zaev has pledged to focus on the economy, strengthening public institutions and joining the European Union and NATO. He wants to start negotiations with the EU and NATO as soon as possible.
Under the composition of the new government, Mr. Goran Sugareski was named the Minister of Transport and Communications.
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| | Skopje Airport registers April growth (May 24, 2017)
Skopje Alexander the Great Airport extended its growth streak by handling 148,530 travellers in April, representing an increase of 10%. Skopje Airport anticipates another year of record growth with five new routes being launched this summer and a number of carriers adding frequencies. Low cost airline Wizz Air will again fuel the growth at Macedonia's largest airport with a fourth aircraft to be stationed in the city this July, paving the way for the launch of three new routes including Rome, Malta and Vaxjo...
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| | Bosnia and Herzegovina - Croatia railway re-opening initiative (May 18, 2017)
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia have agreed to seek European Union funding to rehabilitate and reopen the 177.9 km Una line between Novi Grad (Bosanski Novi) and Knin. This once provided the shortest rail route between Zagreb and the Adriatic port of Split, but it has been out of use since being badly damaged during the wars of 1991-1996.
The line crosses the border multiple times, with 119.4 km of the route in Bosnia-Herzegovina and 58.5 km in Croatia. It is managed by Željeznice Republike Srpske, Railways of the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia’s HŽ Infra.
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| | Works on Preljina-Pozega section to begin in 2018 – Memorandums on construction of highway to Montenegro and Fruska Gora Corridor signed (May 15, 2017)
Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Ms Zorana Mihajlovic stated on Sunday, May 14, 2017, in Beijing that the construction of the Preljina-Pozega section of the highway to Montenegro might start next year, the ministry reported.
– Following the signing of the memorandum, we are to prepare the necessary documentation and this may be completed by the end of the year – said Minister Zorana Mihajlovic, who had signed two memorandums of cooperation with the Chinese company CRBC on projects worth a total of EUR 2.5 billion.
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| | CRBC to complete first section of Bar-Boljare motorway in May 2019 (May 12, 2017) China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) plans to complete the construction of the first stretch of the Bar-Boljare motorway in Montenegro on May 11, 2019, in line with the agreed schedule, the chief engineer of the project, Mr. Vlatko Cipranic, has said.
CRBC is currently building the Moracica bridge as well as tunnels along the 41 km-long Moracica-Smokicevo section, which are of great importance for the entire project. |
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| | Islamic Development Bank to fund 35 million USD for Tirana – Elbasan road (March 28, 2017) The Productive Activity, Trade and Environment Committee approved on Tuesday ratification of the loan agreement between the government of Albania and the Islamic Development Bank on funding the construction of Tirana – Elbasan road.
The agreement envisages accord of an additional fund on the project of this road with a value of about 35 million USD.
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| | Works on the Bosnia and Herzegovina-Croatia Corridor Vc road interconnection (March 17, 2017) Construction works on the CVc Bosnia and Herzegovina-Croatia cross-border bridge commenced in earnest today - 17 March 2017, with Mr. Johannes Hahn - Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Dr Denis Zvizdic - Chair of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Ismir Jusko - Minister of Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Mr. Oleg Butkovic - Croatian Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, in attendance.
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| | Preliminary results of Kosovo early elections held on Sunday, June 11 – 12 June, 2017 Pristina - A coalition of 14 parties, headed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) came first in the Kosovo snap elections held on Sunday. The coalition, led by PDK leader Mr. Kadri Veseli and AAK leader MR. Ramush Haradinaj, who is also the coalition’s candidate for Prime Minister, won 34.6 per cent of the vote, according to Central Election Commission, CEC, preliminary results with 91 per cent of votes counted. Opposition movement Vetevendosje, which ran alone in the elections, came in second with 26.7 per cent of the vote, while the coalition between the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) and Alternative, came in third with 25.8 per cent. Srpska Lista, one of the six Serbian lists running in the election, won 5.9 per cent of votes. The preliminary results published by CEC account for 91 per cent of the vote, but this excludes domestic and international absentee voting, as well as special needs voters. The overall voter turnout was 41.4 per cent. According to the CEC, there were no major incidents reported during the voting process. |
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