Montenegro is replacing a Greek-Israeli consortium due to build part of a highway linking the Adriatic coast to its northern border with Serbia and will start talks with Chinese firms, a minister said Monday.
In May, the government signed a contract with Aktor Concessions S.A. and Israeli Shikun & Binui Ltd to build nearly 64 out of 170 kilometres (100 miles) of highway for 1.57 billion euros (2.06 billion dollars).
However, the company failed to provide obligatory banking guarantees for the contract despite two extensions of the deadline, the government said.
Transport Minister Andrija Lompar said the government would start negotiations with unnamed Chinese companies as a part of a bilateral agreement between Montenegro and China.
"After this failure, I am a bit scared of negotiations with the Chinese, but I hope that in four months — the deadline we set ourselves — we will get a concrete offer from Chinese companies for this project to be realised," Lompar told reporters.
Aktor-HCH, which secured a 30-year concession agreement as part of the deal, was expected to begin work in September and complete the project by 2014.
The company had initially offered to do the entire job for 3.9 billion euros, but the deal was only inked for a 64-kilometer-strech of highway from the Adriatic port of Bar towards the north.
The existing road linking Serbia with Montenegro's Adriatic coast is notorious for its poor state and has seen a high number of accidents. The Montenegrin coast is a popular holiday destination for Serbs.
earlier related report
Explosions in Serbian ammunition factory: report
Belgrade (AFP) Dec 27, 2010 –
Several strong blasts rocked an ammunition factory in the central Serbian town of Cacak, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Belgrade but there were no casualties, Beta news agency said.
"According to preliminary information, the explosions came from the storage unit of the factory, but it was established that a fire in the ammunition production line caused the blasts," Serbian interior ministry official Predrag Maric told the agency.
Maric said there were no reports that anyone was hurt. However official information on possible casualties can only be provided once the policemen from the Interior Ministry's emergency department are able to enter the facility and assess the damage, he added.
"All information we have about the incident we got from workers who managed to escape the fire and blasts," Maric said.
Police sealed the factory and evacuated the workers, Beta said, adding that a thick smoke could be seen coming from the facility.
Last year a series of explosions in another munitions factory in the southwestern Serbian town of Uzice killed seven people and injured 14 others.
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