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The announcement of the Montenegrin Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare that the American group Bechtel will build the Montenegrin part of the Adriatic-Ionian highway has been received with concern among observers of transparency issues.
Controversy has surrounded other Bechtel projects in the Balkans, BIRN says, prompting Montenegrin civil society groups to fear the country could be hit again, following a costly deal with China in 2014 to build a highway. towards the coast from Serbia, which has no access to the sea.
Such concerns seem to have taken root even within the government cabinet itself. As Finance Minister Milojko Spajic announced that Bechtel and the government would sign a memorandum of understanding soon, his capital investment colleague Mladen Bojanic complained that no one had consulted on the issue, and stressed the need for transparency.
China’s $ 1 billion highway project in Montenegro was put at the center of a wide-ranging debate over Chinese influence in Europe a few months ago. Podgorica had announced that it would not be able to pay its debt to the Export-Import Bank of China. In addition to the debt issue, this project was also criticized for its extremely high cost.
In the end, Montenegro was forced to borrow from a number of US and European institutions to help stabilize its finances and meet its debt repayments.
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