New loan for Montenegrin emergency rail infrastructure rehabilitation

The EBRD is providing an additional €10 million to ZICG, the national rail infrastructure management company of Montenegro. ZICG will use the loan proceeds to continue implementing the necessary rail track rehabilitation works on the Bar to Bijelo Polje line – the main branch line of the Montenegrin rail network.

This will be an extension of the existing €15 million loan signed in three tranches during 2007-2009. The extension will allow for the rail track rehabilitation works on the railway line from the Port of Bar in Montenegro to Serbia (European Railway Network: Route 4 to Corridor 10), which has been identified as a critical investment priority under the ZICG Infrastructure Assets Management Programme.

The loan will be guaranteed by the State of Montenegro.

Giulio Moreno, Head of the EBRD Resident Office in Podgorica, said the investment would help implement a much needed upgrade to the rail infrastructure to ensure adequate safety on the Bar – Bijelo Polje line and thus ensure efficiency of rail operations.

The EBRD has been involved in the ongoing rail sector reform in Montenegro since 2007 and supported its interim stages with a series of three investment loans signed between 2007 and 2009 to the amount of €15 million under the first Montenegro Rail Infrastructure Emergency Project for the Bar – Bijelo Polje rail line. The Bank has also provided €15 million for the Montenegro Rail Infrastructure Emergency Rehabilitation Project II, which involved upgrading the Niksic – Podgorica rail line.

These investments have provided much needed funds to ensure the operational safety of Montenegro’s rail lines which has also been successfully implemented.