In July 2007 the Croatian Motorway Company (HAC) called an international tender to enlarge two
tunnels on a key motorway linking the capital with the Adriatic coast, according to news agency reports.
The will be approximately HRK600mn (US$110.7mn), with the work due to be completed by May 2009.
The proposed tunnels are to be constructed alongside the existing Sveti Rok and Mala Kapela single
tunnels in mountainous central Croatia. Work has meanwhile been continuing on the highway connecting
Croatia’s largest seaport and its capital. The project envisages the construction of 11 bridges, nine tunnels
and accompanying facilities. The section is expected to be opened for traffic in late 2008 and will finally
complete construction on the Rijeka-Zagreb highway, which began about 30 years ago. Croatia is moving
ahead with motorway investments to improve the road haulage network across the country. In our new
Croatia Freight Transport Report, BMI concludes that road freight tonnage will grow at an annual
average of 5.3% over the next five years.
Various factors support this prediction. BMI is forecasting a period of steady growth in Croatia as the
country focuses on EU accession over the rest of this decade. We expect that GDP will rise at an annual
average of 4.9% for the next five years, a solid rate comparable to what was achieved over the preceding
five years. This pace of development will be consistent with favourable freight transport industry
development, as multi-modal links to the EU are improved and east-west pipeline opportunities are
developed. Croatia’s development pattern will rely on the country’s freight transit role.
Total freight carried fell as a result of the regional wars in the 1990s and has been recovering in
subsequent years. Road freight is now dominant, with a 68% share of the total, followed by rail with 20%.
Looking forward, we forecast that overall Croatian freight tonnage will grow by an average of 5.0% per
annum, a little ahead of GDP. Growth will be led by airfreight (5.7%), road haulage (5.3%), pipelines
(5.0%) and rail (4.1%). Croatia scores a total of 40 in our freight business operating environment rating
out of a theoretical maximum of 70, which places it near the average for its European peers.
For the 2006-2010 forecast period, we expect the transport and communications sector to continue
outpacing the economy as a whole. BMI predicts an average annual growth of 6.1%, versus 4.9% for
overall GDP. The total value of transport and communications GDP is forecast to rise to US$6.08bn in
nominal terms by 2010, representing 9.1% of Croatia’s GDP.
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