It is reported that the EBRD is reinforcing its support to the modernization of transport infrastructure in Montenegro with a EUR 15 million sovereign loan for the rehabilitation of the Montenegrin rail network.

The credit is being made available to ZCG Infrastruktura, a company majority owned by the Montenegrin state and which manages the country’s rail track infrastructure, operating a 250 kilometers network.

The EBRD loan will be used to finance the rehabilitation of the rail tracks on a 57 kilometers rail branch between the industrial Niksic region, in the central part of the country, and the capital Podgorica, providing improved transportation links further to the Port of Bar and to the European rail network in the southern part of the country.

The project is also supporting the overall reform of the railway sector in Montenegro by helping ZCG Infrastruktura pursue its own restructuring program. It will increase transportation safety on the important Niksic Podgorica segment of the rail network.

The sovereign guaranteed loan to ZCG Infrastruktura will be complemented by EUR 950,000 in grant funds provided by the EBRD’s Western Balkans Fund and its Shareholder Special Fund, as well as by the government of France. The grant financing will support project development and implementation.

Previously the EBRD has provided EUR 15 million for the upgrade of the rail infrastructure in Montenegro. Overall, since the beginning of its operations in Montenegro the EBRD has invested over EUR 80 million in various sectors of the country's economy.

(Sourced from www.railwaymarket.eu)