A significant constructive meeting was held at the ŽPCG premises with senior representatives of the EBRD in the process of implementing the loan for the procurement of new electric multiple units.
PUBLISHED: 01.11.2023.
Today, a significant constructive meeting was held at the premises of the Railway Transport of Montenegro with senior representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the Europe and Western Balkans region, Ms. Sue Goeransson, Director of Infra Europe, Mr. Donald Mishaxhiu, Senior Banker of Infra Europe, Mr. Remon Zakaria, Head of the EBRD Office in Montenegro, and Mr. Danilo Raičević, Energy and Infrastructure Banker.
The topic of the meeting was to define the next steps in the process of implementing the loan for the Project of renewing the rolling stock of ŽPCG for the procurement of new electric multiple units intended for the Bar – Bijelo Polje - Bar route.
„Today we had a very constructive meeting with representatives of the EBRD. Despite the goodwill of all meeting participants to procure rolling stock through a loan arrangement with the EBRD as soon as possible, I believe that the State should engage in this process as soon as possible in its full capacity and develop a comprehensive strategy regarding the development of railway transport. I say this because the Railway Transport is a public interest enterprise, and as such, it must have a more sensitive relationship with the State regarding the resolution of legal status issues. Until now, it has been the practice that in most cases, for all good projects, a minimum of 4 to 5 years is waited, which is a very long period for the railway.
What is a fact is that the Board, in cooperation with the management of the Company, has created absolutely all prerequisites and fulfilled all application documentation related to the loan arrangement, and what is most important is that we have the green light and full support and understanding from the EBRD representatives led by Mr. Remon Zakaria. After almost two and a half years since we made the formal decision on this investment, I believe that we should react very quickly on this matter because it is necessary to replace older rolling stock with new ones, but also from an economic aspect, as in these two and a half years, the price of electric multiple units has increased by about 30-40%. What I have emphasized in several previous meetings as a complicating factor is the work of the Competition Protection Agency, which takes a lot of time to provide an Opinion on the obligation of our Company, although I believe and repeat that since we are a public interest enterprise, the entire process should be much more efficient.
Finally, I would appeal and reiterate that the State should engage as urgently as possible to facilitate this entire process and, in mutual cooperation with us as a Company and our credit partners, enable new and modern rolling stock for our passengers to ensure a safe and comfortable journey.“, stated the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ŽPCG, Mr. Marko Bertanjoli.
It was concluded that this project can only be realised with the full support of the State and the relevant ministries. We are very pleased that the representatives of the EBRD expressed their full support for the Railway Transport of Montenegro, recognising the importance of procuring new electric multiple units, both from the perspective of safety and from the perspective of achieving the full potential of this company in the field of efficient and sustainable public transport and the tourism offer of Montenegro.