China's CRBC, Croatian Roads ink deal to build expressway

Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butkovic addresses a signing ceremony of a contract to build an expressway in Pozega, Croatia, on May 7, 2025. The contract to build a 14.75-km expressway was signed here on Wednesday between the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and Croatian Roads, the state-run road operator. (Xinhua/Li Xuejun)

POZEGA, Croatia, May 7 (Xinhua) -- A contract to build a 14.75-km expressway was signed here on Wednesday between the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and Croatian Roads, the state-run road operator.

The expressway, which will connect Pozega and Godinjak in eastern Croatia, carries a contract value of 160 million euros (180.8 million U.S. dollars). The project includes the construction of a 3.34-km tunnel, three overpasses, six underpasses, and one underpass tunnel.

At the signing ceremony, Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic, highlighted the positive experience Croatia had with China on the Peljesac Bridge project, which was also undertaken by CRBC and inaugurated in July 2022. He expressed confidence that the new expressway project would be similarly successful.

Ivica Budimir, CEO of Croatian Roads, noted that this is the second-largest project the company has signed in the past decade, following the Peljesac Bridge project.

Yang Dong, general manager for Central and Eastern Europe at CRBC, pledged to use all their professional knowledge and capabilities to complete it successfully and within the given time.

The construction of the Pozega-Godinjak expressway project is expected to begin later this year and be completed in four years. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars)

Representatives from Croatia and China attend a signing ceremony of a contract to build an expressway in Pozega, Croatia, on May 7, 2025. The contract to build a 14.75-km expressway was signed here on Wednesday between the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and Croatian Roads, the state-run road operator. (Xinhua/Li Xuejun)