New Motorway in Kosova-Huge Investments in Road Building in Albania and Kosova May Alter Trade Routes

Tirana, 28 March 2008. The Kosova Government is planning to construct a new motorway to connect Morina to Mardar, crossing Kosova from the southeast to north. Morina is the main border point between Albania and Kosova, while Mardar is the main border stop between Serbia and Kosova.
Adem Grabofci, Vice Minister of Transport and Telecommunications of Kosova, confirmed the details of the project, which was prepared by a German engineering firm. However, no final decision has yet to be taken because the Ministry of Transport (MTPT), assisted by international experts, is reviewing the entire road project.
Nevertheless, 50 million Euro have already been approved for the project. The money will be used to pay for land purchased during the first phase of the project. The issue of the land expropriations, which are necessary due to construction of the Morina-Mardar motorway in Kosova, is to be debated in the Kosova Parliament as it is believed the project is particularly important, said Grabofci. He confirmed that the Kosova government is going to pay market price for all the land expropriated.
The Kosova government is planning to spend 650 million Euro for the entire project. The planned motorway is going to connect to the Albanian Durr촩-Kuk촩-Morina motorway, which is already under construction, and is going to connect Tirana and Durr촩 to the Kosova market, cutting the travel time between Tirana and Prishtina to a mere three hour drive. Fewer than 2,000 vehicles cross Morina between Kosovo and Albania each day, according to the South East Europe Traffic Observatory. However, that number should be in the tens of thousands, Kosova officials say.
For the moment, trade between Albania and Kosova is minimal due to poor economic development in both countries, lack of infrastructure, inter-trade traditions and information. However, steady economic growth experienced during the last seven to eight years, and huge investments in road construction, is expected to change all that.