Concession as road infrastructure financing model in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

The apparent slowdown in the construction of road infrastructure in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a number of years necessarily requires a review of the existing and the analysis of new models of financing the road infrastructure construction in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The existing mainly credit-based financing models, have become increasingly exhausted over the years, and the interest of other Western Balkan countries in the EU funds clearly indicate that Bosnia and Herzegovina may expect only a fraction of the total infrastructure financing to be made to it through some of the European funds. This shows the undeniable need for analyzing and applying other models of road infrastructure financing, without additional borrowing, through a concession as a model applied in far more developed, and economically and financially more stable societies than the one in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the undoubtedly complex socio-political arrangements in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in terms of the competencies and legal framework, cannot justify the delays in the construction of the road infrastructure in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, it may pose a challenge to engineers to seek possible new options.