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| The highway project connects the city of Bar on Montenegro's Adriatic coast to landlocked neighbour Serbia. (File photo by= AFP/Savo PRELEVIC) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] Montenegro's finance minister on Friday (Apr 16) tried to ease concern over a near US$1 billion Chinese-backed road project, insisting the country could afford to repay the debt and did not need EU help. AFP reported that the project is part of a huge wave of Chinese investments across the Balkan region, which has sparked concern that governments have become too reliant on Beijing's money.
The NATO country, which is pushing for EU membership, took out the US$944 million loan in 2014, but the project has been dogged by allegations of corruption and doubts over its viability ever since. Finance Minister Milojko Spajic, part of a government that took power last year after three decades of rule by the socialists, had been widely quoted this week as saying Montenegro wanted EU help to repay or refinance the debt he inherited. And he insisted the country was in a position to service the loan, with 14 years of repayments due to start in July.
The reports prompted the bloc to flatly reject the idea, but Spajic told AFP the claims were based on misunderstandings. The public debt in Montenegro, a state of 600,000 people on the Adriatic coast, stood at 97 percent of GDP last year and the coronavirus pandemic has wrecked the tourism industry, its main source of income.
