Montenegro has secured a €225.6 million financing package to modernise the railway linking Podgorica with the Port of Bar, strengthening one of the country’s most important freight and transport corridors.
The package combines a €50 million sovereign loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, an €112.6 million EU grant and a €63 million European Investment Bank loan.
The investment will finance reconstruction of around 39 kilometres of railway between Golubovci and Bar.
Works will include renewal of track infrastructure, modernisation of three railway stations and 11 bridges, and upgrades to signalling, telecommunications and power systems.
The project is strategically important because the railway provides the main freight connection between the Port of Bar, Montenegro’s industrial hinterland and Serbia.
Improved capacity and reliability could strengthen Bar’s position as a logistics gateway for Serbia and other landlocked markets in the Western Balkans, particularly for bulk commodities, metals, containers and industrial cargo.
The investment also includes technical assistance aimed at strengthening Montenegro’s railway institutions, including support for the new Railway Agency and improvements in cybersecurity.
The large EU grant component significantly reduces the financing burden on Montenegro while allowing it to accelerate infrastructure modernisation required under its EU accession process.
For the Port of Bar, the rail upgrade could be commercially more important than additional port capacity alone. The port’s ability to capture regional cargo depends heavily on the speed, reliability and cost of inland railway connections.
The project therefore links Montenegro’s transport infrastructure strategy directly with its ambition to increase transit trade and position Bar as a more competitive Adriatic logistics hub.
