The state of the railway infrastructure and rolling stock is such that more intensive investment is needed to bring the tracks to the designed condition, and to modernize the rolling stock with new generation trains, announced the state secretary in the Ministry of Capital Investments (MKI), Dijana Perković.
She said that such situation is not new and that, regardless of the short period of work of this Government, their task was to take urgent measures to solve the problems that have for years already been to the greatest extent a brake on the development of the entire system.
– We are aware that the previous investments, of over 180 million EUR for 15 years, are not small, however, the annual investments in infrastructure in the last four years, of 9 million EUR per year, are on average insufficient to complete the general overhauls and renewal of rolling stock in for a relatively short period of five to seven years – explained Perković.
– I believe that everyone is aware of the fact that these are companies where problems have been accumulating for years, and it would be unreasonable to expect quick solutions for all four companies. In the mandate of the current Government, in previous years, the MKI worked intensively on finding a model of support and a way out of the current situation. We managed to launch certain initiatives and realize a series of activities, in order to provide companies with adequate support in rehabilitating the situation and launching modernization and reconstruction plans – said Perković.
With the aim of better understanding the situation and rationalizing the entire process, as she added, they proposed the engagement of consultants through the already existing support mechanisms that Montenegro has from the EU delegation in Montenegro, and they already have in the draft a comprehensive analysis of all companies, which should provide inputs for further action in the direction of improving the condition of those companies.
