Assessing the options for public private participation in the highway sector in Montenegro

Client: The Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs.
Funding agency: World Bank PPIAF.

The recently independent Montenegro, has set EU accession as a major strategic goal. Due to years of under-investment, the current state of the road infrastructure in the country is poor. The Government wishes to improve competitiveness and has plans to develop the two main road corridors, but fiscal space is limited. Therefore, the Government is seeking to assess the potential of, and create an enabling environment for private sector participation in the transport sector to cater for the growing demand for infrastructure investments. This study will allow the MMAT to assess the viability of private sector participation on the key priorities in the highway sector at this time, and identify any institutional impediments to such involvement. 

Our services include:

• A review of the existing policy framework in Montenegro with respect to private participation in the road sector;
• A review of the administrative structure for the road sector;
• A review of the legislative framework relevant to the introduction of private participation in the road sector, highlighting inadequacies and making recommendations for changes;
• An assessment of the affordability and recommendation of various tolling funding mechanisms;  
• A presentation of various institutional arrangement options for implementing PPP for road projects; 
• A review of the government road investment and maintenance plans, projected traffic levels, drawing primarily on the draft deliverables and work undertaken in the feasibility study, and identify the potential priority sections for private participation for inclusion in a potential future PPIAF application.