Conceived and deliberate a decade in the past underneath a close to billion greenback Belt and Street Initiative (BRI) mortgage by the Export-Import Financial institution of China, and constructed by the China Street and Bridge Company (CRBC), the Bar-Boljare freeway was alleged to symbolize a transformative connection between the Adriatic Sea and Belgrade, bolstering commerce, connectivity and tourism for the small mountainous nation of Montenegro. The controversial mission has polarized the nation and put Montenegro in seemingly insurmountable debt.

Elizabeth Financial system wrote in a July 2023 article for the Monetary Instances: “After all, Belt and Street has been an advanced mixture of success and failure – cementing China’s financial, political, and strategic affect in some international locations, whereas prompting important fashionable backlashes in others.” And in some international locations, like Montenegro, each the affect and the backlash exist concurrently. 

A small part of the “world’s costliest highway” – 41 kilometers from Smokovac to Matesevo out of a deliberate whole size of 165 km – is open now simply exterior the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica, however it doesn’t go far. The multilane freeway traverses rugged mountain terrain with a powerful sequence of tunnels and bridges in slightly below an hour, however then abruptly ends. There are few drivers on the highway due to the costly toll to take it for such a brief distance. After exiting, it’s again to dusty and bumpy roads, leaving drivers reminded of the previous earlier than the freeway was constructed. 

The tip of the highway in Matesevo. Picture by Nicholas Muller.

Former Montenegrin Justice Minister Dragan Soc characterised the pointless nature of the mission in feedback to NPR in 2021: “We make a joke: It’s a freeway from nothing to nothing.”

Regardless of its prices, it has considerably alleviated the time it takes to drive throughout this quick however perilous part of the nation, which used to take hours, and has contributed to a discount in harmful driving situations on older, poorly maintained roads, enhancing general highway security. 

Street security is a main situation in Montenegro; the nation has had one of many highest visitors fatality charges in Europe.  

Simply north of Podgorica, a view of one of many bridges of the freeway. Picture by Nicholas Muller.

An Financial Conundrum

Montenegro was one of many first international locations in Europe to connect itself to China’s Belt and Street Initiative (BRI), eager to entry prepared funding for infrastructure.

But the Chinese language mortgage from the prices of the freeway has saddled the nation with debt and practically resulted in financial collapse, till Montenegro acquired restructured financing aid from European and U.S. banks. The money owed amounted to greater than a 3rd of the federal government’s annual finances.

In response to a 2023 U.S. State Division report: “Montenegro has one of many highest public debt-to-GDP ratios within the area.” And “[t]he completion of the complete four-stage mission continues to pose challenges to Montenegro’s fiscal place, given restricted room to finance the development of the three remaining sections.” 

The China Street and Bridge Company (CRBC) workplace in Podgorica, Montenegro. Picture by Nicholas Muller.

Montenegro isn’t alone; different BRI members have struggled to handle the loans issued underneath the Belt and Street framework. In response to Euronews, Argentina, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malaysia, Montenegro, Pakistan, and Tanzania are all coping with excessive debt-to-GDP ratios that pressure crippling choices to be able to service the debt.

As Carla Freeman of the USA Institute of Peace wrote, “However now plenty of these [BRI] international locations are saddled with immense debt and are having challenges repaying that debt. Additionally, they confronted issues with compelled resettlement of populations with usually penalties for the soundness of their international locations. Environmental degradation has been related to plenty of these tasks. And so now that the hype is over, there’s much more worldwide scrutiny.” 

A former CRBC building camp housing Chinese language employees who have been introduced in to construct the freeway. Picture by Nicholas Muller.

In feedback to Balkan Perception in 2022, Dejan Milovac, from the distinguished watchdog MANS, characterised the mission as missing transparency.

“Though the primary part is lastly completed, after virtually seven years, we nonetheless would not have detailed and dependable info on how a lot the mission value and what the explanations for the delays have been. We’re additionally not knowledgeable whether or not the state adequately protected the general public curiosity within the cope with the Chinese language buyers,” Milovac instructed Balkan Perception.

RFE/RL reported that the “2014 mortgage settlement with the Export-Import Financial institution of China has been made public, however practically all different paperwork regarding the freeway have been categorized as secret by Podgorica, which many specialists imagine is because of binding clauses within the Chinese language contracts.”

A home in Matesevo, Montenegro the place the freeway ends. The tip of building might be seen within the background. Picture by Nicholas Muller.

A Heavy Environmental Toll

Along with the fiscal burden, the mission has enacted a heavy value from the 78-kilometer lengthy UNESCO-protected Tara River Gorge. Environmental specialists in Montenegro have deemed the river “successfully lifeless.” Because the freeway was constructed close by, the fish have disappeared. Locals blame poisoning of the water provide by Chinese language employees dumping supplies into the river. 

Unused building components from CRBC, the Chinese language building firm, are left strewn alongside the Tara’s banks, and the as soon as pristine water is now filled with particles from dump websites and sediments, that are flushed into the river, destroying it. It’s not clear how the federal government plans to revitalize the river. 

Particles left by the development firm is left in quite a few locations alongside the freeway and within the rivers. Within the background is a former CRBC building camp housing Chinese language employees introduced in to construct the freeway. Picture by Nicholas Muller.

For years, activists had warned of the toll building and air pollution have been taking up the Tara River. In 2021, the nation launched the primary state investigation into CRBC in regards to the environmental harm to the UNESCO-protected river. Activist teams’ issues and Montenegro’s Nature and Environmental Safety Company (NEPA) have been repeatedly ignored by CRBC. Prison costs have been introduced, however have been later dismissed. 

After bitter experiences with BRI infrastructure tasks 10 years on, many international locations have shied away from taking up new Chinese language tasks. However in March 2023, Montenegro awarded new highway contracts to Chinese language corporations for a coastal freeway between the principle tourism facilities from Budva to Tivat. 

A view of the harm brought about to the Tara River by the development of the freeway. Picture by Nicholas Muller.

Though a number of the internal workings of the deal have since been revealed, many paperwork regarding the Montenegrin freeway have been categorized as secret, leaving Montenegrins at the hours of darkness in regards to the particulars. 

The Chinese language employees who lived on website for years have gone dwelling now that the primary part is finished. Now Montenegro is left with the invoice from the earlier authorities and uncertainty, as as to whether the remaining sections of the highway will ever be constructed sooner or later.