TIRANA, March  13 /ATA/ The Council of Ministers approved on Monday the agreement with Montenegro for the construction of the Buna Bridge, which will connect the two countries.

The construction of the Buna Bridge was agreed upon at the meeting of the two governments held on February 27, in Montenegro.

The Deputy Prime Minister, also Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, told a media briefing after the meeting of the Council of Ministers, that the project is expected to cost about 1.5 billion lek and will be shared by the two governments.

“The two countries have a coastline of approximately 24 km and visitors have to traverse 73 km, or travel 1.5 hours by vehicle because they have to pass through the Murriqan Border Crossing Point. Meanwhile, with the construction of the 310 m Buna Bridge, this distance will be shortened to 2 minutes,” said Balluku.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Balluku, the data show 360,000 Albanian tourists visiting Montenegro and about 170,000 citizens from Montenegro visiting Albania.

Balluku also informed that work has started on the design of the project that will be carried out by the Albanian Development Fund.

/gj.m/sm/