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Assignment: Montenegro’s Chinese road

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Montenegro’s Chinese road

13/01/2022 GMT

BBC World Service - Assignment, Montenegro’s Chinese road

How a new motorway is fuelling fears about debt, corruption, and submission to Beijing

Why has a tiny Balkan country borrowed Chinese money to build just part of a new motorway? And will corruption, eye-watering costs and the road's own limitations lead to disaster?

It has been called the priciest piece of tarmac in the world. In 2014 the government of Montenegro signed a contract with a state-owned Chinese company to build part of a 170 kilometre-long highway – a road that would connect its main port with the Serbian border to the north. The price-tag on the first 42 kilometres of asphalt was a staggering $1 billion - most of which has been borrowed from a Chinese bank. In Montenegro, questions continue to be asked about why the project went ahead when some experts said that it was not viable. The River Tara – a Unesco protected site – has been impacted by the building works, and allegations of corruption and kickbacks have hung around like a bad smell. Meanwhile, the economy has taken a massive hit as a result of the pandemic, and some Montenegrins worry about the country's ability to repay the loan. Worse still, a clause in the road contract states that Montenegro may relinquish sovereignty over unspecified parts of its territory if there is a default. But is everything as it seems? Assignment investigates.

Presenter: Linda Pressly
Producer: Mike Gallagher

(Photo: A slogan for Chinese construction workers adorns part of Montenegro’s new mountain road. Credit: Michael Gallagher/BBC)

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