The EBRD is considering to provide co-financing, together with the European Union’s Instrument for Pre-accession (‘IPA’) and the European Investment Bank (‘EIB’) of a new 28 km section of Corridor X from Smokvica to Demir Kapija with a total length of 28 km. This forms a key section of this north-west link which links Austria to Greece.
The investment is required to meet the growing traffic demand and to facilitate full motorway standard thus, ultimately facilitating regional integration and connectivity with the wider Europe.
Main environmental and social issues described in the ESIA documentation include:
- Biodiversity: sensitive habitats have been identified and include mainly the Demir Kapija canyon, the plane and willow gallery forests and the maquis and pseudo-maquis habitats on the plateaus.
- Social and Land Acquisition: while the Project does not affect any residential structure, it does impact some agricultural and pasture land in the Vardar valley towards the villages of Miravci and Smokvica. The proposed route is generally well away from settlements; however, noise protection will be needed locally, as well as re-establishment of local roads and agricultural tracks in the Vardar valley between Miravci and Smokvica.
- Construction impacts: they will include noise, dust, vibration, severance of local traffic and waste / spoil management.
The ESIA and ESAP
The Macedonian Government had since 2007 developed an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in compliance with the local legislation, which is modelled on the EU EIA Directive. It was updated twice in March 2008 and July 2009. Two successive rounds of public consultation took place in the Project area in 2009 and 2010. Following this process the Project was duly permitted by the local Competent Authority.
Some limited gaps in the existing documentation have been identified against the EBRD 2008 Environmental and Social Policy.
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