SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), December 30 (SeeNews) - Bosnia's government said on Monday it has approved a draft contract for taking out a 140 million euro ($157 million) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for implementing a part of a major road infrastructure project.

The proceeds of the loan will be used to finance the planned construction of two new sections of European transport Corridor Vc - Poprikuse-Nemila and Tarcin-Ivan, which will have a length of 12 kilometres combined, the Council of Ministers said in a statement.

The 25-year loan will have a six-year grace period and will be used by Bosnia's Federation entity, the state-level government said. The Federation is one of two entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the other being the Serb Republic.

The EIB loan contract is now pending approval by Bosnia's tripartite presidency.

The estimated total value of the project is 294 million euro. The remaining 154 million euro will come from loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), grants from the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), and Bosnia's own funding, the government said.

Corridor Vc has a total length of 700 km and connects the Adriatic port of Ploce in Croatia with Budapest in Hungary via Bosnia. Its length in Bosnia is some 340 km.

($=0.892711 euro)