PODGORICA (Montenegro), July 4 (SeeNews) - Montenegro's government said on Tuesday that China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has committed to complete the construction of the first section of the Bar-Boljare motorway in line with the agreed schedule.

The construction of the Bar-Boljare motorway is among the priorities for CRBC and the project is being implemented under the highest quality standards, the government quoted the company chairman, Lu Shan, as saying in a statement.

CRBC plans to intensify the works on the project and hire additional staff from Montenegro, Lu Shan said during a meeting with prime minister Dusko Markovic.

The government intends to spend the entire allocation of 194.3 million euro ($220.4 million) in this year's budget for the construction of the motorway, Markovic said.

In May, the chief engineer of the Bar-Boljare motorway construction project said the first stretch, connecting Montenegro's capital Podgorica to Matesevo, will be completed on May 11, 2019.

The Montenegrin government intends to invest a total of 809 million euro in the construction of the 165 km-long motorway. The Export-Import Bank of China has extended a $944 million loan to Montenegro, with an interest rate of 2% and a six-year grace period, towards the cost of the project.

The Bar-Boljare motorway is part of pan-European Corridor XI, a ferry/motorway corridor linking Italy's Bari to Romania's Bucharest via Montenegro's Bar port and Serbia's Belgrade.

($ = 0.88156 euro)