How a Chinese highway could put Montenegro's EU bid at risk | DW Business
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- Опубликовано: 2 сен 2023
- Montenegro has gone into huge debt to build a highway on China's New Silk Road. What will happen if the country can't pay that money back? Even worse, the project has also created a slew of environmental problems.
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#Montenegro #China #BeltAndRoad
It's odd how this documentary doesn't talk about how Montenegro has signed recent contracts with China to build additional roads. One would think that if they are so full of regret that this wouldn't happen.
the politicians are not the most integer sorts of people (are you shocked?) I'm not.
There is something called corruption. Ever heard of it ?
The Balkans cannot only blame on their own !
@@charlie8458 What corruptions? Did China point a gun at them to sign ?
@@px1690 Montenegro is a democracy, if people don't agree, what can the government do?
I am from Montenegro, and it is great that we finally made that road. With this road we have a good connection to the north. Previous road trough canyon took so many lives. What it took 1 and half hours before now it is 25 minutes ride. Road will pay itself. Montenegrin debt is only 70% of gdp, if you compare it to other western countries it is smaller than most. Only thing is that you hate China, and their influence. Maybe influence of China would not be that great, that EU had let Montenegro in finally. You had let Bulgaria and Romania in and you are setting unimaginable standards for Montenegro, which half of todays members do not have. Please cut the hypocrisy talk. I hope we continue that road more to the north and to the south also.
Is there no cost for China’s construction? Is it free for you? I’m laughing. Do you like bombs or highways in the West? There is a price for everything you do. If China doesn’t come, Westerners will invest in construction for you. Stop dreaming. The debt trap is what the West says to discredit China. If I were the leader of China, why would I want to help a country that is not grateful and let it continue to be poor? Anyway, the West only wants to plunder them.
60000000000000000000000000+ Social credits
@@KnightArisendon't you have schools shooting to attend to?
@@KnightArisenlol your just a kid
Keep playing soul games 😅
@@walkingwithsandels5728 9000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000+ Social Credits Sir bin qi ling
Here's the dilemma for countries like MonteNegro, if you do not accept Chinese investment and infrastructure, you are not developing and not building anything. If you accept that, EU wouldn't be happy but you had their attention, because you are inviting China instead of them. Now, here's the question, if the Chinese were not there, would the EU even be interested in your country? Would they even mention helping you to build you infrastructure? Think about that. They don't want to help you, but they don't even want others to help you. Same applies to Africa.
Country is small with no big income. Shouldn't do major projects with either EU or China or any other country. The problem is politician want credit, people wants their country like other developed country. That's the problem with developing countries .
Make it your own. No one is going to help you for free
Got your POV, but according to our similar experience in Vietnam, Chinese construction companies bribed a lot of government officials to get the projects and it's actually not worth to have infrastructures that were too damn expensive and not designed for long term quality
If you skip nonsensical infra projects and focus on compliance for EU membership, in a few years you get major part of such projects funded by the EU itself. And even the share spent from local budget will return as salaries for involved locals.
In China itself majority of construction and real property projects will never become profitable so they desperately need at least some outside to balance the budget.
@@anh-quanle4399 Same for Cambodia, Phnom Penh - Sihanoukville motorway. They could have easily fixed the existing road, its capacity was more than sufficient.
This sounds like, "if you can't help them, complain if someone does". Honestly, all the problems outlined are solvable only if the government decides to work on it. Generations to come will certainly hail the bridge's construction
Lol. Not if that generation will still need to pay the debt for those 41 km.
Imagine borrowing 1 Bil for a new road and then building only 1/3rd before running out of money. And the terms of the loans allow for China to seize land, including the valuable port when Montenegro defaults. I guess they have a cool bridge though
Honestly, 1 billion euros for a highway 41 kilometers long with tunnels and bridges is quite cheap. The real function of the road is to facilitate more efficient movement of goods and people from point A to point B, which the video clearly stated it was doing. Businesses are booming in the towns the road has connected. You could argue that China was using its own construction crew instead of providing jobs for locals, but that also ensured on time and on budget completion of the highway.
exactly this was a hit piece but they still managed to give us enough info to understand the misleading
You are right, it is cheap. But is it sensible? It needs to add billions in economic activity to be remotely profitable for a government. Otherwise you're still impoverishing your nation, but then through taxes.
And given that montenegro has poor regular roads in other parts, that would be a more sensible investment
As an Australian, I was also surprised it was so cheap. But seeing how they dumped rubbish and destroyed the river it makes sense. A lot of extra cost comes from things like waste disposal and minimising the damage to the local environment. Hopefully the quality is up to par and they didn't cheap out on materials / construction quality.
@@Patangy i wouldnt expect it. Cutting corners is a way of life for chinese companies, at home and abroad. If they think they can get away with something, they'll try it.
Its not that they cant build quality products, but they will not do it if theres insufficient oversight. And there was clearly insufficient oversight, otherwise that river would still have fish in them
My Canadian city has a freeway plan that projected costs at 1.36b€ for 27km. Including one bridge and probably some overhead crossings... Also that projection was done in 2014 and we won't break ground until 2030 at the earliest. That being said my city prides itself on its sustainable water practices, so I'd rather spend the money then just yolo chemicals willy nilly into the water
WHY cant they find European contractor? Because it is 5 times more expensive and five times longer to build
It’s Financial looting for China to
Charge $1 Billion for 41 Miles. 😂
You want to Quote 5 Times that.
Maybe because they don't cut corners and destroy all surrounding nature in the process?
@@jerrykreutzer4326 lol and u actually believe that😂😂😂
@@freakmoister Look at the quality of autobahn construction vs Chinese construction. Yes, there is a difference. Chinese companies will cut corners more than most, if you let them.
@@CaptainKremmen that's why bridges in us are crumbling lol do some research folks don't be manipulated by western biased media
Get the person who signed the contract to hand back the 10% he got for signing it. It's not all but a start
❤️🔥
The deal was signed under the previous administration. If business was conducted under official time it would seem to be hard to revert the policy. Unless you nationalize infrastructure and buy it from the Chinese for $1. Didn't just Heineken sell it's interests to Putler for less than what the charge for a bottle in the store?
must be a person smarter than the guy believe concrete kills fish in river.
@@blolee-gc1srof course. Because every smart person knows, concrete in a river makes fishes bloom. Like you do, Einstein
Besides you missed the part where they said all the chemicals were washed there too
what chemicals from building a highway? Madame curie
china builds thousands miles of highway each year and I am sure there are still fish in china.
They have clearly made their choice; as a european i don't really want to pay China via montenegro. Montenegro should squeeze their pocket and pay what they agreed with China. Don't expect EU to pay for your choices.
Agreed. They wanted a Chinese debt trap. They’ll have to learn their lesson the hard way like Pakistan.
EU don’t care about Montenegro so they turn to China. You sound like eu has money for others. EU almost can’t pay for its own budget
the problem is that the money is stolen between politicians and for sure this doesn't cost 1 BN, and everyone in Montenegro knows that.
another reason to not get into EU too soon or to have the EU pay their debt. they know things are rotten yet they voted those politicians and nobody got arrested for this stupidly expensive and useless highway
Weather in a Chinese or European dept trap, look how the EU trapped Greece, it's both the same, EU better pay up if they want to conquer another country
Wow the entire belt and road initiative has become a big dumpster fire for these debt-trapped countries..
That was the plan all along. China’s road to world 🌍 domination.
That’s all part of the plan!
Boom! Yet another Mafia style government preying on the poor.
That's exactly what it's meant to do. The country gets in debt unable to pay back, so china agrees clauses to gain influence in the country as payment. It's why China owns half of Africa right now.
Not any better for China, which has its banking sector collapse completely with default rates exceeding 50% in many cities
Next prepare for construction of “Chinese police stations” and infrastructure “upgrades” that facilitate Chinese surveillance and data collection.
CIA troll
@@blolee-gc1srno CIA in my country. But we do have the Chinese police stations and I am NOT in China. But feel free to play again.
Why does China want data from Montenegro?
I have not seen any proof of these 'Chinese police station'. its just another media brainwashing you to hate the Chinese.
@@SpruceWood-NEG --- don't hold your breadth for the EU and America to help. Infrastructure building is a low margin business and requires hard work. War and selling weapons systems are far more profitable.
Honestly.. from an Indians perspective who’s interested a bit in infrastructure.. 1 billion Euros for this quality and difficulty of a highway running for 40km in today’s money is not a lot atall. I don’t think it was possible to do it without the Chinese building it with their own labour and financing it too. In that sense it’s not really burden because even if Montenegro managed to build it with loans at cheaper rates they would have had to raise a lot more money. The mistake wasn’t really the loan. It probably was the overestimation of benefits coming from it. Sure China enabled the splurge.. but the true crime lies in the decision itself.
Honestly, I both admire and hate how China operates in the world: wherever it goes, it brings its own workers, always keeping its money in the loop. It barely creates any jobs or bring positive changes to new markets, indebting them due to the typical disregard to long-term planning and environmental protection.
The U.S. funds NGOs worldwide to speak negatively about Chinese influence while offering no useful alternatives.
Debt trap policy
i agree, this is a for profit only venture for China.
It's circular investing
while when G7 operates in the world,
only wars, more debts, and color revolutions...
nothing positive at all
Same happened in Serbia with its highway, lots of small rivers along it are completely dead.
Cant make an omelete without breaking some eggs. People always want progress but do not want anything to change. That's not possible.
@kamsunleong6648 you can actually, but that leads to things like HS2 in the UK - where every last environmental impact is taken care of. Ends up vastly increasing the size of the project.
@@kamsunleong6648 ah yes, kiling fish and making a river dead and having to have to spend more money to fix the river after the fact, than would have been needed to just not clean out cement trucks in the river and dump the waste in the river. Now, more money has to be thrown at the problem, more waste of fuel, and taxpayer money to clean this problem up. But people like you will complain about how high your taxes are.
Maybe because usa bombed them with depleted uranium?
Headwaters infrastructures (like dam and water supply) and better roads could be more important for human needs in the future, As some person ever said that 'there's no gain without some sacrifices'.
This is what is called a debt trap. The Chinese government is offering Montenegro a huge loan that it will not be able to repay, with the aim of seizing Montenegro's state-owned assets as a result. That is, the colonization of Montenegro.
我问你一个问题，难道项目开始前，他们没讨讨论过融资问题，条件如何？难道没有合同？难道你没钱支付，中国要免费帮你？中国公司不要运营？中国人不要吃饭？
If this bridge was built by the US or Germany or any other country beside China, noone will have complained
They took the money and gave jobs to chinese workers. Sounds like a double loss.
That's bcuz it would've been done correctly, with better quality products & wouldn't have destroyed the environment
all you have to remember is china bad west good. saves much time.
But it also wouldn't be finished by now xD
@@siamcharm7904 it's not even funny how true that is
Lol why isnt the video talking about Montenegrin government’s faults here?? When projects like this are planned, they should be outlining their priorities upfront, including the environmental ones. Reality is, they probably didnt even consider the impacts on rivers, because there is no political will to look into that. You can blame the builder all you want, but contracts are closed based on the requirements and agreement of the local authorities…
You mean the Politicians on the
Payroll of China 😂
Do you think that river is more important than a project that brings almost 10 million dollars per year?
Let's be honest here, no one in Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria stopped to evaluate the environmental risks as they dug those huge tunnels through the Alps. The priority was economic development. Well, guess what: Montenegro wants to develop as well, without nosy Westerners telling it what to do.
The government should buy tons of small fish and put them in the river.
no one is talking about Australia destroying the ocean because of their salmon farms, there is no protest, Japan dumped 1 million cubic meters of nuclear waste into the ocean because of their friends.
Do Jamaica next. It's the samething. A river that I have seen since i was born, is now basically non existent since the Chinese built a road there. And the rate of the toll is higher than most motorists can afford, so the toll road always has light traffic. And more and more roads keep being built as a new one will be opened to the public tomorrow. The government has not outlined what the exact deal with china was and what happens if we default on loan payment. So i would love to see real journalists uncover China's growing influence in the Caribbean and how long the Chinese have been infiltrating the Caribbean.
NEO colonialism my friend. You're only just free of the British and soon you'll be under the kosh of the CCP.
Well, if its a bad deal, then don‘t deal with Chinese Constructure again.
Maybe your country should withdrew frim Globalisation and started making your own cellphone .
sooo... roads are not beneficial somehow?
@gtaraya it's not about being beneficial or not. It's about what we are willing to risk and give up, just to get it. And it can't be beneficial if the tolls are too high, which makes them less attractive to motorists. Besides, all I did was request a journalistic investigation into the matter. Nothing was said or implied about the benefits or lack thereof.
@@Average_Bruh One of the most important condition when signing deal with China's Belt and Road loans and projects is confidential and not to be open to anyone the details specially to journalist. Most of this is done with under the table hand shake. Only when the government changes in the host country, things unravel and it is already too late because the ink is already dry. Never a good thing in long run for poor countries with corrupt leaders.
Its Chinas way of Modern Colonization😆
They aren't making anyone take any loan. Europe got Greece in a never ending debt trap😂😂Those people have no oil or resources. They can only pay the interest
The Montenegro-BRI contract is available online, better to read it out and compare it to IMF and World Bank alternative proposal.
colonialization will never build infrastrcutures.
What France do in Africa is colonialization... France become rich, but Africa stay in poverty.
@@kudajingkrak4919of course colonization builds infrastructure, how do you move the resources and wealth belonging to the colony from inland to your ports for shipment otherwise?
Better than the west colonization of bombings
There are several ways to improve the situation and lower the debt. First is to capture the government officials who signed the contract and force them to pay back all the bribes and kickbacks which they received. That is 100% certain as history shows. Second is to start investigations on Chinese companies' blatant ignorance of environment protection and issue heavy fines which will be deducted from the loan if they are not paid in time.
Yeah except in the contract they probably have a no-liabilty clause for the environmental damage.
Then there are no more companies from other countries willing to undertake the construction of new projects. Are the western media or the government willing to help you build a road for free?
Don't be brainwashed by western media, think with your own brain!
Why are you so immature
But China in and out!
看来我们中国人需要学习美国和西方一些国家，学会如何往其他国家领土上扔炸弹。炸毁道路桥梁等等基础设施，而不是修建它们。
Railways are much better use of money and recourses than an expensive length of tarmac.
This motorway was desperately needed, the old road is narrow, windy. and very dangerous, with many unlit tunnels. Montenegro really needed it.
@@wyqtor but Montenegro do not have natural resources like Africa, I'm afraid they gonna be bankrupted soon
@@anh-quanle4399UE can't let this happen
Germany built Berlin Airport 20 years and now their Media complaining 7 years, Hypacrocy😅😂😂
You should talk, you failed abortion.
The problem with short 4 year-periods. It is easy to start projects like these. Its free. Then someone else have to pay further on.
No reason to think twice about such things if someone else get the problem
On the other hand, having a bad decision maker for 20 years increases the chances of having more disastrous projects along the way.
@@thomaswiegele9802 sure, but atleast he will have to pay for some of them. I am just saying our system is not perfect, and this is its weak point. Short-term thinking, taking loans, and so on. It is amazing how the world keeps working while all are in dept. I doubt it will do so forever.
I see many people criticizing China for providing 25 years of long-term interest free loans to Montenegro and building mountainous highways. So can we do something, such as all the critics donating at least 100 euros to Montenegro, and the European Union also providing a 25 year long-term interest free loan to help Montenegro build highways. According to everyone, the EU must hire local workers. As a member of the democratic world, the EU must assist Montenegro in building highways and cannot attempt to profit from this project. In order to avoid Montenegro falling into the Chinese debt trap. It would be better if the EU could provide half of the construction funds.
@@SpruceWood-NEG - do not forget it is typically all built by Chinese workers, little have benefitted the local community, most probably banks and EU etc have refused to lend money because the project have had little value for the society, what China are doing is kind of political extortion
1. EU rejected to fund the project. China came to the rescue with interest free loans.
2. Montenegro sees the Belt and Road Initiative better than EU and US alternative like IMF and World Bank.
2. Montenegro did a bidding, European contractors are expensive, Chinese contractors are cheap with proven portfolio. China won the bidding.
4. Montenegro-BRI contract is available online.
yeah,because eu didnt see it profitable
@@nihil_hd1598"Montenegro is not a democracy we should change their leader"
WSJ did a great detailed piece about China projects in other coutnries, on how China lack of experience and technical capability ended up with dams with 1000s of cracks, infrastructures and structures that were prone to collapse, and defective equipment and systems with low quality materials and components, if you work with China this is what you get.
Now you know the reality when the loans comes due as to how cheap Chinese is in the long run.
Obvious case of corruption by the Montenegro Government. World Bank -
1) Does not give loan for projects that fail the cost-benefit and cost recovery analysis.
2) Does not give loan with the borrower is not deemed to be capable of paying back the loan.
3) Does not seize infrastructure of claim sovereignty over an infrastructure built from its loaned-out money.
China did. Because -
1) They don't care if the project recovers its cost or not because the aim was to put Montenegro in debt trap and a vote for China at every forum Montenegro participates in (in the long run).
2) They de-risked loan default to certain extent by circling back the money to its own companies, contractors and economy.
3) Further de-risked by putting infrastructure as mortgage.
pretty much a hit piece... the first few people interviewed tell you that this has changed their life and their capital city is now linked to the coast whereas before it took much longer on dangerous roads (and by the way one of the reasons China continues to be a formidable competitor for manufacturing is because they invested so much in roads and rail tracks - something Germany might want to up their investment in for example as their trains have become a joke). Now the real question is why this had to be financed by China? well I saw another report on this same subject and Montenegro actually applied for loans from the EU for this first but basically this went nowhere not because of the high price tag (which comes from the fact that this is in a mountainous area) or for environmental reasons but because Germany, the Dutch and the Belgians did not want to open another trading route via the Med that would reduce traffic through their ports. So, well Montenegro looked elsewhere but as usual there are some who conclude that all of this was nefarious. I also remember seeing an interview of an official in an African country who explained that they chose Chinese financing for a bridge because the EU wanted them to first spend on improving the attendance of kids in school. And for them a bridge solved needs including how kids went to school. So maybe Europeans of which I am need to stop always being on high horses and be a bit more pragmatic... But what DW could also tell us is how much EU companies would have charged to build this same road? somehow, I suspect a tad more....
Indian, Filipino and American Vietnamese come to EU's China bashing media and they are so happy.
Belt and road leaves a trail of debt in its wake.
You have to wonder how much it would have cost if the EU built the highway. With environmental and higher labor costs it would cost many times more than the Chinese which would result in Montenegro being many times more in debt to the EU rather the Chinese.
@@tombranch2261how does the IMF operate?
They always raise problems and never solve them. Western democracy always does this. Once you make some achievements, there will always be opposition parties raising opposing views, resulting in huge administrative costs. The government's development of people's livelihood is always necessary to distinguish between primary and secondary ones.
🕵 "7 yrs to build, 41km (25mi) long, half hour to drive, cost EU1Billion". Wow, Chinese are so smart! Now that Montenegro is unlikely to afford to complete the 270 miles project or "repay China's state-owned Export-Import Bank on time, the bank then has the right to seize land inside Montenegro, as long as it doesn't belong to the military or is used for diplomatic purposes." Very nice way for China to exert influence and control over Montenegro politically, economically, socially, etc.
refinance. im sure EU will offer good lending terms, in order to keep the Chinese out.
@tedcrilly46 the EU would not have needed to. Could have had more targeted reforms to increase the economy first, then afford a highway like this.
If you know Chinese motto of "Build Road first than wealth will followed", then you will understand why China has grown to a super Power in such a short time.
Westetn Europe just wants to keep Eastern Europe as poor as possible for manupilation.
If Chinese can be rich and so developed, Eastern Europeans can do it too.
@@merrick6484 yeah western Europe wants to keep eastern Europe poor, ... and thats why the number 1 recipient of EU structural financial aid is Poland.
i think you will punched in the mouth in poland for saying they are eastern european as they are central.@@tedcrilly46
How many EU countries have debts that exceed 100% of their GDP?
Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium. So 6.
The highest one being Greece at 171%,
For comparison; US 122%, Japan 263%, Germany 59%, China 77%
Just my thought, it doesn’t seem very fair to demand more to candidate countries than to the member states, and even more knowing that once Montenegro and the other applicants get in they’ll most likely give up on the 60% rule
@@jarls5890 China's debt is currently 290% of GDP. Where did you get 77%?
@@biswaroopmaiti2943 IMF. Your 290% is the total debt including private debts.
National debt is 77%.
If you use THAT metric - US debt is 765% of GDP.
@@apurvanagoree768 You are correct. As long as the USD is the world trade currency.
THAT is what Putin is currently trying to change....
Great infrastructure!! Money is well spend. Pity environmental inspectors not doing their job.
There is a reason for a poor country being poor. They need a highway with a low price, they need financing, they need you take care of their fish, they even need you to worry about their gov's debt ratio. Next time, ask EU or US to do those things!
Those are not what Montenegro people worried about, but excuses some EU countries found to spread hate toward China.
China's Ecuador's dam is one the best example of China's capabilities:
"Since the 2016 opening, officials from the state electricity utility have found more than *17,000 cracks in the power plant’s eight turbines,* according to the state utility. It blames the fissures on faulty steel imported from China."
😂😂they fault for trust 🤮💩👹💩🤮
Ecuadorian Engineers have conducted inspections and already debunked the myth of cracks and so is the dam's structural integrity.
Lose the sycophancy. It's overpriced junk
@@reis1185 Myth!!🤣 you Wumaos are so funny:
Here are some quotes about that project:
“We could lose everything,” said *Fabricio Yépez, an engineer* at the University of San Francisco in Quito who has closely tracked the project’s problems. “And we don’t know if it could be tomorrow or in six months.”
“The *erosion* is a process that would normally occur over *thousands or millions of years,* but the dam has accelerated it in a matter of just *five years* ,” said *Carolina Bernal, a geologist* at the National Polytechnic School, a public university in Quito.
“We are suffering today because of the bad quality of equipment and parts” in Chinese-built projects, said *René Ortiz, Ecuador’s former energy minister and ex-secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.*
" “Over my dead body will I accept *this poorly built plant*,” *Energy Minister Fernando Santos* told local media in November."
Ms. Bernal said the government will likely *need to relocate a key part of the plant-the project’s water intake-which would *cost millions of dollars,* before that *structure is destroyed by the erosion.*
This story is as true as "the doctor has found unusual cracks in your brain structure".
Becoming a debtor to China for 40 km. of highway ,is far from being a smart thing to do.But leave them alone,it was their own choice.
is one billion dollar a?big deal? where are you?from
The point is that it’s too late too leave the decision alone since it affects everybody.
@@blolee-gc1srFor a small country of less than one million people.
And how much would it have cost if EU companies built that 40 km of highway that included tunnels? It would be probably 5 times more than the Chinese. Montenegro would never get that highway built if the EU is involved.
@@Bk6346 so they built it anyway and let the Chinese kill their river, take their sovereignty and destroy their landscape.
the bad thing about Chinese loan is, it comes with Chinese developers and labour.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket better than oceangate submarine and titanic.🤣🤣
@@IamHandsome4u Titanic was a century ago. Chinese are best at stealing technology and producing cheap poor products.
And Chinese steel and cement. It won't last as long as the loan period but they won't be responsible for maintenance.
@@IamHandsome4utotally irrelevant uncle lee
@@IamHandsome4u how about the Chinese sub that just sank? You forget about that one. You forget to mention that one, or are your Chinese handlers not telling you about that one.
China knows exactly what its doing. They put prices that cant be covered in time and allways in contract is a part of a land ,port etc ; that is given to china for 50-100 years.
And the bid is lower than anyone else but after they start work the cost doubled or tripled.
@@Western_Declinethe IMF doesn't get the bid and send its own workers comrade mao.
I see many people criticizing China for providing 25 years of long-term interest free loans to Montenegro and building mountainous highways. So can we do something, such as all the critics donating at least 100 euros to Montenegro, and the European Union also providing a 25 year long-term interest free loan to help Montenegro build highways. According to everyone, the EU must hire local workers. As a member of the democratic world, the EU must assist Montenegro in building highways and cannot attempt to profit from this project. In order to avoid Montenegro falling into the Chinese debt trap. It would be better if the EU could provide half of the construction funds.
@@SpruceWood-NEG if Montenegro joined EU that would have happen 😆 now all Montenegro can do is pay what they owe for their choices
@@Western_Decline nope, you are thinking of China that does this.
If the same money is given to the United States, it will only be enough for dozens of Patriot missiles.
So what if it is given to Germany? when the road is still waiting for approval to open, the reporters have already seen God.😂
When the U$A says they want to help you by building infrastructure in your country, they don't mean hospitals, roads, schools, etc.
They mean military bases. --island country saying
I am from Montenegro. We are happy because we finally got this highway, we hope that soon the construction of other sections will continue. And you from the west, if it bothers us that we use a Chinese loan, offer us the same or better conditions and we will take a loan from of your banks👋🎁👋
I thought it's "The Highway to Nowhere" described by Western media?
That's because it's only 25 miles out of an originally planned 270 miles project.
@@pohanahawaiithat's not what the report say, plus the contract is available online.
@@reis1185 : Feel free to read these articles yourself: 1) NPR: "How a Chinese Highway Drove Montenegro Into Deep Debt" (6/28/2021). 2) NYT: "A Pricey Drive Down Montenegro's Highway from Nowhere to Nowhere" (8/14/2021)
🕵 A copy of the loan contract reviewed by NPR in a 6/28/2001 article shows that "if Montenegro is not able to repay China's state-owned Export-Import Bank on time, the bank then has the right to seize land inside Montenegro, as long as it doesn't belong to the military or is used for diplomatic purposes. In addition, Montenegro's former government signed off on allowing a Chinese government court to have the final say on the execution of the contract."
@@pohanahawaiiand what you see in the video is "The Highway to Nowhere"?
The contract is publicly available online.
Before Chinese, Montenegrin government asked EU to help and they rejected, than Chinese catch chance to help and profit.
Because it's not worth the money to build it
@@samsonsoturian6013 How it's not worth money? Montenegro is next Luxembourg every year standard of living grows, plus it is country with amazing nature.
@user-xu6vx7bh4b not worth a billion dollars. This is a tiny country with no major cities
@@samsonsoturian6013 You know you have been there? Montenegro will finish the highway with or without EU help. Tiny or not they have the most beautiful country in Europe.
@user-xu6vx7bh4b the highway is finished and it is losing money, pendejo
So Montenegro better without road than being in debt lol.
It's ok when Western countries have 2times debt per gdp
But its a problem if montenegro has 70% of its current gdp
@@aj3314yes, because china has a terribly unfavorable contract (but I am not an expert)
@igormatkowski5488 yeah and western countries only give favorable credits
Come on don't be a child
@@aj3314 I meant the fact that if you don't pay back, you lose the road (I meant that this could be the reason why this is a problem, I worded the sentence incorrectly)
I don't want to tell you how to govern yourselves (if it brings you profits, great)
hahahaha. Honestly EU should build everything in the same budget and time constraints as the Chinese! Folks complaining seem to think their country can do it cheaper and faster than China! Yes Go ahead.
AND China didn't force anyone to borrow money to build roads and bridges. If I am a Chinese Banker, I am far more worried if the loan is going to get paid or not.
A curious remark since the trash built in China is only intended to last long enough to take the money and run
Belt and road to nowhere 😂😂😂 funniest title ever
60% Debt to GDP is a very arbitrary criteria given that Germany, one of the top 10 economies of the world has a 67% debt to gdp, france 99 and italy 130. As of December 2022, Russia has the least debt-gdp ratio in europe
Yeah 15% is good although I prefer to live in a country where the elderly is actually taken care of
So that's why the rouble is in the trash can ND Russians are migrating in hordes.
Russia has debt rolled up in public companies and funds.
@@quandmeme9970luckily the west doesnt have that too. Oh wait...lmao
That is not a good thing
Scientific and accounting errors:
1) The program counts loan payback solely from tolls. Local business boom, all those into private pockets, are missing.
2) The fish shown in pictures are called graylings, full name: arctic grayling in the salmon family. They thrive in cold water and die out in heat waves.
Fairly accurate analysis
The math on public projects is the state should break even in order to be profitable for the country. This will never be profitable
You sure about the 2nd point?
Arctic grayling does not live in Montenegro - a country just east of Italy.
It has 'arctic' in the name..
@@arthurvyater656 European grayling; heat tolerance upper limit 23C or 73F
@@samsonsoturian6013Lol, that’s not how infrastructural projects work. Name a single highway that’s profitable with taxes or government money.
It's great until you have to fix it probably every two years
In the West, we have perfect roads that don’t have potholes and don’t require maintenance. 😂
@@Western_Decline show me falling bridges with cars on them and cars getting 'eaten' by roads outside major earthquakes in the evil west. In the Balkans there are potholes big enough to plant trees. Saw a video once showing a serbian guy pulling off the road with his bear hands.
@@cristibrad6742 Remember the Polcevera viaduct in Genova, Italy?
People who speak the local language love the highway. People who say it's bad almost all speak in English. I wonder why
That's because English speaking people are smarter and better educated
@@RomanesEuntDomus. Nice joke
@@RomanesEuntDomus. Well we have a counterexample in you
@@dengist8172 Or in you, not understanding irony.
There’s a sample size of three people who didn’t speak English. One said it’s great, one said “we’ll pay it off, God willing” and the other one explained how the Chinese killed all the fish while constructing this highway. I don’t know how you drew the conclusion that all the people who don’t speak English love it
How about the benefits the highway brings.
That was literally the first things mentioned in the video before they got to the downsides....
China relations with other world is based on mutual respect and development projects whereas West relations with other nations depends on demands, wars, stand with them in conflicts and looting their resources. You can see this all since 20 century where West entered they destroyed those nations even examples in recent times are Iraq, Libya and Yemen once those nations were with impressive standard of living and after West stepped in... 😢😢
You are talking mostly about the USA, not the whole West
They never heard of made in china 😅😅😅 tofu projects
Oceangate submarine and titanic entered the chat.🤣🤣
Go rim your mother's 🍑😂😂
The debt to GDP arguement is BS, just take a look at the current EU members.
Your opinion is bs
US debt/GDP is 122%. France, Belgium, Spain, Greece,Italy, UK, Portugal etc are > 100%. So, why demonize China if Montenegro is 70%?
We are proud to have Chinese fast train technology ❤
Lol that expensive road😂😂😂
Never in my lifetime that I ever heard countries building roads are bad.
But when it comes to China, building roads are waste of money.
It's a real shame they chose a Chinese company to save some money. That's 1 billion euros that completely left the country rather than 1.5 billion that was spent on local labour, boosting their economy.
They missed out on giving the country a huge stimulus...
Yup
是的，但是我们中国人没有入侵他们国家，也没有往他们国家的领土上人炸弹，军事占领。也没有洗劫文物，盗窃石油。我们中国人真的应该学习你们西方人经常使用军事手段解决问题，并且宣称是为了和平和国家安全。
Billion euros for an ice cream stand seems excessive.
😂😂😂
Every infrastructure takes time to gain back profits..
You go to University to get a Degree, you expect the certification to pay back your university cost instantly?
Think long term, not short term.
Only those who are short sighted will not go for further education..
There was a time when governments had to push people to get an education
Something can still be a bad idea long term though... And this is one of them.
@@GreenCowsGames Not a bad idea to those who agreed to it..
Only time will tell whether it's a good idea..but the idea is not from China..China is the builder and investor..
The idea is from the host country ITSELF
Why doesn't the EU or Germany help Montenegro to build infrastructure?
They should sue the Chinese building companies for the damage (which seems to be higher than the loan they got).
You have a lot of china news to catch up on if u think this is possible.
@@chiwanau The question is not so much if they would be successful to get the money. Since the act was committed in Europe against a European nation they would not have to lodge the claim in China, but at European courts - and there they could win and be allowed to withhold any interest and amortization payments.
it must not be EU's business to pay for countries's projects agreed with China. Make a law saying 'you deal with China on construction projects, you are on your own'. Maybe then the population will be more active against major infrastructure projects done with China.
Another prey in the Chinese trap!! No scape. 😳
I like how this video condemns China as a lender but didn't say who other than China can provide a better loan. Then the video goes on to highlight environmental damage cause by Chinese workers involved, as if other projects in the world doesn't have environmental impacts that they tried to cover up.
Some Europeans were jealous!
People with a knowledge of finance, will agree that road construction projects are not financed by tolls, ITS BASIC.
tolls are for maintenance.
BUDGET is for paying FD.
Dear Montenegrin NGO, you are not from the US or EU country; yall didnt have money before China, dont blame China if yall go broke.
While I share the concerns with the lady about the environment degradation and impact on local biodiversity and such, this video focused only the negatives, like the national debt, and therefore why China, and its Belt and Road, is bad. What the video fails to show, which I am also interested in finding out, is the other part about has building of this highway fulfilled its original intended purposes, like facilitating economy exchanges and profit generated directly as a result of this project?
(Assuming the basic logic here is that basic infrastructure serve as the foundation of better goods/services exchanges therefore resulting a better economy performances).
And I am not seeing these details presented in this video on the other side of the argument. Dear DW, do a better balanced report, thanks.
Huh? That's precisely what the report opens with. Connections improved, locals like it, tourism and business is up. Whether this makes the road worth it or not is borderline impossible to calculate and will only be known possibly after decades. Can't expect the report to magically have the answer yet.
I see your point, but I think that the main issue here / for Montenegro is the scale of the project. 1 Billion Euros would have been better spent across a multitude of infrastructure projects throughout Montenegro as opposed to just a 41 km stretch of super fancy highway. Yes that 1 project connects a small region, but the scale of economic benefit for that town is nowhere enough to justify a 1 billion Euro expenditure for a 41 km road. The economic benefit of spending that 1 billion throughout the country's infrastructure would have been greater and more easily justified. This was a pet project that benefited a handful, as opposed to the whole country. And that is without even factoring in the terms... the Chinese brought all their own materials and labor. That 1 billion was not spread into Montenegro's economy through materials and paychecks to its citizens. All of this is typical of the Chinese belt and road model employed across the developing world. China benefits. Not the host country.
wow, so the gravel road at the end of a few minutes of driving and a ruined ecosystem is not balanced how? There are countless other studies made showing the building of that highway. As Montenergro has made itself more important so it has more eyes on it than it would wish.
A VERY FRIGHTENING SCENARIO
I encourage doing big infrastructure projects and I expect that those will change the environment, but huge new car infrastructure in 2023? And with a loan from China plus the unnecessary dumping of stuff? Doesn't really make sense. More modest train tunnel/upgrade would probably have been a bit cheaper, frienddlier to environment, while still hugely beneficial to the local economy 🤔
You can't build trains without the roads first, Montenegro masterplan is not car-centric
What do you mean exactly?
Some politician made a lot of money selling infrastructure snake oil . Chinese loans are toxic .
The plan is to connect Serbia and Montenegro. This will cut travel times and boost investments. Linking port of Bar to the European highway system.
Hallooo.. its Balkan.. no one there cares for environment
i think the EU doesn't care one bit for the Balkan
Why doesn't the EU replace China and help Montenegro build a highway?
Why does not Montenegro do it themself without huge loans?
China is not helping anyone. If they did they would have done it for free.
EU rejected to offer them loans. China won the bidding and offer them interest free loans, EU and US contractors are expensive.
The contract is available online
@@musthafapm6775Is this Malayalam?
@@reis1185 then China will get their money back, and no problem. If not, well maybe that was the reason why EU rejected?
@@musthafapm6775You mean Putin’s war on Ukraine? Yes, that’s pretty destructive…
It's not mentioned that the country's coast is a tourist destination and this highway has cut multiple hours of travelling time to the coast. This highway was necessary in order to make their tourism profitable.
The problem is more that the country is too poor for such a project due to the lack of investment and corruption.
They Mentioned it at the Start.
Chinese Bots better Watch the
Video before Posting Comments. 😂
Yes, the Chinese are just a side note of course. Just the friendly uncle trying to help European people. Nothing to see here.
@@johnnydoe3603 No, they did not. They only mentioned Kolashin, comparably to the coast, insignificant winter vacation town in northern mountains.
They deliberately omitted the existance of numerous far more profitable tourist towns at the Adriatic coast.
You obviously are not familiar with the country, but you feel comfortable accusing those who are of being bots.
I never said anything about favoring China, but maybe EU should have financed it instead of complaining.
@@pakde8002 I don't like the Chinese involvment, but maybe you should have financed it then?
@@johnnydoe3603
Are you anti-Chinese bot? Only hate and bias in your mind!
In Slovenija this highway would cost 3B€. Great job Montenegro. Don't stop and proceed with highway to Serbian border.
So it's the Chinese fault that the 60% debt-to-GDP ceiling cannot be met? A 40 kilometer highway with 1 billion Euro budget is the scapegoat? What an absurd angle!
It is a sad truth, doing business with CCP China is a very risky and expensive (money and environmental) way to develop a country. Good luck to Montenegro, do not sell your soul to communist China, you are European.
God Damit these type of highway can make money in High population countries like India China USA ... where per hr flow of traffic is enormously high. Still In India NHAI do not dare to finance it 100% with loan ...
I can not give you enough likes for how you said it for the smooth brains. Montenegro has a hidden Dubai near that highway?
India is poor ,they still used the crappy highway pothole built by the british😊😊😊😊
If it is not done by the Chinese, it would take at least 10 years and 2 billion USD.
These local people are ungrateful bastards!
One thing can be confirmed, i.e. If the highway were to be built Europeans, it would be at least twice the price and twice the time to complete. More importantly, the quality of the highway is good and long lasting. Chinese have been building highways since more than 2200 years ago. The first highway in the world was built by the first emperor Qin. It was 700 km long and still exists till today. If you have a chance to visit Xian, China, do go and see it for yourself.
The bottom line while EU is thinking and continuous to think , while China came for few months and built it
China grabs assets for failed loans, EU evaluates loans so they could be payed.
The EU is run by racist imperialist garbage. Purge Europe from the rest of the world and all will be better.
Yes, they are famous for that quick bang job. Like complete 5 levels story building in one day. And I think there's a name for that, tofu drege?
Yes, let's see how much of that Chinese highway is still usable and safe for driving within the next 5-10 years.
I read all the time about Chinese failed megaprojects in mainland China also known as Tofu buildings. Whole living blocks of building collapsing, cars falling into pits on newly built roads and constant floodings because nobody bothered to build proper drainage of infrastructure. Low quality steel and cement and cutting corners wherever possible.
I'd rather build it slower as the world will not end and instead after building something to forget about it for 20yrs outside a major catastrophe. The cost for maintaining, repairing, rebuilding will be way bigger than jut building it properly the first time.
When the U$A says they want to help you by building infrastructure in your country, they don't mean hospitals, roads, schools, etc.
They mean military bases. --island country saying
And china doesn't want to build or capture ports across the globe?!?
19-8-2023 China-built stadium for Pacific Games 2023 handed over to Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said at the ceremony that the 2023 Pacific Games Stadium Project is "a gift" from the government and people of China to the government and people of the Solomon Islands.
"Today this relationship is taken to new heights as we witness the handing over of the facilities to our country and to our people," he said.
"This is a symbol of the China-Solomon Islands friendship and a source of pride for the people of the Solomon Islands," said Chinese Ambassador to the Solomon Islands Li Ming. "It is a significant achievement of the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative between China and the Solomon Islands."
China builds schools, hospitals, and roads. US builds military bases and “maritime security cooperation” 😂. Shameless empire.
Lol, everyone wants those military bases, the USA doesn’t even have to ask them, Einstein 😂😂
@@astamano1274 since WW2, Germany has not been a sovereign country.
24-6-2023 Thousands have gathered in southwestern German town Ramstein to protest against U$ military hegemony and demanded the U$ military to withdraw from Germany.
France: You are only vessel state if someone else allows to establish military bases in your territory.
Why EU don't help Montenegro build the bridge? That's ridiculous
Worse highways in all the problematic aspects mentioned here were built in Albania and Kosovo. But they were built by an American constructor, so... No DW article
Srilanka way😂
Sri Lanka debt is 80% IMF and World bank. 10% to Japan and 8% to China. 2% to private entities.
Montenegro is about to find out about CCP’s tofu bridge constructions in 5 to 10 years.
That’s how long it usually takes for highway bridges in China to collapse.
Sure lol then their entire system would’ve failed by now!
Cope harder
@@Iceyfire12Tell that to Everdebt!
Oceangate submarine and titanic entered the chat.🤣🤣
@@makedredd299 tell that to Pfizer who has 12 branches (laboratories) in China Pre COVID 😂! The American Bio Tech Company that made easily 100 billion at the cost of a worldwide democratic, the one that has a plethora of scandals since it’s conception, the one where an executive of R&D excitedly wanted to mutate COVID further secretly recorded at a dinner 😆!
How is this not Montenegro Government's fault and responsibility to govern what happens in their own country?
seems DW want Montenegro become fisherman rather than tourist destination :)
Better to send the money to Ukraine than build infrastructure in your country.
Montenegro isn't involved in that
Let me guess, the Chinese underbid the project then after they started said due to uncontrollable circumstances the costs tripled but no worries we'll lend you the money.
Same thing happened in Indonesia with the high speed rail project that tripled in cost due to the pandemic. Ironic isn't it.
Same thing happens in the US, except the rail never gets built.
the loan has been forgiven.
This is what happened all over the West including the UK. They've been talking about building a high speed rail from North to South for about 10+ years. They have wasted countless sums of money and time into all kinds of investigations (finance, economic, climate, environment etc) so many debates and people arguing about everything and till now nothing has been built while the old system is crumbling away and costs a fortune for its upkeep.
The increase in the construction cost of Indonesia's high-speed rail is because your president suspended the construction of the project for the election, and the impact of the epidemic has greatly delayed the construction period.
that is how ALL construction is done in weak (minded) countries is being done, not just with chinese contractors.
Developing countries are not mindless zombies who can't make their own decisions, if a bank offers you a loan to buy a house and you buy a big house, but then you regret it, that's not the fault of the bank but yours. The same applies to developing countries. In Chile we have accepted and paid several Chinese loans without any problem at all.
She works for an “NGO”
It’s a very beautiful highway with some stunning view❤❤
and a sidedish of dead rivers
@@kinngrimm That was not an issue!
I felt from the report that someone in the EU is unhappy because Montenegro decided to cooperate with China in building modern infrastructure!!
I have seen a report on the Chinese CGTN RUclips channel about this particular Montenegrin highway, it is a whole different story over there.. I recommend everyone to listen to the other side before judging!!
Think its about corruption and poor economics, but hey what do i know, its not like anything has been shady when it comes to China..
That is the problem in the West, always complaining about the Chinese. The Montenegro government should have imposed environment standards.
like there are no floods in china, i really like the news over there always very positive
How much do they pay you ?
Lol. Even montenegro regrets it and have begged EU to take over the loan.
1 billion would buy u 2km of highway in us or europe.....my country Singapore paid 5 billion for a 5km long underwater highway lmao that is literally 1 million dollar per meter of highway, u could literally pave the road with 24 carat gold......forget about getting 1km of highway for 25 million dollars,.......there is no country in the developed world where u can get a highway that cheap........the hsr in california is already slated to cost between $88 billion and $128 billion,u could literally build an entire small size city for a couple million people with that kind of money.
IMO, you maybe buy Belts & T-Shirts etc from AliExpress.
NOT entire Highway & Dam Systems !
So building roads that brings in more income to the populace and shorten travel time is a sin? Any major form of construction will create some waste. This is like telling me I like to drive a car with zero carbon footprint, the moment the car is made the carbon footprint is already there. It is a trade off anyone have to face and think about before buying (NOT AFTER).
Nah don't worry, all this negative things it's because China built it
If some western countries did the same project with ten times a price, it would've been ok
41 km is built. Whole road is 270 km. No money for extension.
Great deal and smart move. No.😢
@ruzicas.5819 I mean the rest of it would be built with the Western good and transparent companies
So you shouldn't be worried
The countries who are the part of Belt and Road initiatives will be on the way of Srilanka
@@ziedyacoub8488these data 9% are official which are provided by Chinese govt there are many loans which are backed by china pvt Bank .please search full fact . partially ur right sir but their are many loans which are not mentioned in the papers.
When Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt last year, it owed $35 billion.
Of that debt, the sum it owed to China was $4.8 billion.
To blame China for Sri Lanka's problems is just one more Western misinformation narrative.
Yes China accounts for 10% of Sri Lanka's external debt and the West accounts for 90%. Blame China
@@ERROR-4000-4 There are no private banks in China. The branch of the Chinese state-owned bank in Sri Lanka only provides small loan services, and loans to any other country can only be provided through the Export-Import Bank of China. please search full fact . If you can find out many loans which are not mentioned in the papers, it only means you're a CIA agent.
Main problem for DW is "chinese". Otherwise, everything will be "great". You can't calculate just a pay toll for covering the price. You must calculate overall economic benefits.
Its the exact same thing if they take loans from the EU or USA... or anyone else
No, since China is a communist dictatorship who works against the interests of Europe and USA. I would rather be dependent on a flawed democracy than a communist dictatorship.
1 BILLION EUROS for just a 40 km highway. What were they thinking? 🤯🤯🤯
I think it's because it's through some big dam
And a lot of companies didn't even wanted to try the project
And a lot of western companies were probably ten times more expensive
Ka'ching? I assume some officials got rich too.
I have seen western and indian talking about chinese debt trap, all day long just talking only but dont put themselves forward to help them. Chinese wore their last option, its just like pay day loan...
It's not a Chinese highway but a Chinese built highway. It's a Montenegro highway since the government agreed to have it built for a certain price. Why they bought something they can't afford should be answered by the government.
Everyday one million euros cross the roads as good and services, one billion is nothing.
It’s never smart to rely solely on one source of income or loans
Just simple money management but then again, when the bling bling is showing, such logic flies out the windows
I smell à bitcoin scam
@@jungbolosse3034 have you never heard the saying never put all your eggs in one basket? This is what they are talking about. The majority of people and business never put there money in just one thing.
@@notright7The OG posters comment starts like one of these "Bitcoin passive income" scam threats.
@@jungbolosse3034 wow, i did come off like a bitcoin scam didn't I lol
if they build the highway with eu constructors the cost would be 100 milion /km and the construction would last for 15 years
they had many 15 years before but there was no highway til chinese
And the money would've stayed closer to home, with much of it rerouting to Montenegro (many local subcontractors would've been used). Add to this that European quality standards would've applied, so the road would degrade slower and the environment would not suffer as much. And maybe with that price tag, they would reconsider spending the money more efficiently.
China's goal is to lend as much money as possible, hoping they won't get it back so they can claim other strategic resources for cheap; knowing that all the money they lend is immediately making it's way back to China to a state owned company, that pays its employees poorly. Free resources and power at the expense of poor countries is what they are after.
Paying more to Europe so you lose less in the long run is probably the cheaper way to go.
and fish not dead
Now you're stuck for life . The Chinese will ask for land in return like Pakistan , Srilanka and African countries.
Make it 40 years like the California high speed railway
@1:19 + WHO PAYs for that NGO !??
Who finance it!??
@4:10 Secondly if I am remember correctly, in 2008 (World economic crisis) some Germans were asking from Greece to give up some Islands in Mediterranean Sea as repayments!! Why is China different.?
In Kenya a 27km road built by the Chinese cost 1.1 billion euros
Those streets better be paved with gold 🪙 for that kind of money 💰