Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
It is claimed that the Prizren - Tetovo road, with a 6.4 km tunnel, will cost a total of 35 million euros.
This claim was made through a post published on Facebook by the Facebook page "Korrekt Press", dated August 18.
Alluding to this figure, this site has compared this project to that of the construction of the Kukës bridge, which cost around 35 million euros.
What is the truth?
After a fact-check conducted by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the claim that the Prizren - Tetovo road with a 6.4 km tunnel will not cost 35 million euros. The estimated cost of the project is expected to be around 200 million euros.
Link to the post published on Facebook by the "Korrekt Press" page:
After research conducted through online search engines, hibrid.info found an article published by "GazetaExpress.com" on August 12, 2023.
Speaking during a visit to inaugurate the renaming of a road on August 11 in North Macedonia, Kurti said that the estimated cost of this project, namely the Prizren-Tetovo road, is around 200 million euros. (see here)
"My Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Hysen Durmishi, has agreed with his counterpart, Deputy Minister of Transport, Bekim Rexhepi, and with the director of the State Enterprise, Roads of Macedonia, Ejup Rrustemi, on one of the six options resulting from the feasibility study with a 6.4-kilometer tunnel, slightly longer than the one in Kalimash, and 15 kilometers on both sides of the tunnel entrances and exits. The estimated cost of this axis of great interstate, national, regional and European importance is around 200 million euros, 3/4 for the tunnel and the rest for the roads on both sides that connect Prizren with Tetova, which connect Tetova with Prizren. So, it is not such a high cost, while the benefit is extraordinary and immeasurable," stated Kurti.
Meanwhile, the cost of 35 million euros includes one road at the exit of the “Ibrahim Rugova” highway and the other near the village of Struzhë, of 20.3 km. So, this figure does not include the cost of building the tunnel. (see here)
context
On January 12 of this year, Kosovo and North Macedonia signed an agreement to co-finance the project for the construction of the Prizren - Tetovo road.
"The financing of this project, including the construction of the tunnel on the Tetovo - Prizren road, will be divided proportionally in accordance with its length on each side, while the design of each part before and after the tunnel will be financed by the respective parties," it is stated in the announcement of the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure. (see here)
Analyze:
The claim that the Prizren - Tetovo road with a 6.4 kilometer tunnel will cost 35 million euros is incorrect.
The road at the exit of the "Ibrahim Rugova" highway and the other near the village of Struzhë, 20.3 kilometers long, are expected to cost 35 million euros. While the cost of the entire project, including the 6.4-kilometer tunnel, is estimated to be around 200 million euros.
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info assesses the claim made by the "Korrekt Press" website as "Manipulation of facts".
Reasoning:
“Factual manipulation” is a rating given to informational content that uses facts known to be accurate but interprets them in a distorted manner. These reports typically use accurate information to draw incorrect conclusions or claims, thereby misleading consumers of media content about the actual meaning of the facts presented.