Luxembourg, 17/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a EUR 68 million loan for upgrading sections of roads forming part of the main Slovak transport lines. The project concerns the construction of nearly 8 km of the west-east D1 motorway between Svinia and Presov in Eastern Slovakia. This section is part of the Pan-European Road Network E50 that is being upgraded to motorway standard in stages. The investment also covers the construction and upgrading of 10 km of expressway divided into two schemes on the existing R1 - between Rudno and Zarnovica and Zarnovica bypass. The aforementioned roads represent two main road corridors of the Slovak Republic (D1 in the north and R1 in the south) connecting the Czech/Slovak border in the west with the Slovak/Ukrainian border in the east and the city of Bratislava in the south-west with Presov and Kosice in the east. This venture is being implemented in! the framework of the Motorway and Expressway Programme, which is part of the Slovak Government's Priority Investment Programme in the roads network for this and the next decade. It deals with the construction of new sections of motorway and expressway, as well as the upgrading of small sections of existing roads. The transport sector is important for Slovakia because the country's geographical position makes it a key transit country for passengers and goods. Roads are the dominant mode of internal transport in Slovakia and account for about 60% of freight traffic.