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The completion of infrastructure is one of the government’s priority and one of the most important elements of the Serbian traffic network is Corridor 10. It forms part of a pan-European corridor connecting western and southern Europe and its section through Serbia is 835km long and passes through the central part of our country, thus being connected to artery and regional roads. Serbian President Boris Tadić, who recently paid a visit to building sites on some of the sections, said that the completion of Corridor 10 was a key prerequisite for economic development of Serbia. More by Biljana Blanuša.
The significance of Corridor 10 is best confirmed by the completion of its north wing through Serbia, starting from Horgoš, on the Hungarian border, and ending in Belgrade. In addition to a significant curtailment of a journey along that section and a reduction of transport costs, the northern Serbian region has attracted many investors, who have opened factories and employed workers there. A similar situation is expected in other regions through which the Corridor passes. Starting from Niš, a city in southern Serbia, the Corridor is divided into two directions – one towards the Macedonian border and the other towards Bulgarian one. Intensive works are being conducted on both sections in order that the motorway network be completed as soon as possible. The completion of Corridor 10 is also important becasue similar international arteries are being built in neighbouring states. For example, another corridor, Corridor 4, is being built through Romania and Bulgaria and, like Corridor 10, it is also to connect western and southern Europe. Therefore the Serbian government is investing big efforts to complete the infrastructure as soon as possible, which requires taking loans from international financial institutions. According to Tadic, such loans, intended for road and railway infrastructure, are fully justified, as they represent investments in future. The funds will be use to build facilities that citizens will be able to use for decades and will also contribute to the economic development of our country, said the Serbian president.
On the eastern wing of Corridor 10, the city of Nis will be connected with towns in eastern Serbia, such as Pirot and Dimitrovgrad and further with Bulgaria. In terms of construction, the most demanding section is a by-pass around Dimitrovgrad, which is almost 9km longs and is to have seven bridges and two tunnels. On the southern wing of the Corridor, construction works on several sections were being conducted and many of the sections are in a quite inaccessible terrain, which requires the building of several bridges and tunnels, but the construction workers claim that everything has been going on according to plan.
Internationa railway Corridor 10 passed through Serbia along the length of 770km and includes one fifth of Serbian railways. It has been estimated that 4,6 billion EUR ought to be provided for the modernization of railways, which investmetn pays if one bears in mind the benefits to be derived by the Serbian economy especially in the fields of road and intermodal traffic. The process of electrification and railway construction has already begun on some sections, but most of the job is yet to be done. Funds have been provided from EBRD and EIB loans and under way are negotiations on a Russian state loan amounting to 800 million USD.
When it comes to infrastructure, the Serbian government has very ambitious plans. It has also launched an initiative for an artery starting from Timisoara, Romania, through Serbia, Montenegro to Italy, to be named Corridor 11. In Belgrade, that corridor would intersect with Corridor 10 and the Danubian corridor – Corridor 7 – which would contribute to a better combination of road and river traffic.
Source glassrbije.org
