“The focus was on the first, larger infrastructure projects, so that we could expand the financial resources available to the Government of Serbia and Pristina,” said John Jovanovic, director of the US Development Agency (DFC) office in Belgrade, after meeting with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction. , traffic and infrastructure by Zoran Mihajlovic in Belgrade.
“We talked about the highway of peace, but also other long-term projects, and we are ready to support great ideas, especially when it comes to women’s entrepreneurship. This is just one of the first successful meetings we will have,” said Jovanovic.
Mihajlovic said that the meeting discussed the peace highway that should connect Belgrade and Pristina, as well as the preparation of documentation for the projects that need to be worked on.
“We have open and sincere cooperation with the American Development Fund. Today, we talked about the construction of the peace highway, which is important for connecting Belgrade and Pristina, but also about other important topics, such as investments in water transport and women’s entrepreneurship,” said Mihajlovic.
She added that the joint work of the team of her ministry and the DFC will be daily.
“The team of the Ministry is here to contribute to regional connections and a better and safer life of our citizens through daily joint work with the DFC. I am convinced that we will make good results,” said Mihajlovic.
“We knocked on the open door of the DFC office. I am sure that we will make results in terms of infrastructure,” said Mihajlovic.
The office of the American Development Finance Corporation (DFC) was symbolically opened in Belgrade on September 22, after a meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic with the Special Envoy of the President of the United States for Dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo Richard Grenell and DFC Executive Director Adam Boehler.
Its opening is foreseen by the agreement that Serbia and Kosovo signed in Washington, on September 4, in the presence of US President Donald Trump.
The agreement also envisages joint projects between Serbia and Kosovo, which should be realized in the coming period with the help of the DFC, and the first item in the agreement refers to the Belgrade-Pristina highway. “Both sides undertake to implement the highway agreement, which was signed on February 14, 2020,” the agreement reads.
The second item is the implementation of the railway agreement between Belgrade and Pristina and the preparation of a joint feasibility study for the project of building railway infrastructure to the port on the Adriatic Sea.
Then, it is stated that Serbia and Kosovo will work together with the US International Development Finance Corporation and EXIM (RSE Bank) in order to implement several memoranda – on the construction of the “highway of peace” and the Pristina-Merdare and Nis-Pristina railways, Slobodna Evropa reports.
