Serbian infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic has called on China Shandong Hi-Speed Group (SDHS) to meet the deadline for the construction of two sections of Pan-European Corridor XI.
“The construction of the Obrenovac-Ub and Lajkovac-Ljig sections of Corridor XI have a strategic importance for the Serbian government and it is very important for us that all deadlines are met,” Mihajlovic said during a meeting with a delegation of China Shandong High-speed Group and Chinese ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang, as quoted by the infrastructure ministry in a statement on Monday.
Serbia is the country with the highest number of projects in the framework of the mechanism for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries, and the bulk of them are with the infrastructure ministry, Manchang said.
In 2013 Serbia hired Shandong Hi-Speed Group for the construction of the Obrenovac-Ub and Lajkovac-Ljig sections of the Corridor XI motorway, with a combined length of 50.2 km. The works were financed with the proceeds of a $334 million (313.1 million euro) loan from China’s Ex-Im Bank.
Corridor XI is planned to link Bari, Bar, Belgrade and Bucharest. The two sections that are to be built by the Chinese group are part of the Belgrade-Bar motorway.
