Serbia, EUR 136 million for Danube Corridor

Published on 14. April 2023., News

The Government of Serbia adopted the Bill on borrowing from OTP Bank for financing the construction of the high-speed road Požarevac-Golubac, the so-called Danube Highway, i.e. the Danube Corridor. It is a long-term investment loan of 16 billion dinars (about 136.2 million EUR), with a repayment term of 10 years.

As stated in the bill, the state will take a loan with interest that is variable, at a nominal interest rate that corresponds to the reference interest rate of the three-month BELIBOR (3M BELIBOR) increased by a margin of 3.85% percentage points on an annual basis. Funds for loan repayment will be provided from the national budget.

As a reminder, the contract for the construction of a high-speed road from Požarevac to Golubac, worth EUR 337 million, was signed in August 2021 with the Chinese company Shandong Hi-Speed Group. During the signing of the contract, it was announced that the deadline for the completion of the works is November 2024.

In October 2022, the previous Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Tomislav Momirović, announced the merger of Požarevac with Corridor 10, by the end of 2023.

The construction project of the IB state road of the first order, the section of the high-speed road: highway Belgrade-Niš (loop Požarevac)-Požarevac (bypass)-Veliko Gradište-Golubac was declared a project of special importance for the Republic of Serbia.

The expressway will be 68 kilometers long, with two traffic lanes in both directions, 3.5 meters wide. This road will connect to the Danube highway and thus connect this part of eastern Serbia. The Law on the Budget of the Republic of Serbia for the year 2023 approved borrowing from commercial banks for this project in the total amount of up to 31.8 billion dinars.

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