Today, Serbia participates with its projects with 13 billion euros in regional connections, Minister Zorana Mihajlovic told Radio Belgrade. By the end of next year, three large infrastructure projects will be completed – a fast railway from Belgrade to Novi Sad, a section of the Milos Veliki highway from Preljina to Pozega and the first section of the Moravian Corridor, from Krusevac to Pojat.
The delegation of the American International Finance Corporation discussed infrastructure projects important for connecting Belgrade and Pristina, as well as the entire region.
These are road and railway infrastructure projects, whose value is estimated at 3.7 billion euros, said Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic.
The Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure emphasized for the show in the center of attention of the First Program of Radio Belgrade that great things are ahead of us, as well as that it refers not only to the connection with Pristina by the highway Nis-Merdare-Pristina, to regional projects to be worked on.
Mihajlovic pointed out that the focus is on the continuation of financing the highway from Plocnik to Pristina, for which more than 750 million euros should be provided, as well as the construction of the railway in that direction.
She added that money from European banks has been provided for a part of the highway from Nis to Plocnik, and construction is expected next year.
For regional connection 13 billion euros
“Today, Serbia is participating with its projects with 13 billion euros in regional connections. We are building a ring of connections with BiH, a bridge over the Sava near Sremska Raca as part of the construction of the Belgrade-Sarajevo highway, it will be built in two and a half years on the 63-kilometer section between Pozega and Kotroman,” the minister said.
When it comes to Hungary, we are building a high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, a regional railway Subotica-Szeged. The highway to Vatina and the railway network through Pancevo will be built to Romania, she points out.
“In cooperation with Bulgaria, we have provided money through the European Investment Bank for the modernization and electrification of the railway between Nis and Dimitrovgrad. With Northern Macedonia, we continue to build the railway from Belgrade to Nis, Nis-Presevo. Reconstruction of the Bar railway to Montenegro is underway. They are no longer projects somewhere on paper, a lot is being done and that is in our plan in the next five to seven years,” Mihajlović emphasized.
In addition to infrastructural connections, non-physical customs barriers and border crossings are equally important.
“Our plan is that everything that is newly opened must be one integrated system, it must become one border crossing,” Zorana Mihajlović points out and emphasizes that we already have it with Macedonia. The plan is to open one border crossing with BiH and Republika Srpska, we will have it in Sremska Raca, in Kotroman. That reduces transport costs by between 25 and 30 percent,” the minister points out.
“In December 2021, the plan is to complete the first section of the Pojate-Preljina highway, 27 kilometers long, from Pojat to Krusevac. Also, in the fall of next year, we will complete the sections of the high-speed railway from Belgrade to Novi Sad, and then we will have the first high-speed trains on that route that will travel for about 25 minutes. It is not just a question of connecting Belgrade and Novi Sad, but it shows how much importance the state attaches to the modernization of the railway today,” said Zorana Mihajlovic.
She pointed out that the Moravian Corridor will be fully completed in three years, as well as the fast railway from Belgrade to Budapest.
Cooperation with DFC to support women’s entrepreneurship
One of the pillars of the investment of the International Development Finance Corporation is women’s entrepreneurship, the Minister of Construction pointed out.
“For me, it is important for two reasons. As a message to everyone that it is very profitable to invest in women’s entrepreneurship, and secondly – these are concrete loans and ways to help women entrepreneurs. The main problem with women’s entrepreneurship occurs after several years in their companies,” she said.
According to her, additional capital needs to be provided between the third and fifth year, in order to help women entrepreneurs to branch out their business or even change it.
“I believe that the loans that will be given for women’s entrepreneurship will be very favorable. Our goal is to try to raise women’s entrepreneurship by 25% next year compared to what it is today,” said Minister Mihajlovic, RTS reports.
