Roads and infrastructure are a precondition for the development of the economy, for the arrival of investors and the growth of salaries, the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Tomislav Momirovic states for RTS.
During the summer (from the beginning of June to the end of August), as many as 19.5 million vehicles passed through Serbian highways, which is an increase of 34% compared to the same period last year. Safety is the most important thing for drivers, and that means quality roads with accompanying infrastructure.
Along the corridor, there are almost 17,000 kilometers of highways and regional roads, but also those local ones that connect villages with larger cities and often present a condition for young people to stay in the countryside.
Tomislav Momirovic stated as a guest in the RTS morning program that several important infrastructure projects are being implemented in Serbia, and among them are very important fast roads and highways.
“We are currently building and designing more than 1,200 kilometers of highways from north to south. We are practically building a completely new road infrastructure, and everyone in the region can envy us for that,” Momirovic said.
He points out that roads and infrastructure are a precondition for the development of the economy, for the arrival of investors and the growth of salaries.
“Imagine the Moravian Corridor – from Krusevac to Cacak, just imagine what the perspective is for Trstenik, Vrnjacka Banja, Cicevac, Kraljevo. Everyone will get a new comfort in speed to reach the larger centers. But that is not the essence. We are doing it to raised the economy, so that salaries would increase further,” points out the guest of the morning program.
Asked about the construction of the highway from Nis, through Pristina, to Durres, he stated that it is an important investment.
“It is an initiative of our president that everyone supported. Our policy is an Open Balkans. We will start working on the first section from Nis to Plocnik in early November. In general, this highway is quite demanding – 77 kilometers from Nis to Merdar, a lot of bridges. We are working with our European partners, they have very complicated procedures, so it is a bit protracted, but I expect that from November we will start offensive work and that in the next few years we will have a highway built from Nis to Pristina and Gracanica,” states Momirovic.
He adds that that part of Serbia needs investments.
“That part of Serbia longs for investments. There are also Toplica, Kursumlija, Merosina. That area longs for such investments and that is why we have to bring new investors. The economy is cut there, this will open them,” Momirovic explains.
He states that 90% of highways will be completed by 2023.
Asked how far the legalization process has come, the guest of the Morning Program states that the process must be accelerated and that about two million people are waiting to resolve the issue.
He points out that 90 percent of people who have a problem with legalization are people who are honest and who wanted to solve their basic right through that process – the right to a roof over their head.
“In 2015, a good law was passed that simplified the procedures, drastically accelerated the implementation of the legalization. So far, about 25 percent of the work has been done – a little less than 300,000 decisions have been made so far. There are a little less than two million left. We have additionally hired 850 people for these jobs, which has further accelerated the process, but we are still far from the deadline set by the law to complete the expropriation in 2023,” Momirovic said.
“We are on the way to find some solutions that will further accelerate that process because we have to get out of that problem, the country cannot deal with legalization for decades. We need to deal with this problem even more actively, to solve it and close the problem. That is what we are striving for – we are working seriously on a legal solution that will lead to that,” said Momirovic, RTS reports.
