Serbia will take on a loan of up to €298.5 million from NLB Komercijalna banka to finance the construction of the first section of the Belgrade-Zrenjanin-Novi Sad highway, following the adoption of a new borrowing law by the Parliament. The loan will be repaid over 11 years with a four-year grace period, in 28 equal quarterly installments. The borrower is the government, represented by the Ministry of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure; the project investor is Koridori Srbije, and the contractor is China Shandong International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group.
Additionally, the Parliament approved state guarantees for new loans taken by Elektrodistribucija Srbije (EDS) from OTP Bank (€10 million), Poštanska Štedionica (€20 million), and Intesa Banka (€22.5 million). These loans are intended for upgrading the electricity distribution network.
The guarantees mean that Serbia irrevocably commits to repay EDS’s debts to these banks if EDS fails to do so, with the right to recover costs from EDS later. These guarantees will increase Serbia’s public debt.
