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Reconnecting Serbia with Europe
EBRD provides €72 million for road from Belgrade to Novi Sad
The EBRD is financing the upgrading of the road from Belgrade to Novi Sad and
the construction of a new bridge across the Danube with a €72 million loan to
the Roads Directorate of the Republic of Serbia. The project includes the
transformation of the road agency into an independent enterprise, the
introduction of performance-based maintenance contracts, and a
public-private-partnership strategy. The project is co-financed with the
European Investment Bank, which will lend €115 million.
The route from Belgrade to Novi Sad is part of the Pan-European Corridor X,
connecting Serbia & Montenegro to Hungary, Croatia, Macedonia and Bulgaria.
The 65-km toll road is the most heavily trafficked road in Serbia.
The Roads Directorate is in charge of the construction and maintenance of the
Serbian road network. Its primary sources of income are road-user fees and
government allocations. Under the project the agency will be transformed into
an independent public enterprise with its own accounts.
EBRD President Jean Lemierre said the private sector – both locally and
internationally –has begun to show an interest in financing road-sector
development in the country, which the Bank hopes to encourage through the
public-private-partnership strategy with its focus on Corridor X. The Bank is
therefore an important link between the private and public sectors. Improving
the Serbian road network will help re-integrate the country with the wider
region, and help promote trade, tourism and economic development. Mr Lemierre
noted that the project follows a seminar in Sarajevo last December which
focused on the development of regional transport infrastructure in
south-eastern Europe.
The project is also supported by the European Union, through a €1.3 million
grant, and the Canadian International Development Association, who will
provide €280,000 for the development of a public-private-partnership strategy.
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