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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

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Construction of railway station in Prokop to continue, contract signed

Belgrade, 24 March 2008

Serbian Minister of Infrastructure Velimir Ilic attended today the signing of an agreement between representatives of the Zeleznice Srbije railway company and Energoprojekt construction company on continuation of construction of the railway station “Centar” in Prokop.

Ilic said that the station in Prokop and the ring road around Belgrade will be partly financed from the National Investment Plan (NIP) with €15 million, and explained that until these two projects are finished, the question of traffic collapse in Belgrade will not be solved.

The Minister said that the value of the projected investment is around €230 million, of which €150 million will be invested by Energoprojekt into office space. According to him, the works will start 60 days at the latest from the day the Serbian government approves the contract, and construction will last 30 months. Ilic said that the European Union is against any delays in the construction of Corridor 10, and added that if in three years’ time the problems of the railway bottleneck and motorway congestion are not solved, there is a danger that we might lose the corridors.

To that end, all ministers of transport in Europe will meet in Belgrade on May 8 and 9, said Ilic and explained that construction works on the railway station in Prokop were suspended because the contractor Trigranit demanded the location where the current railway station is, which is unacceptable because that location will also have to be offered for sale through tender.

That is why cooperation with that company was cancelled, which was first-ranked at the tender held in 2004, and the project was given to the second-ranked Energoprojekt.

A total of 25,000 square metres of business space will be built, 10,000 of which will belong to Energoprojekt, Ilic explained and added that once the Prokop station is finally built, the main railway station will be relocated there.

The area of the Sava amphitheatre which spans 86 hectares, where the main railway station is now located, will be used for commercial purposes, making it the most attractive location in the city.

This will also ensure that the transport of hazardous materials is moved outside the city centre, he noted.

Director of railway company Zeleznice Srbije Milanko Sarancic, who signed the contract with Energoprojekt Director Vladan Pirivatric, said that the Prokop station will also be important for the Belgrade railway Beovoz, which will be completely modernised and enforced with 20 new vehicle sets in two and a half years.

Ilic said he expects the government to agree that the concessionaire for building the Horgos-Pozega motorway starts work on April 2.

He explained that the concessionaire, Alpina and PORR, wanted to submit a bank guarantee only for works in the first year and not for the whole investment.

According to him, Deutsche Bank, which was to provide funds for the investment, informed the concessionaire it cannot provide the guarantee for the whole investment before the end of the year.

In this instance, the concessionaire will self-finance works in the first year, and this should not be a problem for the government, he said.

The guarantee for the first year of works is nearly €100 million, he noted, adding that we do not care who gives the guarantee as the contract is made with the concessionaire, not the bank.

If the works start on time, the concessionaire can take toll booths in June at the earliest, he said, noting that road fees will be set by the government.