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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

EBRD willing to invest €280m annually in infrastructure

Belgrade, 1 September 2008

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic said today that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is ready to invest between €250 million to €280 million annually in infrastructure projects in Serbia.

Author: Tanjug

Following a meeting with EBRD President Thomas Mirow, Dinkic said that Corridor 10 will have priority but investments will also be made in railway infrastructure, and added that the bank is ready to approve a loan worth €150 million next year for financing the Nis-Dimitrovgrad motorway.

He said that he will negotiate with the EBRD on giving Serbia as long a grace period as possible and a maximum repayment period, which is the norm when big projects are in question, and Mirow has confirmed that this is possible.

According to Dinkic, they also discussed financing of the Belgrade – South Adriatic motorway, and Mirow confirmed that the EBRD wished to invest in the project.

Dinkic said that negotiations on receiving funds worth €100 million from EBRD for purchasing railway carriages and modernisation of the railways are in the final phase. He stressed that the bank is interested in investing in light industry, as well as local utility infrastructure.

Dinkic said that Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic will visit Brussels on September 3, and make efforts to apply for EU pre-accession funds.

He said that the concessionaries Alpina and Porr have submitted a proposal agreement on terminating the concession contract for construction of the Horgos-Pozega highway, and the Serbian government’s expert teams will examine this proposal.

Dinkic said that the public will be informed during the next few days about the steps taken and added that Corridor 10, of which the Horgos-Pozega motorway is only one part, will mainly be financed from the budget and loans from abroad.

He said that a meeting on financing Corridor 10 will be held in the third week of September with representatives of the EBRD, World Bank and the European Investment Bank; loans worth nearly €1 billion are expected for construction of Corridor 10 from these three banks.

Dinkic said that the entire financial plan for construction of Corridor 10 will be known by the end of September, adding that the total worth of the project is estimated at nearly €1.7 billion.

Mirow said that Serbia has a key role in the region and due to this must improve its infrastructure sector.

He recalled that since 2000 the EBRD has invested €1.3 billion in important infrastructure and financial sector projects and said that the bank will continue to provide funds for similar projects in the future.