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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Avala Tower officially opened

Belgrade, 21 April 2010

In the presence of Serbian President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Serbian ministers, Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas, Patriarch Irinej and a large number of citizens, the new Tower on Mt Avala was officially opened today, built on the same spot where the old tower stood before it was destroyed in the 1999 NATO bombing.

Author: Fonet

At 204.5 metres in height, the new Tower is the highest building in the Balkans and was constructed at the initiative of Radio Television Serbia, the Association of Serbian Journalists and with the support of a large number of citizens.

Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning Oliver Dulic said that over 500 artists and sportspeople helped to build the Tower.

The Avala Tower was constructed in a difficult time. This is the first state project of such significance and with a proper licence, Dulic said.

Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas said that the Tower is not only a symbol of the past, but also of the future.

General Director of Radio Television Serbia Aleksandar Tijanic thanked Serbian citizens, the workers who built the Tower, the journalists’ association, the government and authorities of cities and towns that participated in the construction.

The Tower is clear proof of what we can do, what we are and how big we can be if we join our forces around an idea. The new Tower is higher by a metre. Let this one metre be a message to those who tore the old tower down and for us who built a new one, Tijanic said.

The construction of the Tower lasted three years. The Tower was issued a licence to operate in February.

The initiator and manager of the “Let’s Build the Avala Tower” campaign Milos Milatovic said that owing to efforts from Radio Television of Serbia and the Serbian Journalists’ Association a spontaneous referendum took place and more than a million people in Serbia expressed their support for the campaign.

The campaign was also supported by over 500 prominent personalities and state officials, said Milatovic.

The construction of the Tower started in 2005 and finished in November 2009. The architects are Ugljesa Bogunovic and Slobodan Janjic. Milan Krstic, the engineer who worked on the earlier tower was also part of the new project.

The Avala Tower is 204.5 metres high and it is the tallest structure in the Balkans. It is deigned to withstand a 9.2 Mercalli scale earthquake. The top of its antenna is made of fire resistant material. A total of 5,000 cubic metres of concrete and 500 tonnes of steel was used in the construction of the Tower.

There is a 100 square metre restaurant at an altitude of 120 metres. A viewing point located 124 metres high can be reached with two lifts travelling at a speed of three metres per second.

The path leading up to the Tower will contain 200 handprints of the most prominent donors and participants of the “Let’s Build the Avala Tower” campaign.