China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) yesterday announced plans to begin work in April on a 31km stretch of motorway between the central Serbian towns of Preljina and Pozega.
The government of Serbia signed a €450m deal with CRBC in November for the project. The scheme adds to the €9bn of work estimated to be under way in September last year.
The motorway, which is expected to take two years to build, will form part of a strategic corridor between Bari in Italy and Bucharest via Belgrade.
CRBC is also interested in bidding for the Fruskogorski Corridor project in northern Serbia, according to Du Fei, the company’s general manager. This will be a €400m project to upgrade the IB-21 route through the Vojvodina region.
Another scheme earmarked for Chinese involvement is a €600m project to overhaul of the railway linking Belgrade to Nis and its extension to Presevo on the North Macedonian border. Zorana Mihajlovic, Serbia’s infrastructure minister (pictured), said in a press release: "In the shortest time, we will also start preparing the technical documentation for the construction of the line to the border. Connecting the region is good for Serbia and its citizens."
Serbia signed a memorandum of understanding with China for the overhaul of the railway during the seventh summit of heads of government of China and Central and Eastern European countries in July last year.
Image: Serbian infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic (Safoleto/CC BY-SA 3.0)
Further reading:
- Serbia "about to close Belgrade motorway deal" with China Road and Bridge
- China, Serbia ink deal for €943m railway to Hungary
- Turkey signed up to build Serbia’s €830m Belgrade-Sarajevo motorway
- Chinese firm plans $1bn tyre factory in Serbia
- China to build cultural centre on site of bombed Serbian embassy
