More than EUR 200 million of investments into waterway transport in the next five years

The Government of Serbia and the European Investment Bank signed an agreement on investments in the river transportation infrastructure, worth EUR 100 million, on November 23, 2018. Minister Zorana Mihajlovic, who attended the signing, said that the Government, with the support of the EIB and the European Union, would invest more than EUR 200 million in total in the development of the river transportation infrastructure in the next five years.

The agreement was signed by Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali and the EIB director for Slovenia, Croatia and the Western Balkans, Matteo Rivellini.

Mihajlovic pointed out that water transport thereby became a part of the new investment cycle in the field of infrastructure, which entails the construction of new highways, the modernization of railways and the construction of apartments for members of security forces.

‘’With these investments, I expect the share of water transport in the total transport of goods to double in the next few years’’, she said.

She added that the financial arrangement with the EIB will be used to fund the reconstruction of navigation locks Djerdap 1 and Djerdap 2, the expansion of the capacity of the Port of Smederevo, the development of the navigable Sava route and the treatment of critical sectors on the Danube section between Serbia and Croatia.

According to her, the other half of the said amount will be provided from EU grants and the state budget.

Dario Scannapieco, the vice president of the EIB, said that the EIB and the bank of the EU, had been investing in the Western Balkans for 40 years.

‘’This loan is another example of our fruitful cooperation with the Republic of Serbia. I believe that this project will bring economic benefits to Serbia and its citizens and provide the foundation for new investments in this sector’’, he said.

The Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Sem Fabrizi, said that investments in the infrastructure of inland waterways were a priority for the EU.

‘’Due to this, the EU provides considerable grants for the co-financing of priority investments, in the amount of EUR 150 million a year, that is, over a billion euros in grants for the 2014-2020 period, through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF)’’. Fabrizi said.

Photo: Ministry of construction, transport and infrastructure