We are investing in the future of Serbian ports

Last year, when we announced the goals that we wanted to achieve in 2017, we realized that we were facing a tough period. It is a great pleasure to say that we have achieved significant results thanks to the enthusiasm and efforts of all Agency employees, as well as to the support of colleagues from the Government of Serbia, the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure and other state institutions.

During the year, we declared Šabac, Sremska Mitrovica, Pančevo and Golubac as port areas, which means thata total of 16 port and harbour areas have been declared to this date.

We achieved an income surplus of 100 million RSD and these funds were transferred into the state budget of the Republic of Serbia. The control system for the collection of port fees has been improved and enhanced, so that all participants in water traffic might enjoy equal business conditions.

Also this year, we made an analysis of the turnover of goods and I can proudly state that we are the second country of the Danube region in terms of quantity of cargo, despite of the exceptionally difficult year due to weather conditions.

Smederevo and Kladovo are preparing to welcome passengers in the next nautical season, after carrying out successfully thepublic calls for port operators in these two cities. We consider that the promotion of passenger traffic and tourism in Serbian rivers is of great importance. That is why; we launched the program "Local Development of Eastern Serbia", in collaboration withUNDP, in order to connect six locations in the Danube region and create a unique tourism offer. In 2018, we plan to continue our cooperation with UNDP and launch similar activities in the north of the country, in order to continue promoting domestic liner traffic and attract more cruise ships.

Besides that, 2017 was a year characterized by international cooperation. We were able to show our results in several EU countries, as well as in Nigeria and South Korea. We were also appreciated as a reliable and hard-working partner in the Danube Skills and Daphne projects. We welcomed representatives of important international organizations, such as UNCTAD, KOTRA and EMSA, and agreed to continue our collaboration.

Next year, we plan to continue our development, which means that the Agency's priority will be investing in port infrastructure. We plan to produce technical documentation for the design of new ports and passenger terminals, as well as a study on waste management in rivers.

We have planned to carry out the hydrographic recording of aquatoria and access waterways of ports and passenger terminals. In that way, we shall be able to determine whether and where it is necessary to remove the river bed. This is one more measure that we are planning to take, in order to improve navigation conditions.

We will also working on the declaration of the remaining port areas, so thatby the end of next year, we might achieve the conditions for issuing the first calls for port concessions.

We will continue participating in the activities of the Negotiating Groups for Transport and Trans-European Networks, in accordance with the European path of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Finally, I would like to emphasize that, just as it was in previous years, the most important goal of the Port Governance Agency for 2018 is to open dialogue and good cooperation with all institutions and relevant stakeholders in this field, because this is the best way to achieve outstanding results.

VukPerović, acting Director of the Port Governance Agency