Serbian President Boris Tadic toured works on Corridor 11, the Ub-Lajkovac section, on Monday, and stated that he believes that in 2014 Serbia will have a much more developed road infrastructure than today.
“There is no room for economic development of central Serbia without modern infrastructure,” Tadic said, and expressed expectation that funds will be provided soon for the next highway section towards Cacak.
According to Tadic, the construction of each of the four sections from Belgrade to Cacak will need two – two and a half years.
These sections are to be financed by both European loans and international agreements in order to avoid over-indebtedness and jeopardy of the macroeconomic stability.
“Certain states have built highways by means of a public-private partnership and today they are on the verge of bankruptcy. We have opted for another model of financing which will not strain our finances,” Tadic said.
Tadic expressed hope that Corridor 11 will be put on the list of European corridors considering its importance for the international traffic, given that one of its sections will go to the border with Montenegro, while another one will pass near Visegrad to the border with Bosnia-Herzegovina.
When asked why the works on this section are late, Tadic explained that it was crucial to engage domestic companies in construction of Corridor 10 and 11 and that therefore works were delayed.
“Today the dynamics of works is better than ever. I used to disagree with Infrastructure Minister Mrkonjic over the deadlines he set, but now I see that this was his way to speed up the works,” Tadic explained.
According to Director of Putevi Uzice Milan Bojovic the works on the Ub-Lajkovac section are planned to be completed in a year. The project is worth eight billion and 652 million dinars and realized by a consortium of Serbian companies, among which Putevi Uzice and Planum are the largest.
The works were launched late in 2010, and the contractors say that one of the reasons for the delay is the expropriation problem which was resolved in the meantime.
Corridor 11, which will connect Belgrade and Cacak, and then be connected with Corridor 10, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina, is divided into four sections: Belgrade-Obrenovac (25 km), Obrenovac-Ub (27 km), Lajkovac-Ljig (25 km) and Ljig-Cacak (50 km).
Source emg.rs
