February 20, 2009

20. February 2009.

The World Bank and the Republic of Serbia in principle agreed on a loan amounting to 388 million dinars, which will be used for completion of Corridor 10, the above-mentioned financial organization stated yesterday.

The bank is going to participate in the funding of an 84 km – long highway section between Prosek and Dimitrovgrad, as well as of a 74 km – long highway section between Leskovac and Levosaj, which is situated close to the Serbian-Macedonian border, while the remaining funds are going to be provided from the Hellenic Plan and the loans extended by other international banks.

Details of the funding are expected to be agreed by the end of April 2009. The World Bank expects the works on the above two sections of the highway to take from four to five years.

- The World Bank is grateful for the opportunity of having a leading role in assisting the Serbian government with improving the road infrastructure on these key highway sections. The above-mentioned two sections are two missing links in the regional highway network.

It is anticipated that construction of this highway would considerably contribute to development of both South Serbia and the entire country. In addition, large infrastructure projects of the kind have an important role in increasing the demands of domestic market and they can also mitigate the effects of economic crisis – said Martin Humphreys, the World Bank’s Project Manager.