Serbia and North Macedonia receive EU grant for joint border railway project

An agreement securing €2.8 million grant from the European Union (EU) to develop a joint border railway station between North Macedonia and Serbia was signed today in Skopje by the First Deputy President of the Government and Minister of Transport, Mr Nikoloski and EBRD Head of North Macedonia, Mr Türkmenoğlu.

The EU funds, which are provided through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) , complement a €5 million loan already provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and will finance construction and technical assistance.

The joint border crossing will be located in Tabanovce, in North Macedonia, on the Corridor X rail route, which is part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) extension to the Western Balkans region.

Works include upgrading the railway station’s existing buildings and constructing new energy efficient buildings with photovoltaic panels. Once in use, the joint station will be shared by staff from both countries, helping optimise border customs control procedures and reducing waiting times, travel for people and goods. This will lead to better regional connectivity and integration on Corridor X.

– With the grant of €2.8 million, the EU is directly supporting efforts to upgrade the Corridor X railway system and improve regional connectivity. This project aims to transform the barriers that borders create into opportunities for faster connection to the EU. And this is not all. With the new Reform and Growth Facility, the EU’s support for regional connectivity will grow even stronger – said Michalis Rokas, EU Ambassador to North Macedonia.

– This project is a result of joint efforts and coordination between the EBRD, EU/WBIF, and authorities of North Macedonia and Serbia to improve regional cooperation and connectivity, and we are proud to be an important part of it. The EBRD has been helping the country to improve its transport links in the country and with the region, and in the railway sector alone we have invested over €340 million – said  Fatih Turkmenoglu, EBRD Head of North Macedonia.

The joint rail crossing between Macedonia and Serbia will improve the communication between the two countries and we will get one-stop-shop crossing for the road and railway traffic, said the First Deputy President and Transport Minister

– I hope that this will be an introduction towards re-establishing the regular passenger railway line between Skopje and Belgrade, which will require efforts on both sides. The project is worth €7.4 million in the construction part, and €250.000 for the consultant services and supervision. The Corridor X represents the main economic blood flow of the country, which will improve the movement of goods and people, as well as the export and the import towards and from Europe resulting into new jobs, increased economic activity and faster transit of the passengers and the goods through the country, making it more attractive destination – said Nikoloski.

The project is a key priority for the country and part of the European Commission’s connectivity agenda for the Western Balkans.

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