First tranche of EU grant for Belgrade-Nis high-speed rail line signed

Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic and Head of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Regional Office for the Western Balkans Alessandro Bragonzi signed an agreement on the first tranche of the investment grant for the construction of the Belgrade-Nis high-speed railway.

The agreement, which was signed on the train, in the presence of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Oliver Varhelyi, includes a grant in the total amount of €598 million, as part of the financial package for railway Corridor 10.

The document refers to the construction of the Stalac-Djunis section, on the third stage of the future high-speed railway, which will be the first to be built, because the conceptual design for that section has already been completed and approved.

The Belgrade-Nis high-speed railway will be 230 km long, and the work is expected to be completed in 2029. The construction will take place in three stages, namely Belgrade-Velika Plana, Velika Plana-Paracin and Paracin-Nis.

The EU will provide a financial package of €2.2 billion, with the EIB providing €1.1 billion, the EBRD €550 million, while the EU donation is €598 million.

The President of Serbia hosted Varhelyi at the Belgrade Centre railway station, where they held a tête-à-tête meeting on the train to Ripanj station, which was followed by a meeting of the members of the delegations of the Republic of Serbia and the European Union.

The signing of the document on the first tranche of the investment grant was also attended by Minister of European Integration Tanja Miscevic.

Source: The Government of the Republic of Serbia