Kopaonik Business Forum (KBF LIVE): "Belgrade-Zagreb in two and a half years"

KBF Panel entitled "Infrastructure and Regional Connectivity" discussed Serbia's infrastructure and results achieved last year

Source: B92, Tanjug
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Foto: B92, D.B.
Foto: B92, D.B.

As Dragijana Radonjic Petrovic, Vice President of Serbian Association of Economists said, this is one of the most important topics for the country, while investing in infrastructure has produced good results in the last year.

As she says, she learned that KBF's foreign guest was delighted because he traveled via Milos the Great Highway, and as she points out, this year we have the opportunity to choose which route we will take to Kopaonik.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Aleksandra Damnjanovic said that 2019 was marked by good infrastructure results. 130 kilometers of highways were put into service, and after three decades, Corridor 10 was completed on both sides.

"The eastern fork allows us direct connection with Bulgaria, and the southern fork via Northern Macedonia with Bulgaria. Milos the Great Highway is also completed, which is a success because it takes less than an hour to reach Cacak from Belgrade," she said, while works on the section from Preljina to Pozega, as part of Corridor 11 are underway.

"There is still a section of Pozega-Boljare, which is very demanding, with an estimated value of between 1.5 and 1.8 billion euros, so the state is very careful to proceed with the implementation of this section," she said, adding that this road when constructed will be the fastest connection to Montenegro.

She also talked about the Moravian Corridor and said that it was not a European corridor, but that it connects Krusevac and Cacak, but also represents a connection between Corridors 10 and 11, which is very significant.

"The Belgrade-Sarajevo highway link that will connect us to Bosnia-Herzegovina is being worked on in two forks. The first fork has already been started, which is the Belgrade-Zagreb connection, from Kuzmin to Sremska Raca. Construction work began in August, with a total value of around 250 million euros. The works will be completed in two to two and a half years. The second route is from Pozega to Kotroman, in the length of 66 km, which is a slightly more demanding section, and the value is about 830 million euros", she said, adding that contracts for both routes has been signed, and a spatial plan for the area for the second direction is being worked out.

She added that works are expected to commence in early 2021.

According to her, a commercial contract for the Fruska Gora Corridor is expected soon.

She stated that within the plan "Serbia 2025", out of a total of 14 billion euros, nine was intended for road infrastructure, and two new highways in Vojvodina are planned, from Belgrade to Zrenjanin and from Zrenjanin to Novi Sad.

"We will keep Komercijalna Banka brand"

Foto: Tanjug, Zoran Zestic
Foto: Tanjug, Zoran Zestic

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nova Ljubljanska banka (NLB), Blaz Brodnjak, stated that NLB would retain Komercijalna Banka's brand.

Brodnjak said at a press conference at the Kopaonik Business Forum that the acquisition of Komercijalna Banka is a privilege and obligation for him, adding that he is proud that Serbian Government has perceived NLB as the right partner for Komercijalna Banka.

"There is a lot of talk these days about whether we will retain the Komercijalna Banka brand, we will keep the Komercijalna Banka brand, because we are impressed with the brand's acceptance, so it will be NLB Komercijalna Banka," Brodnjak said.

According to him, Serbia has always been the most interesting market for NLB, adding that it took them several years to buy some additional operation, although NLB Belgrade had achieved great results, but that it was, as he said, a "small operation".

"We plan to launch a serious venture with Komercijalna Banka, we will be one of the three most important players on the market, now we have to focus on realizing this transaction with Komercijalna Banka," he said.

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