Vučić: One of the biggest projects Serbia has ever entered into VIDEO

President Vučić attended the signing of the first tranche of the grant for the Belgrade-Niš section as part of the financial package for railway Corridor 10.

Source: B92.net
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FOTO TANJUG/ STRAHINJA AĆIMOVIĆ
FOTO TANJUG/ STRAHINJA AĆIMOVIĆ

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, attended the signing of the first tranche of the grant for the Belgrade-Niš section as part of the financial package for railway Corridor 10.

President of Serbia met Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi at the Prokop station.

Vučić and European Commissioner for Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi left a little after 12 o'clock by train from the station in Prokop to Ripanj on the railway route of the future high-speed railway Belgrade - Niš.

Vučić told Várhelyi that with the construction of this high-speed railway, it will be possible to travel from Niš to Novi Sad in just three hours, and from Budapest to Niš in about four and a half hours. Vučić introduced Várhelyi to current railway projects in Serbia.

The first tranche of the investment grant for the construction of the Belgrade-Niš high-speed railway of 598 million euros, as part of the financial package for railway Corridor 10, was signed today on the train in the presence of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi.

After the meeting, the EU Commissioner first addressed the crowd. He thanked for the welcome and pointed out that this is an important symbolic day for Serbia and the Western Balkans.

"We marked the signing of a large development project significant for the entire region, in the total amount of 4 billion euros, of which the EU is providing 600 million euros in non-refundable aid," said Várhelyi.

"This train should bring new jobs and investments to parts of Serbia that need it," he added. According to him, there is still a lot of work to do to turn the Western Balkans into an energy entry point for Europe, and at the end of the year new projects in the field of hydropower and wind energy were approved. "We hope that this will strengthen our alliance, because we are friends," he underlined.

Then the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, spoke.

"Today we are talking about one of the biggest projects Serbia has ever entered into. This project is worth 2.775 billion euros. The EU is giving us 610 million euros as a gift, the rest comes from the budget and from the EIB under the most favorable conditions possible," said Vučić. .

He pointed out that this railway will take only 100 minutes to get from Belgrade to Niš.

"When you look at the average salaries in Niš 670 euros, Kragujevac 560, and Vračar 1,250 and Novi Beograd 1,280, while in Novi Sad it is 880, then you see that we have to invest a lot in central Serbia, to raise cargo traffic and the economy, to bring in new investments", president of Serbia explained.

"We will arrive from Belgrade to Niš by train in an hour and a half, by 1:40 p.m., today it takes 6 hours to travel," he emphasized. "It takes less than 4 and a half hours from Niš to Budapest, so that's better than by plane," he added.

"This is a big day for us, we have to grow, to reach more developed countries," said Vučić.

"We have to speed up, to be more efficient. We cannot imagine a better contract than this, there is none more favorable for us," said Vučić, thanking all the countries that gave money for the project in Serbia.

"I have new ideas for schools and universities, not only for infrastructure, and I will present them, because I believe that we can do a lot to improve our schools and universities. As for the railways, we will continue to build them and be not only the best in region, but also to keep pace with developed countries, increase the growth rate and reach those countries," he said.

"We are building a fantastic building, the bus station will be ready in Belgrade in a year and a half," announced Vučić.

Then questions from journalists followed.

"This is of fantastic regional importance, connecting not only with Hungary and North Macedonia, but also with Bulgaria, Greece... With the speed of lightning, we will arrive in Sofia in 2 and a half hours, from Belgrade to Budapest in 2 hours and 45 minutes", stated President of Serbia.

Olivér Várhelyi explained that this opens up a great opportunity for the south of Serbia.

"We will finish the whole project in 2027, but we will go by sections, I just don't know in which order the sections go," said Vučić.

"Prokop will be completed by October 20, when we open the station building. It will be magnificent, with phenomenal restaurants. It will become part of a new city center together with Belgrade Waterfront," announced Vučić.

The agreement was signed by the head of the regional representative office of the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the Western Balkans, Alessandro Bragonzi, and the Minister of Construction, Goran Vesić.

After the signing, Vučić thanked the EU, saying that 600 million was the largest non-refundable amount that Serbia received.

The agreement refers to the construction of the section Stalać - Djunis, 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 Stalać - Djunis section is 17.7 kilometers long. The Belgrade - Niš high-speed railway will be 230 kilometers long, and the work is expected to be completed in 2029. Construction will take place in three stages: Belgrade - Velika Plana, Velika Plana - Paraćin, Paraćin - Niš.

The EU will provide a financial package of 2.2 billion euros: the EIB will provide 1.1 billion euros, the EBRD 550 million, the EU donation is 598 million euros, (265 million is now approved).

2.3 million passengers a year are expected on the high-speed railway Belgrade - Nis. The signing was also attended by the Minister of European Integration, Tanja Miščević.

FOTO TANJUG/ STRAHINJA AĆIMOVIĆ
FOTO TANJUG/ STRAHINJA AĆIMOVIĆ

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