Project Documentation for High-Speed Route from Hungarian to Romanian Border through Backa and Banat in Preparation

Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic said that she expected the reconstruction of the Kula-Vrbas state road, worth nearly EUR 5 million, to be completed this November. Mihajlovic also announced the construction of a high-speed route between Sombor and the Romanian border, for which the project documentation is being prepared.

– The estimate is that the project will cost around EUR 800 million, nearly as much as Corridor 10 – she said, as announced on the ministry's website.

Let us remind that, in February, the PE Roads of Serbia opened the public procurement procedure for the Feasibility Study with the Preliminary Design for the construction of a IB high-speed route, Hungarian border (Backi Breg) – Sombor – Kula – Vrbas – Srbobran – Becej – Kikinda – Romanian border (Nakovo). This public procurement procedure was terminated on May 12, as no bids had been sent.

The route is to be built parallel with the existing state road of around 175 kilometers. A high-speed route with four lanes is planned, for speeds of up to 100 km/h.

Zoran Drobnjak said that a 10-km section was being reconstructed and that the reconstruction of the Vrbas-Feketic road was being completed. The latter is 9.5 km long and worth EUR 3.2 million.

– This year, a total of 450 kilometers of roads is being rehabilitated. The funds come from the loan of the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. In addition to the high-speed route for which we are preparing the documentation, the project of rehabilitation of the Sombor-Kula road, which will cost around EUR 10 million, is also being prepared – he said.

Green corridors important, annual loss of EUR 300 million due to delays at borders

Mihajlovic pointed out that the idea of green corridors, which came from the CEFTA, EU and Western Balkans countries, should contribute to a quicker and more efficient border crossing, as delays are measured in hours.

– Last week, the Government of Serbia adopted the decision on green corridors and we will start implementing it. This is a special system which is supposed to ensure that border crossing procedures are carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible. We already tested it during the state of emergency when it came to international transport – she said.

Mihajlovic pointed out that delays at borders cost a lot of time and money.

– Annually, delays at border crossings amount to 27 million hours. This costs the Western Balkans countries EUR 300 million. We expect a quick implementation of this decision to North Macedonia, Montenegro and BiH, and we have also initiated the question of green corridors with EU states. In a month or two, we could expect results, as this is an important question for the economy and economic development – Mihajlovic said.

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

JP Putevi Srbije Beograd

Ministry of Construction Transport and Infrastructure

Roads of Serbia

Zorana Mihajlović

Zoran Drobnjak

Bački Breg

Nakovo

Bačka

Banat

Feasibility Study with the Preliminary Design for the construction of high speed route

high speed route

high speed routes

green corridors