Highway from Leskovac to Macedonian border and from Niš to Bulgarian border to be finished in 2.5 years

- The highway from Leskovac to Macedonian border and from Niš to Bulgarian border, on the route of "Corridor 10", will be finished in 2.5 years – says Milutin Mrkonjić.

The Minister of Infrastructure, Milutin Mrkonjić, said that 1.5 billion EUR would be provided for that purpose, 1 billion EUR of which would be set aside from the World Bank’s loan, while 500m EUR would be taken from the budget of Serbia.

- The section from Levoševo to Preševo will be finished on May 1st, 2009, the second part will be completed on the 1st of May in 2010, while the completion of the third part is expected on May 1st, 2011, although I expect that these 300 km of highway will be finished in 2.5 years – said Mrkonjić.

Mrkonjić estimated that about 60 km of highway would be built in 2009. He announced that the works on the section to Horgoš, as well as on the bypass around Belgrade and part of “Corridor 10” towards Dimitrovgrad, would commence in 2009. As he explained, all these works and expropriation costs will be financed by the Ministry of Infrastructure.

He added that there were no problems with the purchase of land from the owners of parcels on which the highway would be built, and that one square meter of that land cost between 2 and 10 EUR. He also pointed out that the new draft law that regulated that matter anticipated the exchange of parcels as well.

- "Corridor 10" is our priority. Therefore, we are not thinking about anything else at the moment – said Mrkonjić.

IFC

corridor 10

highway Leskovac Macedonian border

Milutin Mrkonjić

bypass around Belgrade