MIHAJLOVIC: Bridge near Sremska Raca to be finished in two and a half years, with other investments transport costs to be lower by 25%

The bridge on the Sava near Sremska Raca will be built in two and a half years, Serbian Construction Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said while visiting the works on the Sremska Raca-Kuzmin section on the future Belgrade-Sarajevo highway.

She pointed out that Serbia invested a total of EUR 13 billion in projects of regional connection.

– It's important for us to connect as a region, because it means better living conditions for our citizens. Serbia participates with EUR 13 billion in infrastructural projects which connect us with the region, whether it's BiH, Montenegro, Hungary, Macedonia, or Albania. We set aside EUR 220 million for this highway and the bridge and I believe that the bridge will be completed in two and a half years, as the contractor promised – she said.

Mihajlovic stated that it was not only a question of building the highway and the bridge, but also of integrated border checkpoints which should contribute to a quicker flow of people and goods, lower transportation costs and shorter waiting times at borders.

She also reminded that the beginning of the works on the bridge had been marked the previous year by the presidents of Serbia and Turkey, Aleksandar Vucic and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

– In addition to this section, we will also connect with BiH through the Pozega-Kotroman highway, where we will also have one border checkpoint. With integrated border checkpoints on Bratoljub, this bridge and Kotroman, the estimate is that the transportation costs would be reduced by 25% – Mihajlovic announced.

The Minister of Transport and Communications of Republika Srpska, Djordje Popovic, said that the process of expropriation and planning documents were finished, which is a requirement for the construction of the highway section on the Republika Srpska side.

– Raca will no longer be a bottleneck, nor an obstacle to the good relations of the two states – he said.

On behalf of the contractor, the Turkish company Tasyapi, the vice president of the company, Emre Tokmak, said that the company would meet all its obligations as the contractor, the ministry said on its website.

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo saobraćaja i veza RS

Tasyapi Insaat Taahhut Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. Ogranak Beograd

Ministry of Construction Transport and Infrastructure

Ministry of Transport and Communications of Republika Srpska

Tasyapi

Zorana Mihajlovic

Emre Tokmak

Djorjde Popovic

bridge near Sremska Raca

regional infrastructural projects

Belgrade Sarajevo highway

Sremska Raca Kuzmin highway section

Bratoljub bridge

Raca Bijeljina highway section

maintenance of bridges on the Drina

new airport in Trebinje

Slepcevic Badovinci high speed route