Representatives of the Serbian government, Belgrade City and Chinese company China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) have signed an interim agreement on the construction of the Zemun-Borca bridge, whose value is €170 million.

From left: Xue Tiezhu, Wei Jinghua, Mladjan Dinkic, Verica Kalanovic and Dragan Djilas

The interim agreement was signed by Minister for the National Investment Plan (NIP) Verica Kalanovic, Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas and Executive Director of CRBC Xue Tiezhu.

Also present was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic, who is also head of the Serbian government negotiating team for financing and construction of this bridge.

Dinkic said at a news conference held after the signing of the document that 85% of the funds will be provided from loans by the Chinese bank China Eximbank, to the amount of €145 million, while €25 million will be provided from the Serbian NIP.

The repayment period will be 15 years with a grace period of three years and a fixed interest rate of 3% annually, explained the Deputy Prime Minister, also announcing that the final agreement for the construction of the bridge should be signed by the end of this year.

He added that the length of the bridge, which will be called the Chinese Bridge, will be 1,507 metres.

He also announced the building of 21.6 kilometers of the Novi Sad-Pancevo road.

Dinkic stressed that the Chinese company is under an obligation to engage Serbian producers and use construction materials from Serbia for up to 45% of the project’s total value.

The new bridge will considerably relieve traffic in Belgrade and the transportation of goods will no longer go through the city.

He also noted that Serbia is not over-indebted, since its public debt stands at 32% of GDP, adding that it will continue applying for favourable loans for infrastructure projects as that has proved to be successful.

Dinkic said that during the Serbian delegation’s visit to China this August a €200 million loan for infrastructure was discussed, adding that the remaining portion of the funds will be used to construct a tunnel and a southern ring road around Kragujevac.

Kalanovic said that the Zemun-Borca bridge is indispensable for Belgrade since it will connect the capital with south Banat and therefore to Romania and Corridor 4.

Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Wei Jinghua recalled that the agreement on the construction of the bridge was signed on the basis of the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation between Serbia and China, signed on August 20 in Beijing, during President Boris Tadic’s visit to China.