Brussels, 08/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Republic of Serbia signed a funding agreement on Wednesday 7 December for a €3 million grant for the preparation of the Corridor X motorway project.
The technical assistance will be provided to support the construction of an 83.4 kilometre motorway section in Corridor X between Nis and the border with Bulgaria at Dimitrovgrad, the construction of a 74.1 km motorway section in the Corridor between Leskovac and the FYROM border, and the completion of Sections A and B of the Belgrade bypass.
Corridor X is one of the pan-European corridors, running between Salzburg in Austria and Thessaloniki in Greece. It passes through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, FYROM and Greece. The project will cater for international, intercity and local traffic demand. It is considered to be the core element of the transport network in the Western Balkans.
The grant will be funded from EIB and bilateral donors' contributions to the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF, set up by the European Commission two years ago) and will be blended with loans and grants from the EIB, EBRD and World Bank as well as the Greek government. (OL/transl.rt)