"Planned railroad won't end up like South Stream"

Serbia would have to spend between EUR 350 and 400 million on the Belgrade-Budapest railroad, Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic has said.

Izvor: Politika

Friday, 19.12.2014.

12:24

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"Planned railroad won't end up like South Stream"

"This is in line with an agreement with the IMF not to use privatization proceeds for spending but to invest in projects like this," she said, and added that the railroad will partially be funded from a Russian loan.

According to her, the Serbian section will cost between EUR 350 and 400 million, adding that "a feasibility study will give the final judgment on that."

"It has been agreed with the Chinese prime minister that the feasibility study will take up to three months to produce, that the main project should be completed afterwards, and to launch construction works, which cannot last longer than two years. I reckon that in two and a half years we will travel for two hours and 24 minutes by train from Belgrade to Budapest," Mihajlovic said, noting that currently, this trip takes eight hours.

Asked whether Serbian workers would also work on the railroad, "considering that China always insists on hiring its own people," she replied:

"We agreed that at least 50 percent of the companies involved will be Serbian. In our existing projects with the Chinese we now have about 60 percent of Serbian companies."

Reacting to the interviewer's remark that the success of this project depends on Macedonia and Greece, with the port of Thessaloniki being the starting point for the Chinese goods sold in Europe, Mihajlovic said that it was "an international project and for that reason a contract has been signed with Macedonia, while China has talked with Greece, which accepts the possibility of such a corridor."

Mihajlovic added that the Belgrade-Budapest railroad and the gas pipeline South Stream "can not be compared" - because "railroads and roads are welcome everywhere, while gas and oil are much more about politics than about energy."

"When it comes to South Stream, the problem occurred because of Ukraine and the complex relations between the EU and Russia, but when it comes to the railroad, these complex relationships do not exist. The EU and China also hold summits," said Mihajlovic.

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