Serbia and the EU signed an agreement to subsidise the construction of the railway network from Belgrade to the city of Nis.

The agreement was signed by the representative of the European Investment Bank, Alessandro Bragonzi, and the Minister of Construction of Serbia, Goran Vesic.

The signing ceremony took place symbolically on a moving train, in the presence of the President of the Republic, Aleksandar Vucic, and the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi.

The construction of the project will start in 2024 and will be completed in 2029. It is a high-speed rail network with a total length of 230 kilometers. The project will cost a total of 2.77 billion euros. The EU will secure 2.2 billion euros for the implementation of the project, of which 610 million will be granted in the form of aid and the rest will be secured with loans from European banks.

Aleksandar Vucic emphasized that it will be the largest project to be implemented in Serbia to date and pointed out that upon its completion, Belgrade will be connected by high-speed rail to Thessaloniki, Athens, and Constantinople (Istanbul).

Vucic said that”when the project is completed, the route from Belgrade to the city of Nis will take one hour and forty minutes, while today the train takes six hours.”

European Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi emphasised that “this project will change the lives of the citizens of Serbia, but also of the peoples of the wider region”.