Preparation of project of Paracin-Zajecar high-speed route begins, investment worth 450 to 600 million euros

The preparation of the project-technical documentation for the construction of the high-speed traffic route from Paracin to Zajecar has begun, the deputy prime minister and minister of construction, transport and infrastructure of Serbia, Zorana Mihajlovic, stated on July 9 in Zajecar.

The project will be a part of the big investment plan announced by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

– The project-technical documentation for the Paracin-Zajecar high-speed route is already being prepared and we hope that we will be able to consider the manners of financing next year – Mihajlovic said after a conversation with the head of the Zajecar District, Vladan Paunovic, and the heads of the local self-governments in the district about the current and planned infrastructure projects.

She said that the estimate was for 450 to 600 million euros to be invested in the construction of the high-speed route from Paracin to Zajecar. Mihajlovic also said that, within the big investment plan, at least EUR 2.5 billion would be invested in the Zajecar Distric alone.

The minister reminded that it had been agreed at the meeting for the state to make additional investments in the district's road infrastructure, in addition to the regular funds, around RSD 2.7 billion, and that the money would not only be put in Zajecar, but in Sokobanja, Boljevac, Knjazevac and other municipalities as well.

A lot of money will also be invested in railway infrastructure, she added and said that two sections of the Nis-Zajecar railway, worth around RSD 11 billion, were being built at the moment.

The president of Serbia recently announced that the construction of the high-speed route between Paracin and Boljevac, Zajecar and the Vrska Cuka border crossing with Bulgaria, with a leg towards Bor, would start soon.

Mihajlovic pointed out that the cooperation with the Zajecar District and the City of Zajecar was successful and that she had visited the district to discuss unfinished projects and those that would be realized in 2020. She congratulated the City of Zajecar on its well prepared projects and pointed out that it allowed the state to get involved more quickly and help the realization.

She said that the development of road infrastructure within the industrial zone, as well as the streets to be built in 2019 and 2020, had been discussed at the meeting with the mayor of Zajecar, Bosko Nicic.

– When it comes to project realization, activities will reach their peak in 2020 and we have now agreed on who will do what – the minister said.

Mihajlovic said that the reconstruction of the Nis-Zajecar railway would be completed by the summer of 2020 and that 90 road crossing would be reconstructed within it. She added that the project would also entail the reconstruction of the railway station in Zajecar. Mihajlovic also noted that the problem of water shortages in Sokobanja would be addressed, that certain streets would be reconstructed and that an interchange would be built most probably in 2020.

The director general of the Infrastructure of Serbian Railways, Miroljub Jevtic, said that the road and railway traffic between Pozarevac and Majdanpek had been reopened after six years and that the reconstruction of the railway between Jajinci and Mala Krsna, in the length of 55 kilometers, where vehicles ran at 30 to 50 km/h, had begun in May, and that the speeds would increase to 120 km/h upon the railway's reconstruction in October.

– We hope that, in the new train schedule in 2020, Srbija Voz will once again include an express train from Belgrade to Zajecar – Jevtic added.

Assistant to the minister of construction, Djordje Milic, told the press that the planning and technical documentation for the construction of a high-speed route between Sabac and Loznica was being prepared and that certain structures would have to be removed from the route through expropriation.

Infrastruktura Železnice Srbije Beograd

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

Grad Zaječar

Zajecar District

Industrial Zone Zajecar

Vladan Paunovic

Zorana Mihajlovic

Aleksandar Vucic

Bosko Nicic

Djordje Milic

Miroljub Jevtic

Paracin Zajecar high speed route

Sabac Loznica high speed route

Nis Zajecar railway

Nis Zajecar railway reconstruction

Zajecar railway station

construction of road infrastructure in Zajecar

construction of railway infrastructure

reconstruction of streets in Sokobanja

water supply problem in Sokobanja

Belgrade Zajecar express train