August 18 (SeeNews) - Serbian infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic has said that she expects China's state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company Sinohydro to complete the construction of a stretch of the Belgrade bypass road in 2020.
In November, the Serbian government signed a 207 million euro ($243.1 million) deal with Sinohydro's parent Power Construction Corporation of China (PCCC) for the construction of the 19.5 kilometre-long Ostruznicki bridge-Bubanj Potok stretch of the 37.3 km-long Section B of the bypass road in the southern area of Belgrade. The stretch will include 22 bridges and four tunnels.
The government aims to sign an agreement for the 31 km-long Section C as soon as possible, Mihajlovic said during a meeting with representatives of Sinohydro's parent Power Construction Corporation of China (PCCC), as quoted in a statement by the ministry on Tuesday.
"We wish Serbia to be a leader in the cooperation with China in the field of infrastructure and a centre for the Chinese investments in this part of Europe," Mihajlovic said in the statement.
The construction of the bypass, with a total length of about 69 km, is carried out with funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).