BELGRADE (Serbia), June 11 (SeeNews) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to set up a regional office for the Western Balkans in Serbia's capital Belgrade, the Serbian government said on Monday.
The lender's plans to establish a regional office for the Western Balkans in Belgrade are a sign that the bank intends to increase its presence in the region, the lender's vice president Alain Pilloux said during a meeting with Serbian infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic, as quoted in a government statement.
Serbia is making good progress in the projects it is implementing in cooperation with the EBRD, and it expects to be supported by the lender in the construction of the Nis-Plocnik section of a motorway connecting Nis to Pristina, Mihajlovic said at the meeting.
The EBRD has been investing around 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) each year in the Western Balkans. One of the bank’s priorities is infrastructure development to foster economic growth in the region and connect the countries closer with each other and with Europe, the bank said last month.
The bank has so far invested more than 10.6 billion euro in the region, which comprises six countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia.
($ = 0.8483 euro)