Serbia issues building permit for Sava river bridge project

The issuance of the permit means that very soon works can start on the project for the construction of a 22-km motorway between Ruma and Sabac, and a 55-km expressway from Sabac to Loznica, the infrastructure ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The construction of the 1.3-km long bridge over the Sava river will be the first and most complicated stage of the whole project, the ministry said.

Earlier this week, the Serbian government and Azvirt has signed a 467.5 million euro ($517.9 million) deal for the construction of the motorway and the expressway.

The Ruma-Sabac motorway, including the new, modern bridge on over the Sava river, will be built in three years, while the Sabac-Loznica expressway will be completed by the end of 2023, Serbia's president Aleksandar Vucic has said.

The project is of major importance for the economic development of the western Macva district, which is bordering Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In September 2018, the transport ministry said that Azerbaijan's government had decided to extend a 210 million euro loan to Serbia to support the project's implementation.

($ = 0.902706 euro)