January 30 (SeeNews) - Serbia plans to start the construction of the Nis-Plocnik section of a motorway connecting Nis to Kosovo's Pristina in the third quarter of 2020, infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic said in parliament.
"The first section to Plocnik will cost 200 million euro. It will be financed with a loan, and a contract has already been signed for the first 100 million euro," Mihajlovic said on Wednesday in a video file posted on the website of Serbia's parliament.
In September, Mihajlovic said the European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to provide financing of 140 million euro ($154 million) for the construction of the motorway on Serbian territory. The financing will include a 100 million euro loan plus a 40 million euro grant for the construction of the 34 km Nis-Plocnik section of the motorway, she explained back then.
The 77 km Nis-Pristina motorway is part of a road link extending to Albania's capital Tirana and further on to the country's Adriatic port of Durres.
($ = 0.9077 euro)