December 11 (SeeNews) - Serbia's infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic has said she hopes the government will reach an agreement with Bosnia on the route of the planned Belgrade-Sarajevo motorway in the first half of next year.
Serbia needs the agreement in order to start preparing the project documentation and the negotiations on the financing of the project, Mihajlovic said in a statement on Friday.
Serbia is ready to start building its part of the motorway regardless of which route Bosnia will choose - via Sremska Mitrovica, in northern Serbia, or via Kotroman, in the country's west. Moreover, Serbia has been in talks with Bosnia on the reconstruction of all 11 bridges on the Lim and Drina rivers that connect the two countries and has already set aside six million euro financing for the project documentation, , Mihajlovic said.
In October, the Serbian government said Turkey's transport minister Ahmet Arslan has signed a letter of intent on the participation of his country in the motorway project.
The total investment in the construction of the motorway in Serbia will amount to 830 million euro ($979 million). In Serbia, the project will involve the construction of a 60 km stretch linking Uzice to Kotroman, on the border with Bosnia, Mihajlovic has said.