April 24 (SeeNews) - Serbia's transport sector has so far suffered a damage of up to 140 million euro ($150 million) from the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic said.
"To date, the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the transport sector is estimated at between 120 million euro and 140 million euro. Estimates are that it could reach 700 million euro by the end of the year," Mihajlovic said in a press release on Thursday.
Road freight traffic has declined by 20% and railway freight traffic has decreased between 10% and 15% since the outbreak of the disease in Serbia, Mihajlovic said.
Flag carrier Air Serbia has suffered a direct damage of 35 million euro so far, she added.
Earlier this month, Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said the government plans to provide state aid to power utility EPS, Air Serbia and Telekom Srbija to help them cope with the economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak.
($ = 0.930124 euro)