Vojvodina to obtain 3m EUR from EU for first phase of modernization of canal network

- We've got the notice from Netherlands that the Monitoring Committee of European Union in Brussels approved of the project for management and modernization of the canal network in Vojvodina, which should be implemented by public company "Vode Vojvodine" and our office - Predrag Novikov, the Director of the Office for European Affairs of the Executive Council of Vojvodina, told "Danas".

- This project gathers the representatives of 12 countries members of EU - Spain, Letonia, Italy, Netherlands, Hungary, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Finland, Sweden and Norway, and Vojvodina has managed to involve Serbia, as the only country that has not been admitted to EU yet, in realization of this project. We have been granted 3m EUR for the first phase - says Novikov.

The network of canals in Vojvodina is over 500 km long and, as Novikov explains, it represents an exceptional resource for agriculture, development of tourism, sports and cultural contents.

- The primary aim of this project named "Waterways Forward" is the promotion of integrated sustainable development of regional navigable waterways, and the task is to strengthen the administrative capacities in order to use them in the best possible way, enable the exchange of European experiences and improve the economic development of the regions through which the network of canals is passing - Novikov points out.