Corridor XI works commenced - China's Shangdong Highspeed Group seeking local subcontractors

First works on Corridor XI, on stretches between Obrenovac and Ub and between Lajkovac and Ljig, will commence within the next few months, and China's Shandong Highspeed Group is already looking for local subcontractors, people at the Ministry of Construction told Tanjug news agency Tuesday.

- We expect the Chinese company to send us a draft of a financial agreement within the next month, which will then have to be signed by the Finance Ministry and China's Exim Bank with the works due to start within three months of its signing - said State Secretary at the Construction Ministry Miodrag Jovic.

He noted that the second half of the year would mainly see preparation works on Corridor XI, stressing that the Chinese contractor would probably not kick off some serious works until the next year.

Jocic stated that according to the agreement, Shandong Highspeed Group had 34 months to finish the works with a grace period of three months from the moment the financial agreement was signed.

The Chinese company will hire workers from Serbia to even do part of its work, meaning that the share of local manpower will be much bigger than expected.