World Bank ready to help renovation of Serbia

The World Bank is ready to help Serbia renovate the infrastructure damaged by floods, the Ministry of Construction, Transportation and Infrastructure said in a release today.

According to the release, Serbian Deputy PM and Minister of Construction, Transportation and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic spoke with World Bank Country Manager for Serbia Tony Verheijen about the WB support to the renovation of infrastructure in our country.

- The World Bank is ready to support Serbia's efforts to repair the damaged infrastructure as soon as possible, and the financial support would involve the adaptation of priorities in the existing loans that are being processed as well as the use of emergency funds - it was said at the meeting.

Besides, the World Bank has also placed its technical assistance at Serbia's disposal for the preparation of damage assessment methodologies and flood relief projects.

In providing assistance to Serbia, the World Bank will work in coordination with the EU and the UN, Verheijen announced.

Mihajlovic informed Verheijen about previous activities on evaluating the damage caused to road, energy and telecommunications infrastructure, and about the work of the Serbian government’s Commission for the assessment of damage from natural disasters.

The Commission yesterday asked local self-governments to submit reports on the damage caused to residential, commercial and agricultural facilities, as well as to local infrastructure.

Mihajlovic and Verheijen also discussed the implementation of current projects on Corridor X and agreed that the construction was progressing, but that the efficiency of the state-owned contractors must be increased.